Zito, E and Those Damn Glasses

(Note: Apologies for the delay, server issues. Enjoy.)

Before I get going with today's piece, I thought I'd bring up a couple of things from last week that are only getting worse.

First, those sunglasses. After a Sunday morning run at SF's hardest basketball courts, I strolled through the Marina, San Fran's version of a polo ad, with teammates big Maciej and Bannon the Banker.

It was like god knew I hated those sunglasses, so out the came. Every girl's was bigger than the one before her. Girls that might be really attractive, I just couldn't tell. Girls that were probably really busted. I just couldn't tell. The reason being that those glasses cover half a girl's face.

They are quickly surpassing girls-from-Long-Island-named-Lindsay-who-went-to-Syracuse-or-GW and are "amazing" as the all-time worst girl fad.

Then there is the whole thing on Entourage with E and the 5'10 uber-hot blonde. Did anyone else see them both standing up at the pool, where she had a good 8 inches on him? Not even good camera work could hide this one. Could this be more any unbelievable if they tried? Who the hell is writing this show anyway?

Here's a more logical play, Sloane, E's already too-hot girl friend, introduces tall blonde model to E's friend, the huge movie star. He gets her and then moves on. Seems logical no?

Back to business. As rumors heat up about a potential Lastings Milledge-for-Barry Zito package, it is time to start weighing this situation more closely. Below are a list of pros and cons to the deal. I think you will be able to see which direction I lean.


The Pros

1. Simple enough: Barry Zito.

We are getting Barry Zito. The guy is one of the top 10-15 starters in baseball who has playoff experience and has looked tremendous of late.

2. Zito the No. 3.

Zito plugs in perfectly into the rotation behind Pedro and Glavine, providing the Mets with an extremely formidable 1-2-3 heading into the postseason.

What people must realize though is that the Mets would still most likely go to a 4-man rotation in the playoffs to save Pedro and Glavine. Still, what this means is that we would be getting Pedro-Glavine-Zito 4 out 5 and then 6 out of 7 in 5- and 7-game series, respectively.

3. The Mets: Intimidators.

This deal would really solidify the Mets as intimidators. This team has been the class of the NL for all of 2006. Still, the respect isn't quite there yet. Acquiring Zito would be the move that really woke baseball up to the Mets. For better or for worse.

4. Zito the innings eater.

Zito gets you deep into a game. The guy is a known workhorse. In a rotation filled with 5-6 inning guys, Zito's 6-7 inning per start would be a huge relief on an already taxed bullpen. We need Sanchez and Wagner at full strength in October, especially with the recent decline of Aaron Heilman.

The Cons

1. Bon Voyage, Lastings.

First and foremost, we are giving up Milledge. Milledge is a guy who will be ready to start next year at Shea and will be locked in as a Met for cheap for the next 6 years.


While his 3-week stint in the show had its ups and downs, it is way too early to tell with this guy. I'm not a scout nor do I pretend to be, so I'm going to have faith in the 99% of scouts who say this guy is the real deal. Giving that up could prove disastrous.

2. The ever-promising young cornerstones.

Milledge is yet another piece of the young core. After trading Scott Kazmir for a bag of shit and a slap to the junk, Mets brass vowed never to make a similar deal.

Over the last couple of years the Mets have developed David Wright and Jose Reyes who have since become the core of the team along with Carlos Beltran.

This Big Three has Mets fans not only excited for today, but also excited for the next 10 years at Shea. There is no reason why Milledge can't join them to make it a Big 4. This guy seems to be as or more highly touted than either Reyes or Wright was. Imagine if he became great? This lineup would be scary.

3. Soft-tossing in October.

Zito the Finesse Guy. Zito is a soft-tosser. His fastball tops out at 89-90 and he relies on a big hook and a changeup as well as a tremendous pitcher's IQ to dominate hitters.

We have all seen what happens in October. October is the month of the power pitcher. On those cold nights in New York it is the time of year when Josh Beckett's 96 mph fastball feels like 99. It is also the time where it is harder for "feel" pitchers to control their curve balls and off speed stuff.

Look back at Greg Maddux and how great he was in the 90's and think of which Braves pitcher was the best in October. It was always John Smoltz. Every year a different power pitcher emerges as a star.

A. '05 it was Contreras
B. '04 was Schilling
C. '03 was Beckett
D. '02 was K-Rod
E. '01 Schilling and Johnson

How many guys throwing 87 mph can you add to that list? This truth doesn't bode well for the Mets in general, but it definitely doesn't bode well when it comes to acquiring Zito.

4. Zito the Rental.

We are trading for Zito to make a push for October. The guy is a rental and could be signed by the Mets 3 months later, or he could split. You never know, especially with a guy repped by Scott Boras.

5. Zito the Rental Part II: The Mike Hampton Factor.


We all remember what happened with Mike Hampton. He led us, we loved him, he left us, and we hated him. Just imagine us getting Zito and not winning the whole thing. That certainly would suck. Now imagine the same situation, only with the following…

6. Zito signs with the Yankees.

Fresh off their first October-free season in 10 years, humiliated by the Mets stealing the back pages, the Yankees truly vow to sign every player in baseball.

They throw more money at Zito than he and the next pitcher on the market are worth combined. George Steinbrenner just has to have him, and more so, he has to make sure the Mets don't have him. He needs the back page. Now, all of a sudden we have traded our best prospect for a player who has left us for own personal cancer. That's bad.

* * * * *

One of the reasons I bring up Zito today is because all Mets fans, as Mets fans do, are now really nervous about Mike Pelfrey. They see the Jered Weaver's and Francisco Liriano's dominating the AL and don't understand why our phenom is struggling.

All I can say is, both of them are anomalies. Young pitchers don't dominate like they do.

Give Pelfrey time. We don't need him for 2006. We need him for 2008-16. We have the amazing luxury of allowing this guy to work out his kinks in the bigs now and still maintain a humungous lead. How many other times could a star pitcher get "practice" in games that actually matter?

Pelfrey's struggles should not impact our thoughts on Zito. Assuming the Mets are on pace to make the playoffs, we are essentially trading for Zito for no more than 5 starts in October.

After all the stuff I said there is still no right answer. If acquiring Zito won the Mets a World Series, I'd probably throw in my brother and the rights to my first born (daughter).

Anything short of that, though, and in hindsight the deal would look foolish. This is a tremendous risk to take. As I have said in the past, Barry Zito isn't Curt Schilling '01-'04. He's a finesse guy not a power guy. We all know that power pitchers dominate October.

Zito is not the perfect option, but he is the best option out there. Is he really worth it?

Only Wheel and Deal Minaya can make that decision. Either way he goes, we will only be able to tell come October.

VCD,

SM