Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
December 24, 2006
Zito Speculation

John Harper in the New York Daily News speculates that the Rangers trade for Brandon McCarthy means the Rangers are less interested in Barry Zito. And that's good for the Mets.

The Mets believe their chances of signing free agent Barry Zito improved last night with the news that the Rangers, apparently discouraged about their own pursuit of Zito, traded top prospects to the White Sox for highly regarded righthander Brandon McCarthy.

How much the Mets' chances improved is anyone's guess, considering that the Giants and Mariners, and perhaps another team or two, are in the hunt for Zito and may have an edge if whispers are true that the lefthander ideally would prefer to stay on the West Coast. Still, the Rangers were considered something of a wild card in the Zito sweepstakes if only because they were widely viewed as the team that would make the highest bid. The Mets took the trade for McCarthy as a sign that Texas either was getting indications that Zito wants no part of pitching in such a hitter-friendly ballpark or that the Rangers themselves aren't willing to pay $100 million-plus for a pitcher who is not regarded as an ace.

I don't buy it. The Rangers needed at least two starting pitchers, and McCarthy is one of those. Given Brandon's limited time in the majors, he's an inexpensive ballplayer. The trade should not effect the Rangers pursuit of Zito. Harper and the Mets realize that might be true:

The Mets were aware that Rangers GM Jon Daniels, speaking about the trade for McCarthy last night, said publicly that he wasn't encouraged about his chances of landing Zito. "At this point I'm not optimistic about that," Daniels said. "I don't really want to get into specifics of our conversations, other than to say I'm not terribly encouraged by our chances."

The Mets were wary about taking such a statement at face value, especially considering Rangers owner Tom Hicks' history as both a big spender and a man who historically hasn't said no to Zito's agent Scott Boras. At the very least, however, the Mets believe Daniels was trying to gain leverage with Boras, both with the trade and his public comments, apparently to keep the price from skyrocketing. Daniels also told reporters they shouldn't believe the rumors that the Rangers had made an offer in the $100 million range. "One way or another this looks like a good thing," the Mets' source said.

At some point, teams do need to make offers, however. The question is will they hold firm to the price, or engage in a bidding war. It strikes me that a bidding war favors the Rangers. If it's really about where Zito wants to play, a fair offer should land him.


Posted by David Pinto at 08:53 AM | Free Agents | TrackBack (0)
Comments

My first impression was that this would increase the Rangers' pursuit of Zito. They gave up 2 good prospects for a good prospect who is ready for the rotation. If they add Zito they have a nice rotation.

Posted by: Basura at December 24, 2006 11:56 AM

The signing could have been to show Zito that they are serious about winning.

Posted by: Dave at December 24, 2006 02:09 PM
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