How can you hate Barry Zito?

Barry Zito won two titles while in San Francisco. By Cbl62 (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

Giants fans, how can you really hate Barry Zito so much?

Minutes after a co-worker told me today how excited he was that Zito’s last start was this week, I happened upon an extremely well-written article by Grant Brisbee on SB Nation’s McCoveyChronicles.com about the lefty’s last game as a Giant.

Before the ink was dry, the contract was over-priced. Seven years, $126 million. Even for a laid back guy who Bay Area fans already liked, Zito’s contract raised lots of eyebrows. In his seven years, Zito never posted an ERA under 4.00, went 62-67 (including four 10-plus win seasons), and never got anywhere near his Oakland days, when he won the American League Cy Young Award in 2002.

In the end, though, the Zito cynics cannot claim total victory. For baseball is a team sport. The Giants were in a transition when they signed Zito. His first year on the West side of the bay (2007) was the other Barry’s (Bonds) last. The Giants were trying to find a new identity to move forward and get back to the playoffs. During Zito’s time with the club, their team became one that depended on, more than anything, young pitching.

So I have to ask a few questions that I surely cannot completely answer.

How much did the presence of a former Cy Young winner help shape players like Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Brian Wilson, and Madison Bumgarner? Despite being left off the 2010 playoff roster, what did Zito mean to his teammates as they came up through the Giants’ farm system or were signed as free agents? How did the commitment to a player like Zito impact the entire organization in the post-Bonds era?

My last question is one I would like to answer. The answer is almost definitely YES. It is this:

If your team wins two World Series over the tenure of a contract, don’t the ends justify the means?