Tony DeMarco

You can compile a long list of teams with a better chance to win multiple world championships in the next seven years than the San Francisco Giants.

In fact, the list could begin with the team Barry Zito used to pitch for — the Oakland Athletics — who have a new stadium and increased revenues in their near future, to go with one of the game’s best general managers and talent-producing systems.

It also would include a team Zito could have pitched for — the New York Mets — the National League’s best club last season until October, complete with Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine and budding superstars Jose Reyes and David Wright.

And we’ll never know, but if the New York Yankees are able to deal Randy Johnson, perhaps they would have been interested in Zito’s services at a more-reasonable, eight-figure price for the rest of this decade and beyond.

But when the San Francisco Giants made Zito a seven-year, $126-million offer, his stated top priority of winning multiple world championships — his words in The San Francisco Chronicle last week — took a back seat. And the fact that Zito last year shunned his former representation in favor of big-deal hunter Scott Boras struck home loud and clear.

As things played out, there really wasn’t anybody close to the Giants’ offer of $18 million per year over seven years. The Texas Rangers — another stretch to win anything any time soon — reportedly put about $87 million on the table. The Mets were believed to be a bit shy of that number, as they wisely wouldn’t budge off a five-year maximum offer.

So in Zito’s defense, he would have been leaving a tremendous amount of money on the table by turning down the Giants — much more so than the mistake Mike Hampton made by taking one extra guaranteed year and $121 million from the Rockies when the Cardinals reportedly offered about $105 million.

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But then why utter the multiple world championships goal in the first place? The Giants weren’t even a serious contender in the mediocre National League West in the last two seasons. They were no better than the third-best team in the division before signing Zito, and even with him, still might be.

Zito replaces Jason Schmidt in the Giants’ rotation, and there isn’t that much difference between the two other than Zito being six years younger and his remarkable record of durability. He hasn’t missed a start in his career, and is third in innings pitched over the last six seasons.

The signing also works for Zito on a couple of other levels. He stays in the Bay Area, where he obviously is comfortable. The move to the National League figures to lower his ERA by a half-run or so. The Giants’ spacious home park also works well for a flyball pitcher. And Zito’s presence could benefit Noah Lowry, a young left-hander in a similar mold — minus the big curveball.

INTERACTIVE By MSNBC.com's Tony DeMarco

But the Giants remain flawed in other ways. Zito and Barry Bonds together will make about $34 million in 2007, or about 33-35 percent of the payroll, and that kind of top-heavy imbalance rarely translates into a championship team. Not to mention the uncertainty surrounding a possible indictment of Bonds.

And for all their roster tinkering, the Giants still have Armando Benitez as their closer, and remain too old. Their idea of ‘getting younger’ was discarding 40-somethings Moises Alou and Steve Finley, and bringing in mid-30-somethings Dave Roberts, Rich Aurilia and Ryan Klesko.

They are built to win now, but don’t really have the necessary parts to do so. Perhaps if they get a productive season from Bonds and put things together, they can win the West with 90 or so victories. But what happens in 2008 and beyond? All we know is that Zito will be taking up $18 million of the payroll each season until 2113.

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And Zito as the game’s highest-paid pitcher doesn’t fit, either. While he is 28 and an impressive 102-63 lifetime, his greatest asset is durability, his Cy Young Award came in 2003, and he is 39-36-4.05 since.

That’s what the Mets apparently were thinking, as they were in the five-year, $75-million range, and might have gone a bit higher to get it done. The Yankees never really got into the mix, as they apparently saw Zito more as a $12-14-million pitcher. And when the Mets and Yankees think you’re too pricey, that has to mean something.

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