Oakland Athletics: Why Barry Zito Is the Player to Watch at Spring Training

No Oakland Athletics player will be more exciting to watch and have more potential impact on the roster this year at spring training than Barry Zito.

If you recall, Zito came up through the A's organization, helping form one-third of The Big Three (with Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson). After one Cy Young award and three All-Star appearances, Zito went to the other side of the bay, signing with the San Francisco Giants for a then-record for pitchers $126-million, seven-year deal.

The tall lefty had a tumultuous time in San Francisco.

His ERA rose from 3.55 to 4.62. As he aged, he appeared in less and less innings as the seasons passed. He also spent the better of 2011 on the shelf. And after 2013, he (temporarily) hung the cleats up.

Now Zito returns to where it all began.

The A's signed Zito to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training. If he makes the 25-man roster, he'll make $1 million. 

He hasn't even made the official roster just yet, but that's part of what makes watching Zito exciting. Combine that with his character, the sentimental value, a change in style and repercussions if he makes it, and Zito is the guy to watch.

Here's a deeper look, from silliest reasons to serious.

Nostalgia

I mentioned Zito was a member of The Big Three, one of the most exciting (if not the most exciting) pitching trios in recent A's history. Additionally, he's the team's last Cy Young award winner. That's not to say anyone should expect Zito to nab another now that he's back. But it's nice, at the minimum just for sentimental value, to look at him and say "that guy won a Cy Young for us."

It's fun to see a fan-favorite who came through your team's system to be in your team's colors once again. Especially when those colors are the unique green and gold with white cleats.

He's even wearing No. 75 again.

For the Anti-Giants Fan

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If you're vehemently against everything Giants, then you want Zito to do well.

There's no doubt the A's got the best years of Zito. That said, he still won two World Series rings in San Francisco. Nothing short of two World Series rings in Oakland will counter that, but helping the A's make playoffs while pitching effectively is a nice start.

The A's paid Zito next to nothing and he shined. The Giants paid him an insane amount and he never quite pitched like a $126-million pitcher.

The Giants-hater should get a thrill out of seeing Zito succeed in Oakland once again.

The Reinvention

Now we're getting into serious territory.

Each year the A's have a reclamation project. In 2014, it was Scott Kazmir. Before him, Bartolo Colon, Brandon McCarthy, Ben Sheets and Brett Tomko served in that role. I could go on.

Now Zito has a turn.

It may very well be another story of a veteran trying to hang on at the tail end of his career. But what makes Zito's case so interesting is that he's reinvented himself this late into his journey.

According to John Hickey of San Jose Mercury News, Zito's been working with Ron Wolforth, the same man who helped Kazmir make a major return to Major League Baseball. Here's what Wolforth had to say:

"

When you see him throw, you will notice a definite difference. The old hook he had where he went behind his back during the windup, that's gone. We didn't set out to eliminate the hook, but it's a process of taking links out of his personal bicycle chain to make him more efficient as a pitcher.

"

Wolforth went on to say Zito is throwing 88 miles per hour and expects his fastball to continue to increase as the season progresses, as Kazmir's did. He even said Zito "has a better sense of how to pitch than anybody I've ever worked with."

So if you're going to watch Zito pitch in spring training, come for the nostalgia, stay to see the adjustments.

The Effects of Making the Team

Why should you watch Barry Zito?

Because if he legitimately makes the 25-man roster, a few players will be affected, so it's worth watching to see what happens. You want a position battle? Zito makes the battle for a starting pitching spot that much crazier.

As of now, I have the starting rotation projected as:

Sonny Gray
Scott Kazmir
Jesse Chavez
Drew Pomeranz
Jesse Hahn

That bumps Kendall Graveman, Chris Bassitt, Arnold Leon and Sean Nolin to Triple-A.

Now let's say Zito makes the team.

In one scenario, he would bump Hahn. In that case, the Nashville Sounds are going to have an amazing starting rotation. Or he takes Pomeranz's spot and the Nashville team still has a dangerous rotation. In a third scenario, Zito stays in the rotation and Chavez moves to the bullpen. But if that happens, Chavez removes someone from play; someone such as R.J. Alvarez or Evan Scribner.

But it doesn't stop there.

When Sean Doolittle, Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin return, three pitching spots are needed. If Zito is in the thick of his reclamation and he's successful, pitching depth becomes a bit crowded.

Would that mean Griffin, Parker or Kazmir are traded? Could Zito himself be traded? Does Zito stay, with Parker and Griffin taking Hahn and Pomeranz's spots midseason? What if—because of the depth—the A's decide to go with 13 pitchers and use only 12 position players? Then someone there loses a spot—a Sam Fuld or a Mark Canha, perhaps?

One guy; so many questions.

Conclusion

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Maybe you don't believe Zito is the player to watch, preferring to keep an eye on the younger arms instead. But that's the thing: Zito's presence affects those young arms too. And perhaps that's yet another reason to watch what he can do. What wisdom will he bestow upon Hahn, Graveman and the others?

Still not buying it? There aren't many other position battles to watch this spring.

If you simply believe that Zito is too old, too washed up and won't even make the roster so he's not worth it, I have one thing left to tell you.

I guess you'll have to watch and find out if that's true.