I recently read an article on bleacherreport.com that talked about whether the Giants would consider trading Barry Zito and the rest of his massive contract to a different team sometime this month. At first I agreed with the article, thinking that moving his contract would free up a lot of payroll. Then I thought, Zito has actually had a pretty decent season this year, and why would the Giants get rid of him? We all know that the Giants have one of the best rotations in baseball, but what if one of their pitchers gets hurt and they need a replacement. Now I realize that Zito wasn't really brought into San Francisco just to provide rotation depth, but at this point, that's all you can really use him for.
Zito is owed $19 million for this season, and $20 million for 2013. After 2013, he will be eligible for free agency, if San Francisco chooses to buyout his contract for $7 million. I'm sure that Zito would interest a lot of teams if put on waivers, such as the Orioles, Yankees, Rangers or Cardinals. I doubt that a team would want to take his ginormous deal and stash it in their payroll.
The reality is, the Giants are actually better off with Zito on their team. Now if I said that a few years ago, I'm sure that the entire city of San Francisco would be calling me crazy. Like I said earlier, Zito is pitching exceptionally well, and he is currently serving as the team's number 5 starter. If the Giants were to replace Zito, there really wouldn't be any solid replacement with postseason experience. Eric Surkamp could have been a candidate, but he had Tommy John surgery in July. They also have Brad Penny, who has been working out of the bullpen this season. We don't know if he is ready for a starter's workload and if he is going to even stay healthy.
In my opinion, I think the Giants should keep Zito. Trading him wouldn't be smart considering that San Francisco is in a tight race with Los Angeles for the division. Despite Zito's contract, I feel like he can still be an asset for San Francisco.
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