Chance to play with Bonds gives Zito ‘chills’
Lefty’s $126 million deal moves him across Bay area to San Francisco
 | Barry Zito was 16-10 with a 3.83 ERA for Oakland last season. |
Frank Polich / Reuters file |
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SAN FRANCISCO - True to form, Barry Zito had a little fun when quizzed about how he might alter his style now that he has the richest contract for a pitcher in baseball history.
“I’m just thinking of canning the curveball. Other than that, nothing major,” Zito joked Friday, when his $126 million, seven-year contract with the San Francisco Giants became official.
The former AL Cy Young Award winner passed his physical Friday, the last step in the process for the star left-hander to make the move across San Francisco Bay to the Giants. He is scheduled to be formally introduced at the team’s waterfront ballpark Wednesday.
He’s keeping his nasty curveball, along with the No. 75 he’s been wearing.
“I’d say this is the most important signing we’ve had since we first signed Barry Bonds back in late 1992,” owner Peter Magowan said Friday. “It means that much to the franchise and the future of the franchise. We don’t make this kind of deal every year or every five years. It takes a very special player.”
A player the Giants are convinced will stay healthy — he has never missed a start — lead their young pitching staff and help turn around a team that has missed the playoffs the past three seasons. The Giants are serious about winning a World Series after falling six outs short of the title in 2002.
That’s the same year Zito won 23 games for the Oakland Athletics on his way to the Cy Young Award.
While Zito had prepared himself for a potential move out of the Bay Area and California, he had a good feeling after his first meeting with San Francisco. He appreciated the honesty he sensed from the Giants’ top brass when they met for a long dinner after Thanksgiving in Beverly Hills.
“I know I made the right decision for how it sits in my gut here,” Zito said. “There’s really no adjustment period. ... I think it was primarily the honesty and my instincts were telling me I was getting some standup guys who were being up front. There weren’t a lot of games being played, no mind games. This is my first run at this.”
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The fact he didn’t have to travel far in free agency was attractive, too — just across the Bay Bridge to the city where he lived for most of his first seven big league seasons with the A’s.
Zito said that if he’d been weighing identical offers from the Giants, New York Mets, Texas and Seattle, he still likely would have chosen San Francisco based primarily on his comfort level with the area. The Mets, thought for some time to be the leader in the chase for Zito, wouldn’t budge on a five-year offer.
Zito has some serious job security.
“It’s a lot of years,” he said. “I’m just so thankful that there’s such a commitment there — thankful they would go out on a limb and trust my work ethic. I guarantee I’ll do all the things to stay healthy. That kind of commitment is not something that a lot of people get.”
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His deal includes an $18 million option for 2014 with a $7 million buyout that could increase the value of his deal to $137 million. The option would become guaranteed if Zito pitches 200 innings in 2013, 400 combined over 2012 and 2013 or 600 combined from 2011-13. He also has a full no-trade clause.
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