Brian Sabean Giant Blunders Countdown: #2 Barry Zito, and a Surprise #1

Finishing off my list of the top five Sabean bust “moves” (or lack thereof) …

#2- Barry Zito

This is such an obvious bust that I almost don’t even want to insult anyone’s intelligence by explaining it.  Let’s just say that the writing was on the wall (before Sabean pulled the trigger) that Zito was not the same guy that won the AL Cy Young.  It’s beyond baffling that Sabean made a pitcher with sub-mediocre velocity the richest in MLB history at $126-million.  But SEVEN YEARS to boot?  Granted, no one could have predicted just how awful Zito was going to become.  But again, this was a move that had Giants fans scratching their heads as soon as it happened.  That $18-mil per season could’ve gone towards a lot of other gaps in this team, and it’s basically now just a write-off.  SF Chronicle Giants reporter Henry Schulman reported today that Zito was throwing BP and showing “great control.”  What’s new here?  That Zito’s throwing BP to the Giants instead of the other team?  It must be easier to spot your pitches when they’re only 72 MPH.  I hope for all of our sakes that Zito’s worst Giants years are behind him, and that somehow he can Jamie Moyer his career back into shape (i.e., learn how to be a finesse / junk pitcher with mental toughness).  Nothing would make me happier than to see the guy pull a David Copperfield and somehow get his career back on track.

And a surprise #1- NOT ONCE protecting Bonds with a big bat in the lineup

Ok, looking at Sabean’s “moves” objectively, Zito’s contract should be at the #1 spot here.  But what bothers me most as a Giants fan is the sub-mediocre offensive talent that Sabean put around Bonds in the lineup during the peak years of his career.  Look at teams like the Mets, with Wright, Beltran, Reyes and Delgado.  As a Giants fan, it’s a foreign concept to see such a star-studded offensive lineup.  And when you look back at Bonds turning freaking Jeff Kent into the NL MVP, you gotta wonder what might have been if Sabean had ever put even one legit offensive superstar into that lineup either in front of or behind Barry Bonds.  Rewind back to the early ’00’s – before Bonds’ steroid use was known.  All that was known at that time was that this guy was off the charts in his productivity.  The combination of on base percentage and power numbers was unreal.  But just look at the weakness of the guys batting before and after Bonds year after year, during the peak / twilight of his career:

2001
#2- Rich Aurilia
#3- Bonds
#4- Kent

2002
#2- Aurilia
#3- Bonds
#4- Sanders

2003
#3- Aurilia
#4- Bonds
#5- Alfonso

2004
#3- Tucker
#4- Bonds
#5- Alfonzo

2006
#3- Durham
#4- Bonds
#5- Alou

Rich freaking Aurilia batting in front of the all-time HR king all those years?  Michael freaking Tucker?  A fat and declining Edgardo freaking Alfonso batting behind him?  WTF?!  This was so frustrating to experience as a fan.

In 2003 and 2004, Bonds had 45 HRs in each year (and avg 25 doubles), and yet only 90 and 101 RBIs in each of those years, respectively.  That is amazing to think about – that a guy could have that many HRs and extra base hits and yet that relatively few RBIs when batting in the cleanup spot.

Bonds’ steroid use is a separate issue, and is really after the fact anyway.  I’ve just been disgusted as a Giants fan (in this era of huge free agent spending, big market teams) to repeatedly see the Giants NOT get a single legit super star year after year, during the peak of Bonds’ career.  The Yankees get A-Rod.  The Angels get Vlad.  The Tigers get Magglio.  The Mets get Beltran. The list goes on and on of the awesome offensive players that Sabean repeatedly did NOT get.  How is this possible, when the Giants are in a big market and consistently are hovering around the top five in MLB attendance?

It takes a real incompetent GM.

Btw, other “notable blunders” that did not make this list:

• Sidney Ponson (this guy was a disaster)
• Ryan Klesko (did Sabean lose a bet to Bruce Bochy?)
• Omar Vizquel (would have been a great pickup if the Giants were a baseball museum and not a team)
• Ray Durham (totally overpaid him based on historical performance)

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