Barry Zito

As Barry Zito made his first Spring start on Monday and, true to form, Zito was completely off. You never know what you're going to get from Zito, and it seems to have been his persona since coming to the Giants after signing a 7 year / $128M deal.

The fans are tired of this guy, and in all respect, you can't blame them. When it comes to the extent of keeping a job, everything is serious, and is the case for Zito right now.

Led by manager Bruce Bochy, the Giants will enter the 2011 season as the defending World Series champions for the first time since their days in New York, and they hope to find a way to repeat.

With an exception of the acquisition of shortstop Miguel Tejada and the departures of shortstop Edgar Renteria and second baseman Juan Uribe, the 2011 Giants will have a very similar feel to the squad that won it all in 2010.

Back in 2006, all the buzz was about how Barry Zito signed the largest contract in the MLB for a pitcher. In 2011 that contract is still the talk of the baseball world, but for all the wrong reasons.

By signing the seven year contract, Zito immediately became the richest pitcher in baseball history. His contract was worth $126 million and included another option year in 2014.

Just over half way through his contract, the Giants I'm sure have been trying to find some kind of way to move Zito and the $60+ million left on it.

Winning a major baseball award is typically a big step towards fame, riches and potentially a place in the MLB Hall of Fame. But not every MVP, ROY, Cy Young or Rolaids Relief award winner is destined for greatness. Some of them simply become trade bait.

With the baseball off-season wrapping up and Spring Training just around the corner, here's a look at 10 major award winners who could be changing teams this year.

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In 2007, Bruce Bochy became the Giants' manager.  In that season, the team won 71 games and finished last in their division.  In each season since then, the Giants have improved their win-loss record while finishing higher in the division. 

Four years ago the Giants were a mess.  They were old, they were brittle, and they were overshadowed by Barry Bonds’ tainted journey to a record nobody outside of the bay really wanted to see broken.

I thought I'd take a look at which players had the best decade in several key areas of the game. I don't really care who hit the most homers or had the highest batting average.

While those statistics are useful, they are talked about a bit too much at the expense of some others. So let's take a look at some other things.

Note: my decade doesn't include 2000.

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We all know about the saga of the fifth wheel: the unnecessary adjunct that comes along for the ride without contributing much, if anything.  When talking about the San Francisco Giants, two prominent and obvious fifth wheels come immediately to mind—Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand.

In 2010, the San Francisco Giants won the World Series with a top-of-the-line rotation featuring four great starting pitchers, including two-time Cy Young-winner "big time Timmy Jim" Lincecum and his 231 strikeouts.

Each member of the Giants fab four have an ERA in the threes with Lincecum and Sanchez recording over 200 strikeouts.

Madison Bumgarner has emerged as the Cole Hamels of their staff with a 3.00 ERA in 18 starts.

MLB free agency is here, and every season, teams shell out millions upon millions of dollars in an attempt to bolster their rosters for the upcoming season.

However, many times the players do not pan out, and from time to time, a signing goes so terribly wrong that years later, a simple mention of the players name will no doubt evoke groans from the team's fan base.

I was watching ESPN's "30 for 30" on the 2004 Boston Red Sox miracle comeback against the New York Yankees in the ALCS earlier tonight, and I realized something about our San Francisco Giants and their overpaid, but ironically worthless pitcher Barry Zito.