Oakland Athletics pitcher Barry Zito, one of the top prizes of the upcoming free-agent season, has signed on with Scott Boras, one of baseball's most prominent agents.

 

Zito, the 2002 AL Cy Young Award winner, is 8-6 this season with a 3.29 ERA.

 

"We're really excited to be associated with a premier pitcher like Barry Zito," Boras told ESPN Insider's Jerry Crasnick. "He's a guy in the prime of his career. He reminds me a lot of Greg Maddux in the early '90s. He's got dominance as a location and control pitcher, and he's durable and consistent at what he does."

 

Zito's principal appeal lies in his durability. From 2001-05, he led all big leaguers in starts and ranked fourth in innings pitched behind Livan Hernandez, Mark Buehrle and Bartolo Colon. But he is a fly-ball pitcher, meaning a spacious ballpark with a good defensive outfield is crucial to his success.

 

"He's pretty dependable," an AL personnel man said this spring. "You can count on him for innings. But I don't know if you roll him into Fenway Park or Yankee Stadium and he'll just shut them down. I don't think he's that kind of guy."

 

Boras said he hasn't spoken with Zito at length about plans for this offseason, when Zito will be one of the top free agent pitchers on the market along with Jason Schmidt.

 

"We're just working with him physically and mentally about what he does the rest of the season," Boras said. "When it gets around to what Barry does contractually at the end of the season, we'll talk about that then."

 

Zito is expected to command top dollar, and Boras has a history of landing large contracts for his clients. Last winter, Boras negotiated a five-year, $60 million contract extension for Texas Rangers' pitcher Kevin Millwood and a four-year, $52 million dollar for Johnny Damon with the New York Yankees.

 

Zito's numbers have cooled since he went 23-5 with a 2.75 ERA in his Cy Young season. In the past three-plus seasons, he has gone 47-42 with a 3.78 ERA.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2513849

I wouldn't be surprised if he gets $14-15m per year from somebody.

Zito just became the greatest free agent ever.

Now the only question is the date on which the Yankees will sign him.

Now the only question is the date on which the Yankees will sign him.

 

Knowing Beane, Zito will probably be traded at the deadline to get some value back. I wonder how that will go.

Knowing Beane, Zito will probably be traded at the deadline to get some value back. I wonder how that will go.

Not really. If Zito walks, the A's get 2 compensatory picks. Unless he gets something that bests that (aka, Lastings Milledge), he'll just let him play out the string.

Didn't Zito say he wouldn't sign with the New York Yankees?

I know this year he said he'd sign with either NY team. Before I thought he'd become a Met. Now, with this Boras news, the smart money may be on the LA Dodgers (the same team that signed Boras client JD Drew)

Didn't Zito say he wouldn't sign with the New York Yankees?

 

Didn't Giambi? Money talks.

I know it's Boras' job to hype his client, but comparing him to mid 90's Maddux is insane, Maddux was incredible during that time period.

 

He'll sign for a ton of $$$, he's left handed, Boras is his agent and a lot of the big teams have no pitching. I imagine the Cardinals, NY Yankees, NY Mets, Red Sox, Cubs, Rangers will offer big money for him.

Ha.

Yankees

Red Sox

Boras

You fill in the rest

Yankees

Red Sox

Boras

You fill in the rest

 

the story on ESPN writes itself: "One of the two teams in baseball gets reinforcements!"

Damn. I don't like this. Why? Because I'm expecting Zito to set Buehrle's market value.

Don't just assume Yankees and Red Sox. It's not like most Boras clients go there. In fact, Boras will often use those teams to get teams like the Rangers, Dodgers, Angels, Cardinals, etc. to bid up

Damn. I don't like this. Why? Because I'm expecting Zito to set Buehrle's market value.

Good. I don't want Buehrle back.

Knowing Beane, Zito will probably be traded at the deadline to get some value back. I wonder how that will go.

 

With the A's sitting in first place, I doubt he gets traded, unless beane gets blown away by somebody. They didn't trade Giambi or Tejada. Beane will see how he does in the postseason and get two picks.

Don't just assume Yankees and Red Sox. It's not like most Boras clients go there. In fact, Boras will often use those teams to get teams like the Rangers, Dodgers, Angels, Cardinals, etc. to bid up

I agree, but I still think the Yanks are a good bet. They could use a decent lefty with that rf porch, and Randy hasn't been as good as advertised. Getting someone as young as Zito could be exactly what they're looking for. I mean, they wanted Milton, for chrissakes.

Edited July 11, 200619 yr by jackie hayes

THey've shown a minor reluctance to add a ton of payroll lately (although Damon was one guy). To me, that means they might have to choose between adding a superstar right-fielder or a superstar pitcher. I think they will be in on Schmidt and the other FA"s too (although Schmidt is rumored to consider Seattle)