Barry Zito, Athletics agree to minor-league deal
By Ryan Ratty
Barry Zito has reunited with the Oakland Athletics
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In professional sports, athletes who are nearing the end of their careers sometimes come back to the team they first started playing with. Barry Zito started playing professional baseball in 2000, bursting onto the scene with the Oakland Athletics, starting 14 games with a record of 7-4 and an ERA of 2.72. Zito would go on to play the next six years of his career playing with the Athletics before landing with the cross-bay San Francisco Giants.
After seven years with the Giants, where he won two World Series trophies, Zito will be returning back to the team he started his career with and join the Athletics.
According to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, Zito will sign a minor-league deal with the Athletics and he will report to training camp.
Blast from the past: Barry Zito is going to sign a minor-league deal with the #Athletics and come to spring camp.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) February 17, 2015
Perhaps the most respected reporter in all of the MLB in Jon Heyman confirmed the report saying that Zito will, in fact, head to Oakland.
zito gets $1M base plus 175K in incentives on a's minor-league deal. @susanslusser 1st with agreement
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 17, 2015
This is a homecoming for Zito. In 1999, Zito was Oakland’s first-round pick. In his first stint with Oakland, Zito had a record of 102-63, an ERA of 3.55, a Cy Young Award in 2002, and three All Star appearances.
Although it’s a great publicity stunt by the Athletics and it will get a ton of attention from sports media, the probability of Zito making the professional roster is extremely slim. Zito hasn’t had an ERA of under 4.00 since 2006, which was his last year with the Athletics.
Even though Zito is hoping to prove that he has something left in the tank, the fact of the matter is that he will have a struggle in the hitter-dominated American League. Zito will turn 37 years old in May and if he does, indeed, make the professional roster, he will make $1 million.
Source says Barry Zito to make $1 million if on Major League roster.
— Jane Lee (@JaneMLB) February 17, 2015
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