UPDATE: Peter Gammons is reporting that the Giants have signed Zito for seven years and approximately $126MM. The deal is said to include an $18MM option for 2014. The Yankees did not make a formal offer. San Francisco’s rotation now looks like this:
Matt Cain
Barry Zito
Noah Lowry
Matt Morris
Jonathan Sanchez
UPDATE: T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports that the Rangers have been told Zito has rejected their six-year, $80MM offer. A source told Sullivan that the Rangers expect Zito to sign with San Francisco.
According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Giants are the frontrunners for Barry Zito and are willing to give him a $100MM contract. The Yankees, Mets, and Rangers aren’t expected to be in that ballpark and don’t want to give him six years. Seattle, however, could get crazy and make such a bid. That would cap a terrible offseason for Bill Bavasi in grand fashion.
The Yankees talked to the Giants about Randy Johnson, but Brian Sabean was not interested. Word is that Johnson is not old enough for San Francisco.
One more note from the column – Sherman mentions Tomo Ohka as a lesser option for Texas. Whether that’s purely speculation is unclear.
Zito seems unlikely to sign before New Year’s Day.
