If he had the choice to do it over again, Giants GM Brian Sabean says he would still have signed Barry Zito to his massive seven-year, $126MM contract, Andrew Baggarly of Comcast Sports Net Bay Area tweets. That's likely merely a case of a GM expressing confidence in and goodwill toward his player, since Zito has essentially been a back-of-the-rotation starter since the contract was signed, never posting an ERA better than his 4.03 mark in 2009. Zito has totaled just 5.9 fWAR over the life of the contract (which expires at the end of the season), making him one of the most overpaid players in baseball history. Here are more notes on the Giants.
- Sabean is bearish on the free agent market, both for pitching and hitting, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. He will instead prioritize retaining his own players. The Giants will, however, be looking for another starting pitcher, even if they keep Tim Lincecum.
- Sabean says the window of opportunity that led to the Giants winning the 2012 World Series is now shut, tweets John Shea of the Chronicle. "We've got to create a new window," Sabean says.
- The Giants aren't likely to be top bidders for international players like Cuban first baseman Jose Abreu or Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, tweets Baggarly. Sabean has scouted Abreu in the Dominican Republic, but Shea writes that the Giants didn't think highly of Abreu's swing or his defense.
