New Mets outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. and Giants pitcher Barry Zito are the 21st Century poster boys for big deals gone bad. Something's not right about a fourth outfielder and a No. 4 starter making $11 million a year and $18 million a year, respectively.
Granted, Zito last season made a little headway -- just a little -- toward returning to his Cy Young-winning form. And, of course, that form he displayed at such a relatively young age -- the promise of greatness -- is why the Giants gave him the big contract in the first place. He's going to have to win two or three more Cys (probably not going to happen) to even begin earning that hefty paycheck.
Matthews' salary jump, on the other hand, is harder to swallow. The guy had one decent season -- .313, 19 HRs, 79 RBIs with Texas in 2006 -- and suddenly the Angels were treating him like Torii Hunter (whom the Angels gave yet another huge contract to replace him). Those numbers were all career highs for Matthews -- no 20-homer season, no 100-RBI season. Gary Sr. was a far better player than his son, and he never sniffed the upper echelon of player salaries in his day.
Zito and Matthews ought to think about donating some of that green to the Haiti relief fund -- or, at the very least, to the Washington Nationals.
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