Opinion

I am a Barry Zito fan.  He is not worth his $126 million contract. He is a competent starter. Replacing him would be expensive and ineffective.

Point Proven.

Just kidding.

San Francisco Chronicle writer Bruce Jenkins has stirred up a bit of controversy over his article claiming inside sources are fed up with Barry Zito to the point of releasing him or attempting to buy out his contract prior to opening day.

Possibly the most competitive conference in the National League, the NL East brings excitement to the game year-in and year-out.

In 2010, both the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves earned a trip to the playoffs, while the New York Mets, Florida Marlins and Washington Nationals were left to stay home and improve their short games on the golf course.

When two objects plummet towards a narrow abyss, a meeting becomes more and more likely, until it is inevitable.

Such is the case of the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants pitcher Barry Zito.

I know it sounds crazy, but is it that crazy?

An article released today in the San Francisco Chronicle cited various internal sources that said the San Francisco Giants are prepared to release Barry Zito or attempt to buy out his contract before Opening Day.

The San Francisco Giants opened up their spring training schedule with a 7-6 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks last Friday.

Since then, the Giants have played in four more games, winning and losing two games apiece.

Management has been spreading out playing time between everyone on the roster, as is the norm in the beginning of spring training. Still, some players have already stood out as being in top form in the few games that have been played.

The Rockies have an engine to power them through the 2011 MLB season and that engine is Carlos Gonzalez.  

The Rockies are banking on CarGo and the 80 million dollars they are paying him to take the Rockies back to the postseason. The Rockies are depending on the CarGo engine to the tune of seven years and the aforementioned 80 million dollars.

There is no doubting that, when healthy, Francisco Liriano is among the best starting pitchers in baseball. 

The 27 year-old left-hander signed with the San Francisco Giants as an international free agent in 2000. He later was dealt to the Minnesota Twins prior to the 2004 season as part of a package that included Joe Nathan and Boof Bonser for catcher A.J. Pierzynski. 

A potentially new-and-improved Ross Detwiler took the mound in Viera, Florida yesterday and pitched two scoreless innings against the New York Mets. He allowed just two weak singles, struck out three and didn’t walk a batter.

Earlier this week, I saw a list of the top 25 baseball quotes of all time. Not one of them has taken place since the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run battle of 1998.

It got me to thinking that as wonderful as that chase to Roger Maris' record was, it seems to have done more harm than good.

For as long as most of us can remember, the Dallas Cowboys have been America's Team. 

A lot of that has to do with the teams locale, the dearth of professional teams that existed in America's heartland when the 'Boys broke onto the expansion scene in 1960.