Left-handed ace Barry Zito was the last one standing of the Big Three with the Oakland A?s and now all connections to this great trio are gone with the signing of Zito by cross-town rival San Francisco. The seven-year, $126 million deal is the richest deal for a pitcher in baseball history and one that will set the Giants back for the length of the deal. The Giants appeared to be bidding against themselves, as the next highest bid reported was the Texas Rangers at $84 million for six years. Zito though was the best pitching prospect on the market at the beginning of the winter because of his playoff experience, durability, and proven credentials that have already produced one Cy Young. In each of his six full seasons, Zito, made at least 34 starts and also logged at least 210 innings each season and is a good choice to slide into the spot vacated by Jason Schmidt, since he is just hitting his prime. It hasn?t always produced eye-popping stats though as he has only had a 20+ win season once, which came in 2002 when he won the Cy Young. If you take out that year, he has never had an ERA under 3.40 in any other of his full major league seasons. His time as a staff ace also leaves much to be desired, as seen in the last two seasons after the trades of Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson. During that time, he is a combined 30-23 with his ERA?s being 3.86 and 3.83. This raises the question of whether he is mentally capable of being the face of the staff and going up against other number ones on a routine basis because that is what he will be doing in San Francisco. However, Zito is always consistent and even though he isn?t the best pitcher mentally and doesn?t have overpowering stuff, he is a big game pitcher who doesn?t shy away from the moment. Zito has a fastball that reaches 90 only on its good days, but it is his great curveball that is his money pitch. He has great confidence in this pitch and knows how to place it no matter the count. Grading the Deal: B- This doesn?t make it a great signing though because like many teams in baseball, the Giants have financial constraints to deal with in forming a team each year. You can?t build a championship level 25 man team when two players (Barry Bonds and Barry Zito) take up $34 million of your payroll. Zito will perform in San Francisco as he transitions to another great pitching park and a weaker National League, where he will also have the luxury of facing the pitcher instead of the designated hitter and he flat knows how to pitch. He will be in the number one spot for the duration of the deal and team with Cain to produce the best one-two punch in the National League. However, at $18 million, he will limit the Giants ability to add talent and in effect, win with Zito.