That’s right, San Francisco Giants pitcher Barry Zito, the highest-paid player on the team, is not on the roster for their playoff series against the Braves.
It’s easy to understand why. The Giants want to have a shot at winning the World Series, and Zito went 9-14 with a 4.15 ERA this season.
In 2006, Zito signed a seven-year, $126 million dollar deal with the Giants after spending seven seasons with the A’s. At the time, Zito was the highest-paid pitcher in the history of baseball. Since then, he has compiled a 40-57 record with an average ERA of about 4.50. In contrast, Zito won the 2002 Cy Young Award with a 2.75 ERA, and he made just $295,000.
Clearly, Zito has failed to live up to expectations. But despite his struggles, he has remained committed to turning his performance around. After a dreadful first two years in San Francisco, Zito labored his way to a respectable 4.03 ERA in 2009. That year, Zito also upped his numbers for a lesser-known sabermetric stat, Wins Against Replacement (WAR), which measures how many wins a player adds over what a replacement player (AAA or bench player) would add. In 2008, he actually had a negative WAR, but in 2009, he had a WAR of 2.0, which is the benchmark of an average starter. This year, he slipped to 1.3, but at least he kept his head above water.
Make no mistake about it: Zito is far overpaid. But there are other players who save him from earning the distinction of having the worst contract in sports history.
For example, Eddy Curry signed a six-year, $60 million dollar deal with the Knicks in 2005. Over the last two years, Curry has played in a total of 10 games. He never has come close to becoming the dominating center the Knicks hoped he would be, and his contract has handicapped the Knicks from making positive moves the past few years. Plus, the Knicks gave up a package of draft picks, one of which turned out to be Joakim Noah.
Or how about the Yankees’ four-year, $39.5 million dollar deal with Carl Pavano? In his first year with the team, he only pitched in 17 games, going 4-6 with a 4.77 ERA. Then over the next three years, Pavano played in a total of nine major league games. Nine! Talk about throwing money away. Sure, the Yankees can afford to eat the salary, but it’s tough to find a bigger waste of funds.
But Zito is making a case.
Where does Barry Zito’s contract rank among the all-time worsts? Share your thoughts below.
