Zito to tour NY next week

Adam Rubin at the NY Daily News, writes about Barry Zito and him going to New York:

Insiders suggest the Mets, who have professed no intention of going beyond five years with Zito, will ultimately offer a comparable deal to Texas and land the durable lefthander - despite their behind-the-scenes campaign to lower expectations about their willingness to aggressively bid.

Zito is expected to tour New York next week.

"Don't believe anything you hear about the Mets not being there (at six years, $16 million per season) for Zito," a major-league source familiar with the situation said. "They're pulling a Carlos Beltran here. He doesn't want to go to Texas and he doesn't want to stay in the Bay Area (with the Giants). And all of his people want him in New York."

Mets officials, who yesterday completed a trade that sent Brian Bannister to Kansas City for hard-throwing reliever Ambiorix Burgos, were skeptical that another transaction would occur before GM Omar Minaya boarded a 3 p.m. plane back to New York today. They met with Zito's agent, Scott Boras, on Monday. Zito already toured Texas last week.