From Baseballin’ on a Budget’s interview with Paapfly’s Rory Paap:
Should Giants Release Barry Zito?
DH: What's the best way for [the Giants] to utilize Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand? Bench? Trade? Release? Ballboy?
RP: With Zito, you just keep running him out there. The notion that it's a good idea to release him outright is outrageous. He's way overpaid, that's obvious. But he's also a league-average pitcher. They pay those guys about $5 to $10 million a season, last I checked. What's more, the Giants' pitching depth is non-existent. They need him.
All true.
Last season, six pitchers started 161 of the Giants' 162 games. One of those six was Todd Wellemeyer, now fighting for a job with the Cubs; the other five are slated for the rotation this season, and the Giants don't have another Madison Bumgarner waiting in the wings. They need those five, including Zito. And they need those five healthy. Which they were, incredibly so, last season.
The only reason you release or salary-dump Zito is that you just can’t stand to look at him anymore. Which happens more than you might think. But it’s usually not good baseball.
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