J/K. Still, it's exciting, if nothing else. Grant, I assure you, the deal was done to make the Giants better, KNBR listeners notwithstanding. You may well be right about the outcome, but at least now we have a chance to find out.

so much for us not negotiating with scott boras.

Moral of the story, my old job sucked and my new job does not suck. I hope Zito refrains from sucking too.

Nobody knows what's going to happen five years from now. To commit that kind of money to Zito that far in the future is crazy.

However, let's treat this like that time we were 20 years old and just stepping out into the world: Ride it, baby! We don't know when we might crash into a drudge-a-licious 9-5 or 7-6 or 5-10 job, so go out to bars and make passes at complete strangers! Drive your Chevy to the levy! Make a banner that says "Zitonians Live Here!" Eat nothing but sushi and Alize for three straight days!

I know the analogy is strained, but I just feel there's plenty of upside to this deal for us fans.

Me not like 7 years.

Me not like 18 million per year.

Me hope Zito better than b4.

"The Giants' rotation has just got better."

Still, the Rangers made it fairly clear they weren't going to go higher than 6 years/$88 million and the Mets were offering more money but a shorter contract (somethling like 5 years/$75 million). Who knows what Boras said to them -- and this is simplifying how the negotiations probably went -- but apparently the Giants outbid the closest team by $38 million.

Did they not essentially end up bidding against themselves? It's a classic Sabean trait, and not a good one.

My buddy's questions, which I think are the only really pertinent ones: How does this make the team better? Do you really think the Giants can win the World Series now?

First, we have no idea what will happen four years from now. I'm confident in believing that Zito will be very good for the next two seasons, and, if pushed, could be cautiously optimistic about three or even four seasons. As others have pointed out, the "beauty" of a longass deal like this one is that the team will be completely remade within the span of the contract, with Zito as the centerpiece; no more Feliz, Omar, Bonds, Durham, or Winn by the third(?) year, so it'll be a completely different team built around #s 75 and 43. The only thing that could screw it up is if he craters. It's a distinct possibility, but even if he does, so what? That means that we'll be a 90 million dollar team that should be 110 million. Should Zito be the next Mike Hampton, it's reasonable to guess our payroll will still be ahead of the Rockies, DBacks, and Padres, and still behind the Dodgers... basically how it is now. So, in the murky future, I choose to see the downside as more of a two foot high speed bump than a brick wall.

For now, the team is definitely better. I know it's technically fallacious to compare projections for the current year to last year, but:

The offense won't be as good, since all the additions won't make up for a declining Bonds and Durham, and a departed Alou.

The fielding will improve or stay the same, despite the replacement at 1B and the aging middle infield (which I don't think will see that much of a fielding decline, if at all), the outfield gets better with two CFs in the deep parts of the park. Feliz returns with his GG-caliber D.

Zito=Schmidt
Cain gets better
Morris's production catches up to his peripherals
Lowry maintains
5th starter improves due to lack of Jamey Wright

Now compare to the rest of the division: Our rotation beats the Rox and DBacks easily (even with a healthy Webb all year). The Dodgers' top three in the rotation are better when healthy, but with Schmidt (groin, etc), Penny (arm, conditioning), and Lowe (effort, concentration) all potentially problems, and the back end not as good as the Giants' back end (Wolf, coming off surgery, and Billingsley vs. Lowry, stagnating, and Linsanchennesorreia), it's either a wash or in favor of the Giants, depending on how you're feeling at the moment. The Padres' rotation has the best 1-2 in the division (the league?) with Peavy/Young, but Clay Hensley should be in the bullpen, and Bud Black will take every opportunity not to use a fifth starter this year. So Pads/Dods/GMen are now even, pitching-wise, all three of them better than just about any other team in the league, save perhaps the Mets once Pedro returns, or the Fish if the youngsters continue their improbable group success. Let's say the hitting works out well enough--I think a reasonable estimation of "pretty good year for this team" is seventh best in the league in EqA--and the pitching plays out as I've laid out, then we've got a great shot at making the playoffs.

That leads to the second question. Once in the playoffs, we're the team no one wants to face because of our 2-righty-2-lefty rotation and nasty righty-righty-lefty Lincecum-Wilson-Sanchez bullpen, plus a closer we acquired at the deadline, and, as everyone should know by now, the playoffs are like playing Twister, in that, yeah, there are things you can do to help your chances of winning, but it's still mostly luck, and if you screw up you REALLY look bad. But with a 1-2 with Zito and Cain's upside, I'd love our chances if we make the playoffs this year and next.

I may just be irrationally optimistic at the moment, but I think our crappy division makes the move a little more palatable, especially in the short term.

We definitely got the better end of that exchange...