Sabean should have lost his job when he intentionally gave up his late first-round picks because he claimed the ROI was higher on second-rounders.

That deal was widely mocked at the time it was signed. Word was nobody else was in on Renteria for anything near that price.

but, i think the hampton deal was “better” largely because the giants basically gave zito what was at the time the largest contract ever for a pitcher. that means you think that he is the best pitcher, or one of the top 5 best pitchers, in baseball. at the time, he wasnt even in the top 10…or 15…perhaps in the top 20! Sabean outbid himself (i still dont believe the mariners offered him more) and gave ace/cy young money to a pitcher whose stats were OK, but not ace/cy young like. Zito was four years removed from his cy young season…and in those 4 years between, we saw his numbers decline to a 7-8 million dollar type pitcher. The giants threw 15 million dollar money at him because they wanted to save face after losing out on carlos lee and soriano and to try to prepare themselves for post Bonds with another Barry on the roster.

I think Hampton will turn out to be the best of the bunch. I think his first 2 years in Coors were pre-Humidor, so they weren’t quite as bad as they look. Then he turned in 2.5 averagish seasons with Atlanta before the injuries really took hold. He was still overpaid, but the quality of his IP will probably end up being a good bit better than Zito.

With so much young pitching in the organization, does Zito get to stick around as an overpaid #5 if he can get (and keep) his ERA around 5?

But you are certainly right that if the Giants had waited a month or two they probably could have had Renteria for 1/3 to 1/2 of the money. Pretty much every team that made early signings this year ended up overpaying because of the way the market developed. They paid 2007/08 prices, which were much higher.

dont forget to add Edgar Renteria to that list…

With regards to Zito, honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him more or less out of the league within a year or two. His stuff is as bad as ever, his control/command has shown 0 improvement…at some point his 5ish ERA just isn’t going to cut it anymore. I really don’t think he’ll get to Neagle or Hampton, though he should pass Dreifort.

As for Sabean, like you said, he’s been a terrible GM. It does appear he’s somewhat improving though, and it helps that the organization is changing their strategy to focus on what he’s good at, the scouting/development side of things. As bad as most of his free agent moves and trades have been, he also drafted Cain, Lincecum and Sanchez and restocked our farm system quickly with very good drafts and international signings – if he continues to focus on this side of things the Giants should start producing home grown players on par with well run franchises like the Red Sox or Twins. I never understood why a GM with a scouting background completely ignored that side of things for as long as Sabean did…