So the most-bandied-about-name in free agency this offseason has finally signed. Barry Zito will stay in California, but with the Giants, who were looking to add a franchise player to take over from the held-together-with-chewing-gum-and-bobby-pins Barry Bonds. From ESPN:

Barry Zito and the Giants reached a preliminary agreement on the largest pitcher contract in baseball history, a $126 million, seven-year deal…A source familiar with Zito’s contract told ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick that the agreement includes an $18 million option for 2014 with a $7 million buyout that could increase the value 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. Zito also has a full no-trade clause.

While this is a lot of money and a risky number of years, the Giants were apparently willing to gamble on Zito’s durability. He’s made more than thirty starts for and thrown 200 innings for each of the last six seasons and has never missed a start.

Nevertheless, the cities that missed out—Texas and New York—aren’t exactly crying into their Cracker Jack.

Tim Cowlinshaw of the Dallas Morning News is urging Rangers fans to rejoice on missing out on Zito:

It’s easy to be fooled by the numbers. Zito’s were mostly good in 2006 – a 16-10 record, a 3.83 ERA that was his best since 2003.

He also had a career-high 99 walks. And it’s his numbers the last four years, since his 2002 Cy Young season, that provide a fuller picture of what the Giants are getting in return for that $126-million pledge.

Last year was the first time since 2002 that Zito had the best ERA on Oakland’s starting staff. First time he ranked higher than third, in fact.

Meanwhile, in New York, the papers reflect the frustration of Mets fans, who thought they had Zito in the bag. The New York Times:

[T]he Mets have now missed out on four pitchers this off-season — Daisuke Matsuzaka, Kei Igawa, Jeff Suppan and Zito. They were also unwilling to part with the prospects the Chicago White Sox desired to obtain Freddy García, who wound up going to their divisional rival, the Philadelphia Phillies.

But I have a feeling if the Mets had topped the Giants’ offer, New Yorkers wouldn’t exactly be dancing in the streets. While Omar Minaya was willing to offer a higher average annual salary than some of the other teams in the running, he was not willing to give the 28-year old pitcher a contract of more than five years. And to lure Zito away from his California home, the Mets would have had to meet Boras’s 7-year mark and top San Fran’s offer of $18 million per. That’s just nutty.

Nevertheless, Zito’s new home city has nothing but stars in its eyes (though maybe they’re just the dazed stars seen by someone who has just been hit on the head). From SFGate.com’s Gwen Knapp:

At last, the Giants showed some guts — and some brains directly attached to those newly fortified intestines.

It’s not the $126 million for Barry Zito that makes such an impression. It’s the seventh year on the contract.

No one else had the stomach for it. They bought the conventional wisdom that pitchers, no matter how young or durable, aren’t worth that kind of risk. History said no, don’t do it.

And Chronicle writer John Shea can barely contain his excitement:

Without Barry Zito, the Giants would have been considered a sub-.500 team, struggling for a third straight season in the feeble National League West.

No ace. No closer. No third hitter.

With Barry Zito, everything changes.

Well, that’s for sure. Pitching just got that much more expensive. While the Zito deal may look totally insane on its face, look at it in context. After all, proven-commodity pitching is a rare resource, one that every team needs. And this year is one of those bloated, top-dollar years that just happen from time to time in pro sports. Plus, it’s a market where no workhorse, no matter how old or broken, gets put out to pasture, and where a pitcher with no major league experience can command millions. Looked at like that, paying top dollar for a youngish guy with a solid arm doesn’t seem soooo crazy.

Just kinda loopy.

With his passing at the age of 93 yesterday, Gerald Ford is being remembered today for his accidental presidency (he was the only US president in history never elected as president or vice president), and for his infamous pardon of Richard Nixon.  But we should also take time to remember Ford as a sportsman and a baseball fan.

Although Ford is best remembered for his football exploits (he was a football star at Michigan in the 1930s), it is a little known fact that he was an even bigger baseball fan, and his dream growing up had been to become a professional baseball player:

“I had a life-long ambition to be a professional baseball player, but nobody would sign me.”

When Ford returned home from his service in the Navy during World War II, he became a huge fan of Women’s professional baseball.  While the men had been away fighting, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League had started up (as immortalized in the film A League of Their Own) and was still flourishing.  Ford’s hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan had its own team, the Grand Rapids Chicks, and Ford wooed his future wife Betty by taking her to Chicks games. Later Ford was often heard to remember those games fondly:

“Those gals played hard and skillfully and always put on a good show.”

In 1948, Ford was elected to Congress, and soon became the star catcher of the Republican baseball team.  You see, back in those days baseball was so popular, that every year the Democratic congressmen would play a baseball game against the Republican congressmen on the Washington Senator’s home grounds, complete with uniforms and and large crowds. At right, Ford is pictured conferring with his batterymate, pitcher Glenn Davis (R-Wis), prior to the 1949 Republican/Democrat Game.  As to why he was always the catcher, Ford said,

“I usually play the outfield, but everybody else refuses to catch so I’m stuck.”

As vice president, Ford was present at the game when Henry Aaron hit home run number 715 to break Ruth’s all-time record, and actually threw out the first pitch of that contest (pictured above).  There was actually a minor battle of wills at the time between Reds GM Dick Wagner and Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn over whether the game would be interrupted to allow Ford to go onto the field and shake Aaron’s hand, but ultimately Kuhn prevailed and Ford was allowed to shake Aaron’s hand.

As president, Ford threw out the first two pitches at the 1976 All-Star Game, showing his versatility by throwing first righthanded to NL catcher Johnny Bench, and then lefthanded to AL catcher Carlton Fisk. No doubt remembering his own enjoyment of women’s pro baseball, Ford also signed into law a bill forcing Little League Baseball to allow girls to play ball.

And finally, of course, no piece on Gerald Ford would be complete without at least one of his trademark dumb Gerald Ford quotes, and there is indeed a good one having to do with the sport with which this blog is concerned:

“I watch a lot of baseball on the radio.”

Rest in peace, # 38!

So it seems the love affair between baseball jocks and video games doesn’t stop at the clubhouse. I mean, if it’s going keep you on the sidelines, might as well make some money off of it, right?

Well, what about those that do it for fun?

We can now thank Commissioner Damon, as in, Johnny Damon, for his irrefutable dedication to the growing sport of Video Gaming.

On a serious note, Damon is starting a Professional Baseball Video Game League in which he’ll get a chance to tussle online with his fellow peers. Of course, we all know they’ll all be engaging in a friendly game of…Microsoft’s Project Gotham Racing 3 for Xbox 360…

The first season’s roster also includes former Cub Corey Patterson and Rodrigo Lopez of the Orioles, Craig Hansen and Julian Tavarez of the Red Sox, Matt Holliday and Willy Taveras of the Rockies, Prince Fielder of the Brewers, Josh Barfield of the Indians, Derek Lowe of the Dodgers, Seth McClung of the Devil Rays, Mike Pelfrey of the Mets, Luke Hochevar of the Royals and Dallas McPherson of the Angels.

“The league is bringing together two of my biggest passions — baseball and video games — in a way that neither baseball fans nor video gamers have seen before,” Damon said in a statement.

What’s with these ball players and video games? Doesn’t Damon have better things to do in his off-time?

[via Joystiq]

So I was driving home last night, through the rain, from my Aunt’s house in the Baltimore suburbs to my parents’ house in the Philadelphia suburbs, listening to Arizona Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin give an interview on sattelite radio.

Melvin was all, “We’ve got a lot of young, exciting players. I think the next few years are going to be really exciting, with a lot of young guys coming up.” Etc, etc.

Then a news report comes on. The Diamondbacks are trying to trade a package of three players (two of whom are believed to be prospects) for Randy Johnson.

Now, if you’re a young team, the quickest way to get old fast is to trade for Randy Johnson. He’s the oldest player in the world. Okay, technically Julio Franco is the oldest player in the world. But Franco is a kid in a 50 year-old’s body. Johnson has been an old man in a kid’s body since the day he joined the league. Except now he’s an old man in a decaying 43 year-old body.

I just can’t imagine wanting Randy Johnson on my team right now. Sure, he’s going to win his 300th game this year. And that will be special. And it would be great if he could do it in Arizona, a team where he spent some of his best seasons.

But Johnson will cost a lot of money. He’s due $16 million this season, and the Yankees reportedly don’t want to pay any of it. Plus, there’s no reason to think that Johnson will be any better this year than he was last year. And he wasn’t very good last year.

The best part of the Johnson to Arizona rumor is this tidbit from the ESPN.com report:

In need of starting pitching — and a marquee name that will draw more fans — the Diamondbacks have offered a package of at least three players, including a major-leaguer. They would also want a 72-hour window to negotiate an extension with Johnson, who is owed $16 million in the final year of his contract.

An extension? He’s 43! He’s coming off back surgery!

Even more amazing, the Padres are reportedly also trying to land Johnson and are dangling coveted reliever Scott Linebrink (is there a trade rumor that doesn’t involve Linebrink?).

I just don’t know how you do it. I don’t know how you, as a GM, convince yourself that trading for a 43 year-old pitcher who’s coming off a mediocre season and subsequent back surgery is a good idea, especially when that pitcher makes $16 million a season. I know he was good in the past, but the past is the past. Welcome to 2007.

Yes, that’s right: Ken Griffey Jr. is injured yet again.

He can’t even stay healthy in the offseason! This time, it’s a broken bone in his left hand, that he suffered in what reports are only calling a “home accident” because Griffey will not allow anyone to say exactly how the injury occured.

You know what that means!  Either the way he got injuried was terribly embarrassing, or else he got injured doing while something he shouldn’t have been doing.

Reports are now saying that Griffey broke his hand “playing with his children” but that could easily be part of a cover story. What do you think? Was Griffey injured while carrying deer meat for his children, or does “playing with his children” really mean he was popping wheelies on his motorcycle (for his children)?

Just because Chipper Jones has a no-trade clause in his contract doesn’t mean that he won’t have anything to worry about this offseason. Quite the contrary. Jones is being sued.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Jones is being accused by a construction worker from the Philadelphia suburbs of playing a little too rough.

Okay, before we go any further, I think it’s important to point out that I’m not the guy from Philly who’s suing Chipper. But I am loving every minute of it, even if it looks like it’s a totally bogus suit.

Stephen M. Cohen of East Norriton contends that Jones inflicted an “illegal, outrageous and violent assault” on him at the Hyatt Regency hotel at Penn’s Landing at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 3. He seeks more than $50,000 in damages.

From the Inquirer:

The suit, filed in Philadelphia last week, says Cohen asked to be taken to a hospital and was released the same day. It does not identify any injury that he suffered.

It says Cohen, a construction foreman, and his friends saw Jones at the hotel and “yelled to get Chipper Jones’ attention. Chipper Jones ignored them.”

Later, it says, Cohen saw Jones inside the hotel and yelled at him again.

“To Cohen’s shock, Chipper Jones turned, looked at him in a hostile… volatile manner,” the suit says. It says Jones then “threw Cohen down on the marble floor, and began to physically assault Cohen.”

Hotel workers, in depositions, and a police report paint a different picture. One employee testified that he was told that Cohen was “taunting” Jones.

“Mr. Jones didn’t like what it was that he was saying to him, and they got in a scuffle,” the employee said.

I live for Chipper Jones gossip and even I have to admit that this lawsuit seems to be totally bogus. Just about everyone who saw what happens seems to think this construction worker had it coming. Sounds like a guy who is trying to milk a little money from a celeb. Nice try, but I don’t think he’ll get far.

But even if this is a frivolous lawsuit, not all is lost. Behold, the best part of the Inquirer story, by far:

The police report makes no mention of a struggle. “Larry Jones and unidentified male were involved in a verbal altercation,” the report says, using Jones’ legal first name.

Ha ha, Larry! They called you Larry! Sucker! If I harrassed and sued Chipper and all I got out of it was a black eye and a newspaper story that refered to Chipper as “Larry,” it would all be worth it.

So my colleague Nick has thrown down the gauntlet, and I accept his challenge. Cute Baseball Babies it is! I started taking note of CBBs when I saw the photo below, appearing shortly after the Sox won the 2004 World Series. While Gabe’s li’l tykes are probably no longer small enough to properly be called “babies,” since this is the photo that started it all, we will begin with the Kapler kids.

Handsome Gabe, the World Series trophy, and his two adorable babies—it’s enough to send the ol’ ovaries into overdrive:

Honestly, would anyone expect less-than-adorable offspring from this couple? Of course, adding to their familial cuteness is the fact that Gabe and Lisa have their own organization combating domestic violence. Stand-up guys are always cuter.

Gabe Kapler retired earlier this offseason, and Nick and I were discussing the many reasons why this might be. Nick was puzzled because Kapler is young and in reasonably good health. I said, Hey, he’s a smart guy. He’s deep, even. The Sox have made him the manager for their Single-A team, the Greenville (SC) Drive. He doesn’t want to warm the bench forever. He doesn’t want to get bounced from team to team (or back to Japan, for heaven’s sake). And he probably wants to spend a lot more time with these cute, cute baseball babies: