Anyways, I was optimistic about the first few years of the contract, but I figured it would be hell at the end. MANY people hated every year of this deal from day 1 though.

I think I was at work when I found out, I can’t really remember.

My initial reaction was yay (as was most of your, dont hide around it) the Giants signed an ace for the next 7 years.

That was not our initial reaction. Our initial reaction is actually preserved on this very Internet website, in Grant’s initial post about the signing.

Well, I didn’t really know anything about the AL at the time, and my general baseball knowledge was lacking (was it really only 2 years ago?). I remember my reaction going something like this

• Cool, we finally signed somebody!
• Zito…He’s the guy with the curve ball, right? He’s supposed to be really good, isn’t he? I think he was good in MVP Baseball 2005.
• Holly crap, that is a lot of money.
• …
• Well, I hope he’s worth it.
• …
• …
• Seriously, that is a lot of money.

Can’t really remember my reaction to well, but I think I basically was happy that we got a good pitcher. I wasn’t too thrilled with the amount of money, though, since I’d just heard a rumor he was signing with us for 85 mil.

Ah yes, my LiveJournal post on the subject.

Title: We call it hateball because Giants fans hate it so much
Dec. 28th, 2006 at 6:03 PM

The lunatic fringe was crowing for Brian Sabean to sign a big free agent. DO IT SABES, DO IT we screamed as we watched free agents get big bucks for being serviceable major leaguers. We worried about the state of the outfield and infield after our supposed “big” acquisitions of Dave Roberts, Rich Aurilia, and Bengie Molina. We knew things were going to get worse and not necessarily before they got better.

The fringe got what we asked for today. Barry Zito is a Giant, to the tune of the largest contract given to a pitcher ever. Seven years, $128 million, no-trade clause for the duration of the deal, with an $18 million option at the end of the deal.

Well, at least we didn’t blow the cash on the likes of Carlos Lee or Juan Pierre. I’m not fretting about the money figures here. Not many Giants fans are. The sticking point is seven, possibly eight years. Zito is durable now. He has been in decline since he won the Cy Young in 2002 but can still pitch well and make a difference. But for the next seven to eight years, he’s ours for better or for worse. A switch to the National League could help his ERA significantly. How will he adjust to the new league and will 2002 become a distant memory as we’re faced with a pitcher who just isn’t as good anymore?

It’s very hard to look at this deal and feel completely good or completely bad about it. I don’t trust Zito to be an ace. I didn’t trust him to do that with the A’s, and I don’t trust him to do that with the Giants. He’ll probably be the opening day starter, keeping the number one spot warm for Matt Cain. Possible rotation for 2007: Zito, Morris, Cain, Lowry, Sanchez/Correia/Hennessey/Lincecum. Morris and Cain could flipflop and if I’m Bochy I’m penciling Sanchez in at 5 and keeping Timmeh Time in the minors for one more year.

That rotation doesn’t look too bad if Zito doesn’t have the shitty April he has had the last few seasons. Not too bad if Morris can figure it the fuck out.

But if this overture was supposed to be HAY THIS IS OUR ACE then I’m sorry, but we’ve failed. We just lost our ace to the Dodgers (barf). While he was also in decline, he was a record breaking, showstopping, game changing pitcher when he was on. Zito hasn’t been that kind of pitcher in years. I no longer have faith in him.

The team is better with Zito, certainly not worse with him. Could we win the division in 2007? Probably, but that’s not saying a hell of a lot because it’s the NL West. This is the sort of deal a team makes when they’re one player away from a title. That we are not.

I want to be proven wrong. I want Zito to come out like gangbusters and dominate the National League. I want this team to go in the right direction. I don’t think that will happen, however.

We had just driven down to San Diego to celebrate New Year’s at my uncle’s house and we put on ESPN to watch a football game and the bottom line was like “San Francisco Giants sign Barry Zito to 7 year, 126 million contract”.

My reaction was pretty much, “WHAT. NO. WHAT. Well, maybe it won’t be so bad. WHAT. NO. AAAAAAAH.”

Here are some reactions from the McCoven after Zito was signed:
http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2006/12/28/123142/11
http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2006/12/28/122711/10
As you can see, it wasn’t all rainbows and happy bears.

I was in Hawaii for winter break, and I logged onto Yahoo to check my email and read “Giants sign Barry Zito to $126 million contract.”

First reaction: that’s a boatload of money. I told my dad, who said, “You’re kidding, right?”

I just got on the freeway to drive home from work. KNBR teased a Giant signing after the commercial break. My first reaction was, “Who could that be? Nobody worth getting is left. Unless….NO! They couldn’t have. Please, no.” Then Ralph came on and confirmed my nightmare. Sabean! Okay, now was the time to trick myself into thinking it could work. “For a reasonable contract he can be a realiable starter. Yeah, he is clearly declining and was the weakest of the A’s big three, but he could be solid for us for a long time.” I was lying to myself.
I then heard the contract details. I didn’t have anything to say after that. I just turned the radio off and didn’t think about the Giants again for a while.

I was in Hawaii at the time on vacation. I was awakened at 7:30 in the morning by a text message from my friend stating “I think we just signed Barry Zito.”

Even was better than what we’re actually getting. I think someone (hey perhaps it was me!*) said that it was a nifty 2 year deal (first two years are 14 million) and then a horrible 5 year deal (then it escalates to 18 and 20 million).

*Note: wasn’t me.

My gubernatorial candidate in Ohio had just won his election, and I was working the ticket hotline for the Inaugural Ball. In between calls, I pulled up Rotoworld, read the news, immediately went on break, and called my dad with mixed feelings.

That was a fun one.

I was at work. And I hated the signing at the time. I didn’t like the fact that Zito was getting worse, I didn’t like the amount of money we paid him, and I sure as hell particularly didn’t like the number of years we gave him. That’s what stuck the worst, and was the primary reason I hated the signing. I didn’t like the number of years.

Stuck in the worst traffic ever on my way up to Heavenly to go snowboarding. My sister’s friend (a chick that loves baseball as much as I do) was checking ESPN news on her phone and said “Oh wow, the Giants signed Zito.” I won’t lie, I was initially happy, until she told me the contract terms. On top that, I only got to board for 2 hours in the most miserable fucking weather. Worst day ever (well, not really, but it sucked.)

not sure where I was, but I recall thinking (and writing somewhere around here) that I thought Zito would be able to pitch well enough for a few seasons to justify his contract, but after that he’d start to stink up the place and that the money in years 4-7/8 would make it harder for the Giants to do other deals.

Unfortunately, I was too optimistic on his performance. He didn’t last a year before he started to blow chunks and he’ll never earn even a quarter of the $126M. He is the albatross.

I hate to admit it, but I loved it. I was at work and I think it was Rotoworld, where I read that Zito had contacted some AL team, (I think it was Texas or Seattle) and told them he was signing with the Giants. I was thrilled. Before you laugh at me and call me an idiot, let me explain my line of reasoning. I live in New York, and have to deal with stupid Met fans all day. I kept reading in NY papers how he was going to sign with the Mets, and I kept listening to all the Met fans I know who were telling me they would win the World Series the next year because Zito was all they needed, and I was ecstatic that we outbid a NY team for a supposedly top pitcher. I called a friend (Mordy from Monsey) and I told him that this was more than just a signing. This was my team, the San Francisco Giants, for the first time in my lifetime stepping up and declaring that they were now a big market team and would compete with everybody for the best talent. We’d be spending for free agents like the NY teams, the Red Sox, the Dodgers, etc. As for Zito himself, I expected him to do very well because of the switch in leagues for at least the first couple of years. He was a crafty lefty facing alot of hitters that didn’t know him. He was moving to a league that didn’t have the DH. Of course I knew his velocity was declining, but I didn’t know he could barely break 85mph. The Giants’ are paid to know stuff like that, not me. Ok, I’m done. Now you call me an idiot!!