Thank You Omar, Thank You

The burning question on every Met fan’s mind last year was,” Why didn't Omar go for Barry Zito right in the beginning of the off season?”

Could it have been that his agent, Scott Boras, wanted to wait the market out to see what Daisuke Matsuzaka was going to wind up making? Could it have been that Barry just really wanted to stay on the West Coast? Or was it because Rick Peterson knew what the Mets would be getting with Barry Zito?

Now sporting an 8.18 earned run average and an 0-2 record, it seems like the Mets made a great deal after all. In not signing Zito to the monster contract that he thought he so deserved, the Mets didn’t freeze up their spending for seven years.

The Giants on the other hand just put themselves in titanium handcuffs for years to come, while obtaining a sub-par pitcher. They’re a losing team that, I guess, felt that they had to do some spending in order to make them feel like they had a chance. Their old ace (Mike Schmidt) moved on to L.A. (where he may have made a nice deal, but is now on the DL) and their power hitting left fielder (Moises Alou), who moved to Queens for bigger and better things.

The question you have to ask yourself now is what would have happened if the Mets did sign Barry to the 5 year 73 million contract they wanted to? Would Rick Peterson have fixed Barry like he did in the past? Would Zito have taken advantage of the spacious outfield that Shea Stadium has to offer? Or would he simply buckle under the New York spotlight, like so many other sure things before him?

I guess we’ll never find out. But one thing is for certain. Thank Omar we didn’t get Barry Zito.