zito rumor

[j_d_mcnugent]

Thursday, December 2, 2004

The Pitch on Pitching



It’s time to report some more rumors and some speculation about Cardinals pitching, 2005 style.



Zito Offer Made

I have it from a very good source that the Cardinals recently made a firm proposal to the Oakland A’s for Barry Zito offering a package including Jason Marquis.



However, at this point, it is unclear whether the A’s want to move another starter, now that they dumped Mark Redman’s contract (and reliever Arthur Rhodes’ too) on the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Jason Kendall deal. Yet, the inclusion of Marquis would afford the A’s a less-expensive rotation replacement for Zito.



The feeling is that Dave Duncan could tinker with Zito and return him to past glory after a difficult 2004. Zito, 26, had a disappointing 11-11 record with an alarming 4.48 ERA, over a run worse than his previous career low point.



The lefty is signed for 2005 at $4.8 million and currently has about 4-1/2 years of MLB service time. As a result, I believe he could be kept for two more seasons. However, his teammate, Tim Hudson, will be a free agent after the 2005 season, perhaps making Zito a more attractive target financially.

http://home.earthlink.net/~brwalton/

if you arent familiar with the source, walton writes for http://www.thestlcardinals.com/ which was the first place to break the news on pujols $100 million deal. they have some credibility, more than the post dispatch in my opinion.

[Mookie4ever]

I know that he has pissed some people off but I would rather have Marquis on my staff than Zito.

Duncan is amazing at tinkering with pitchers' mechanics and turning them around but with Zito I'm not sure that you wouldn't need a psychiatrist and not a pitching coach. He's the flakiest thing since the graham cracker.

[j_d_mcnugent]

I know that he has pissed some people off but I would rather have Marquis on my staff than Zito.

Duncan is amazing at tinkering with pitchers' mechanics and turning them around but with Zito I'm not sure that you wouldn't need a psychiatrist and not a pitching coach. He's the flakiest thing since the graham cracker.

the thing about marquis is that he doesnt want to listen. tony and dunc asked him to make some changes because they thought he was tipping pitches and he refused. then he pouted about being dropped to 4th starter for the WS. i have heard pretty much the same story when he was with atlanta. marquis could still be good. i am not writing him off. but i think now is a good 'sell high' time on jason. marquis may need the psychiatrist as much as zito and his ceiling isnt nearly as high.

[SaintsOfTheDiamond]

Personally I'd rather have Zito than Marquis. I think Marquis was more a product of Mazzone and the Atlanta mystique than anything. Zito is a huge upgrade and a what's more a lefty. It may be wishful thinking, but I think a change of scenery may do him some good.

[StlSluggers]

If I have to choose:

Zito
Marquis

[j_d_mcnugent]

all of the other sources i have seen said we are after hudson, not zito. doesnt matter too much to me, i wouldnt mind having either of them.

[SaintsOfTheDiamond]

all of the other sources i have seen said we are after hudson, not zito. doesnt matter too much to me, i wouldnt mind having either of them.

Same here.