Barry Zito

Veteran pitcher Barry Zito announced his retirement from baseball Monday in an article he wrote for the Players' Tribune:

There has been very little for Oakland Athletics fans to cheer for during the 2015 season, but that will change Saturday when fans are treated to a nostalgic afternoon of baseball.

After spending the entire 2015 season in Triple-A, former American League Cy Young Award winner Barry Zito will join the Oakland Athletics for the final two weeks of the Major League Baseball season.   

According to the A's official Twitter account, Zito and Cody Martin were recalled from Nashville, and Jesse Chavez was placed on the 60-day disabled list. 

Barry Zito and the Oakland Athletics are reuniting. 

The team announced Zito has been signed to a minor league deal: 

The San Francisco Giants pitching staff is officially being put on notice—step up your game.

Pablo Sandoval has gone on the disabled list, reports Mercury News, meaning there's a hole in the middle of the lineup.

Before the 2012 season, San Francisco Giants fans cringed when they heard Barry Zito’s name.

Barry Zito seems to have discovered a dominance over the St. Louis Cardinals recently.

For the second time in three years, the San Francisco Giants will enter spring training with the feeling of being World Series champions. 

However, there are still some questions that need to be answered and some concerns about the defending champions.

The San Francisco Giants have been known for their pitching for a long time. But this year, the staff has regressed a bit.

All five pitchers have gone through rough patches this year, some longer than others. Even Matt Cain, he of the perfect game, 15-5 record and 2.86 ERA, has had his struggles. Madison Bumgarner has too, and Tim Lincecum has had a rough year overall.

Barry Zito has given the San Francisco Giants fans nothing short of 126 million reasons to hate him.

As excited as the Giants' organization and fanbase had been to get the former Cy Young Award winner (can you believe he used to be that good?), San Francisco quickly came to despise the pitcher who all but robbed the bank of one of baseball’s most storied franchises.