Zito in Oakland nothing more than a retirement home

This past week Barry Zito signed a minor-league deal with the Oakland A's. According to CBS Sports, Zito will get one Cactus League start from manager Bob Melvin. I know the A's are thin at pitcher - they lost Lester and Samardzija to free agency, Parker and Griffin are due back in June from TJ surgery, and newcomer Jesse Hahn is the 3rd starter with Chavez and other no names in the wings. But this won't end well.

Zito didn't pitch in 2014 and he never recorded an ERA below 4.03 in his seven seasons with the Giants. He's not good anymore, and while it would be a great comeback story like Kazmir had in 2014, to me this is nothing more than a retirement plan for Zito and the A's. He'll probably have a decent Cactus League start, get another one or two with a glimmer of hope, then see things get progressively worse before a meltdown start where he gets lit up for six runs in under two innings of work. That will lead to an announcement that Zito will not make the Opening Day roster, but will retire as an Oakland A and be honored at their home opener vs. the Rangers on April 6. They'll trot him out for a farewell tour during the Bay Bridge series so Giants fans can pay homage as well.

Remember where you heard it first.

P.S. You know a guy had a good career when he lists this house for $11.5M back in 2012. Personally I think that was low considering this happened there.