I see a lot of love for Zito in the baseball world and especially on this board. It seems everyone wants to sign him as a FA. Some may say we can't afford him but would still love to have him if we could. I just don't get it. Looking at his statistics he seems pretty average.
Compare that to Harang:Code:Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP BFP IBB BK ERA *lgERA *ERA+ WHIP +--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+-----+-----+----+-----+ 2000 22 OAK AL 7 4 14 14 1 1 0 0 92.7 64 30 28 6 45 78 2 2 376 2 0 2.72 4.72 174 1.176 RoY-6 2001 23 OAK AL 17 8 35 35 3 2 0 0 214.3 184 92 83 18 80 205 13 6 902 0 1 3.49 4.35 125 1.232 MVP-21 2002 24 OAK AL 23 5 35 35 1 0 0 0 229.3 182 79 70 24 78 182 9 2 939 2 1 2.75 4.65 169 1.134 MVP-13,CYA-1,AS 2003 25 OAK AL 14 12 35 35 4 1 0 0 231.7 186 98 85 19 88 146 6 4 957 3 0 3.30 4.26 129 1.183 AS 2004 26 OAK AL 11 11 34 34 0 0 0 0 213.0 216 116 106 28 81 163 9 4 926 2 1 4.48 4.68 105 1.394 2005 27 OAK AL 14 13 35 35 0 0 0 0 228.3 185 106 98 26 89 171 13 4 953 0 0 3.86 4.49 116 1.200 2006 28 OAK AL 16 10 34 34 0 0 0 0 221.0 211 99 94 27 99 151 13 4 945 5 2 3.83 4.42 116 1.403 AS
Zito pitches in pitchers park. He walks more. He gives up just as many HRs. His ERA is higher, his WHIP is higher. He gets better defense. His bullpen is better. He gets better run support. He pitches fewer innings. He hasn't had a CG in 3 years. It just seems to go on and on. The only thing in favor of Zito is that he pitches in the AL; but he pitches in the weakest AL division.Code:Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP BFP IBB BK ERA *lgERA *ERA+ WHIP +--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+-----+-----+----+-----+ 2002 24 OAK AL 5 4 16 15 0 0 0 0 78.3 78 44 42 7 45 64 3 1 354 2 0 4.83 4.65 96 1.570 2003 25 TOT 5 6 16 15 0 0 1 0 76.3 89 47 45 11 19 42 1 3 327 0 1 5.31 4.28 81 1.415 OAK AL 1 3 7 6 0 0 1 0 30.3 41 19 18 5 9 16 0 0 136 0 1 5.34 4.26 80 1.648 CIN NL 4 3 9 9 0 0 0 0 46.0 48 28 27 6 10 26 1 3 191 0 0 5.28 4.29 81 1.261 2004 26 CIN NL 10 9 28 28 1 1 0 0 161.0 177 90 87 26 53 125 5 7 711 5 0 4.86 4.01 82 1.429 2005 27 CIN NL 11 13 32 32 1 0 0 0 211.7 217 93 90 22 51 163 8 6 887 3 0 3.83 4.44 116 1.266 2006 28 CIN NL 16 11 36 35 6 2 0 0 234.3 242 109 98 28 56 216 8 6 993 8 1 3.76 4.81 128 1.272
Am I missing something here? What makes Zito so desirable? What makes him worth even close to that money? IMO, throw out 2002 and probably the first 2 years, and Zito is a #2 or #3 starter. Thoughts?...