Thank to the Giants we may have a new record very soon. When the Giants moved Barry Zito to the bullpen earlier this week they now have inched a little closer to setting the record for highest paid relief pitcher of all time. What makes for even more of a good laugh is that he won’t even be their closer. Thanks to the great site Cot’s Baseball Contracts lets see how close the Giants are to setting some records.
Here is Zito’s salary compared to the highest paid (for now) relief pitcher of all time
Barry Zito’s 2008 Salary $14.5 Million
Mariano Rivera’s 2008 Salary $15 Million
But this is not really fare comparing a long relief pitcher to a top shelf closer. Lets take a look at Zito’s salary compared to the highest paid non closers.
Kyle Farnsworth’s 2008 Salary $5.5 Million
Tom Gordon’s 2008 Salary $5.5 Million
Danny Baez’s 2008 Salary $4.5 Million
The Giants are safe for now though, but don’t worry though they just need to keep this up till next year to have that record all to them selves.
Barry Zito’s 2009 Salary $18.5 Million
Mariano Rivera’s 2009 Salary $15 Million
2 responses so far ↓
Dodge // April 30, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Will Zito ever make it back to the starting rotation? What’s the Giants biggest concern with him?
drakez // April 30, 2008 at 9:15 pm
He could make it back but it will likely take some time. He has a lot of control problems and while he has never lit up the radar gun he is currently pitching in the mid to upper 80s. In his prime he was in the low 90s. Right after he got to San Francisco he changed his mechanics which doesn’t seem like the thing you would want to do after winning a Cy Young and just signing a huge contract in the supposed prime of your career. I think the Giants are using this as a wake up call to try to get him back on track. Maybe even sending him down to work on his mechanics for a while might be a step they have to take. They have invested to much money in him to continue using him as a long reliever. Although sending him out there every fifth day just to get rocked isn’t really getting to much out of your investment either.