What Do You Do With Zito?

He struggles while the rest of the staff flourishes or at least shows promise. They say his velocity is down, that he can't locate the fastball, and he's not feeling confident. You won't release him, can't trade him, and can't convert him to a hitter a la Rick Ankiel. So ... what do you do?

Skip a start: This is the option I would be leaning towards. Give him some time to breathe and move him to the back of the rotation. Dave Righetti disagrees. "Who the hell is going to pitch? We're not that deep in starting pitching. Noah Lowry is hurting now and we're not that deep in Triple-A. We need (Zito) to pitch."

Move him to the 'Pen: Well, if the Giants need him to start, than this option doesn't even make sense anyway. Regardless, even if it could happen, something tells me Zito wouldn't be getting called in in the sixth with the bases loaded, one out, and Prince Fielder at the plate.

I like Zito, but this is becoming very frustrating. Scott Olster put it very well today when he wrote:

You can't blame him for taking all that money. I know what I'll say if my agent asks me, "Would you rather sign for $126 million or $50 million?"

Making matters worse, manager Bruce Bochy designated Zito the staff ace coming out of spring training, thus ensuring Zito would start the season dueling some of the best pitchers in baseball. Result: 0-5.

It's so much more satisfying when you can put your heart into booing a guy. Zito denies you that joy. He works his fanny off, and he's an interesting, thoughtful, well-rounded young man who gives money and time to wounded U.S. soldiers.

Yet every fifth day, fans treat him as if he just shot up a strip club with an Uzi, set it ablaze then beat out the fire with his dog.