Barry Zito is tinkering with his windup? Uh.... Okay. Little nervous. I trust the guy to do what he needs to do, but there is only one well-researched opinion I can muster: Uh.... Okay.
There are obvious pros and cons to the idea, which would make it an ideal time to check in with our old friends Point and Counterpoint. Unfortunately, Point is still on the disabled list from the initial announcement of the Zito signing.
Point: Seven years. Seven years. Seven years. Seven years. Seven years.
Counterpoint: Whatever you can do, Doctor. But is there a chance to end the non-stop repeating of the phrase "seven years?"
Doctor: Too early to say. We can hope.
Counterpoint: I just don't get it. We needed an ace, and that was the market price for an ace.
Point: Seven years? Ace? Ace? Ace? Ace? Ace? Ace? Ace? Ace? Ace? Ace? Ace? Ace?
Doctor: There go his eyes again. Straight to the back of his head.
Counterpoint: I'll get a spoon.
It wouldn't have been a bad idea for Zito to, you know, let the team know about his plans for a new delivery. Maybe the full disclosure would have been a bad business move before the contract was signed. After the blood of the franchise had dried, however, it might have made a wee bit of sense to avoid the surprise and come clean.
The comments from Righetti were much more measured in the Chronicle article; they were along the lines of "Hey, he's doing this for a reason. I can't say I'm wild about it, but we'll see how it works out." The general goal of Zito seems sound: Let the legs and thighs do more of the pushing and have the arm go along for the ride. Whether it will work outside of theoryland is another question. I have no idea, and while the whole business is worrisome, Zito probably knows a little bit about what he's doing. It just makes a risky, risky, risky investment riskier, riskier, riskier.
"The way free-agent pitchers disintegrate these days, they'll all be changing their deliveries in a matter of months. I say enjoy it - it's a hell of a toboggan ride!"