Here's todays sports news...

Here's todays wrap up of the news...

Alright, let's take a look at this Zito signing after we've all had a day to absorb everything. First, more details of the deal has been released. The key thing is that Zito will make only $10 million this year as he agreed to backload some of his salary to help the Giants and their budget. Which is another way of saying "have money left over for the other Barry." The signing should come soon. The Giants budget this year will be $92 million, their highest yet and about $12 million more than their standard $80 million. This all sounds well and good-- we like teams that spend to win, but one wonders what would have happened if they decided to break the bank earlier. Like, oh, resigning Jeff Kent. Or going after Vlade. Or another good starter to back up Jason Schmidt. ...

-So everyone is talking about what's up with the Barry. Not only has he not been signed yet, but he rolled into the winter meetings with an entourage in tow looking for a job. We get a kick out of the idea of seeing Barry standing outside some hotel handing out resumes to any GM who walks by. The Giants, as you can well imagine, were not happy but they continued to talk to his agent nevertheless. ...

-Glenn Dickey says Stanford coach Walt Harris will be fired after the Big Game. We said that months ago. Jake Curtis sums up the pros and cons of firing him and Ray Ratto says the obvious-- that Harris is under a lot of pressure. ...

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... A's 4 White Sox 2- Esteban Loaiza held the White Sox to just enough runs to allow a pretty week A's O to win the game. The A's were 0 for 16 with runners in scoring position but still scraped together four runs. How'd they do it-- aggressive base running, defense, situational hitting-- small ball. Now how about that? The game so pissed off Sox manager Ozzie Guillen that after the game he launched into a profanity filled tirade about the lack of booze in the visiting locker room. Anyways, the Angels won so the A's remain five up but the magic number is now 11....

Remember during that hot streak the Giants were on when their pitching was pretty much airtight? Remember how they didn't give up many runs and pitched until late in the game? Those were good times. And not these times as the Giants started off a nine game road trip to Atlanta getting shellacked 13-8. The pitcher getting the shellacking? Staff ace Jason Schmidt. Of note, however, is the Barry sticking it to Hammerin' Hank's Hometown fans and hitting two home runs and robbing Jeff Francouer of a three run home run. Barry is getting hot of late and a hot Barry means good things for the Giants and we're just going to stop right there before we hurt ourselves. ...

Remember those halcyon days of 2005 when it became apparent the Giants season was not going to go as expected and everyone on the team started in with the kvetching? Well, it's happening again. First up to start in with the kvetching is the Giants' closer, Armando Benitez. Benitez complained to a writer about the negative vibes in the clubhouse, boos from the stands, negative comments from the broadcasters, and disrespect from the manager. Other than that, he's doing fine. ...

For those who haven't heard, BARRY HAS ARRIVED IN TRAINING CAMP! We repeat, BARRY HAS ARRIVED IN TRAINING CAMP! A day late, however, something that drew a raised eyebrow from some ("oh my God, Barry did something on his own again"). Like last year, Barry met the press to give his annual State of Barry Address, but this time didn't do it press-conference style, instead he just answered few informal questions from the dugout. Probably a smart move as last year's infamous press conference, the one where he spent most of the time berating the press, could only have been a worse P.R. move if he would have given the entire thing while Jose Canseco injected steroids in his ass. Nothing terribly exciting was said, but to sum up: will decide about retiring at the end of the season, wants to spend more time with his family, doesn't want to play for another team, and wants to retire as a Giant. Since we've long since learned not to believe anything the Barry has to say, we take his comments with a grain of salt and wouldn't be surprised to see him wearing a L.A. Angels of Anaheim in Orange County Right Off of the Imperial Highway uniform next season. ...

A large portion of Western literature doesn't make sense to California kids. Specifically, we don't get all those poems about springtime, because it just doesn't feel like that big a deal. This is not to say that "there are no seasons in California." Rather, we mean that spring is nice, sure, but so are summer and fall, and Indian summer, and hey, winter isn't really that bad, either. There seem to be more poems......

You know how you have those old, comfy slippers that at one point were the latest in slipper accessories but they started to get kind of old and ratty and full of holes and you realize that there's way better slippers out there but you just can't get rid of those slippers because they're just so comfy and they always bring warm and fuzzy memories? Well, those slippers are J.T. Snow. And you just threw them out. Because late Wednesday night the Giants announced that they were not going to offer J.T. arbitration and so bid him adieu. To replace him, the Giants are set to sign ex-Padres 1B Mark Sweeney, a player we are excited about not one whit. ...

How bad are things for the Giants? Well, the best thing that happened to them over the past week was they got rained out. Why was it a good thing? Because it meant that Sunday was a double header and since it's so hard to win both games of a double header, it increased the odds that the Giants might actually win. Yep, it's been that bad of a week for Your San Francisco Giants. Since we last posted, the Giants won one game. Just one. For those keeping score at home, the Giants put together an eight game losing streak (their longest since 2000) before finally winning the first game of Sunday's double header against the Mets. They then went out and promptly got shellacked in the night game. ...

Hey Bay Area baseball fans, take a deep breath of relief as your offensively challenged, injury riddled, questionably GM'ed baseball team faces off against another offensively challenged, injury riddled, questionably GM'ed Bay Area baseball team. Interleague baseball, an idea that's won over even us die-hard traditionalists (although we do agree that the whole rivalry thing is overdone) starts this weekend as the A's cross over the Bay Bridge to take on the Giants. These games never have quite the inner-city turf war feel that one sees in New York or Chicago, but they've always been good, well-played games that do seem to let the other team's fans crow a bit louder than they usually do. And if that's not the point in these games, we don't know what is. ...

San Francisco's favorite but least read Q&A columnist, the Essefficist, answers a question about where to watch the new Star Wars movie....

Let's just come right out and say it: the Giants, now 8-10, had a crappy week. They went two-and-five against teams that, even without Barry Bonds (whose return is still shrouded in steroid-enhanced mystery) and Moises Alou (who returned to action on Friday night and hit his first homerun as a Giant on Sunday), they should have won at least four games. Until this point, the Giants' offense had been the bright spot of the......

It's opening day and if you know what's good for you you'll ditch work, head down to the ballpark, and try to get someone's extra ticket. The Giants welcome--Could that possibly be the right word?--the Dodgers today to start the season and, looking out the window at today's beautiful weather, there isn't a better place in the world to be right now than at Willie Mays Field at SBC Park. Jason Schmidt will throw the......

For a trial that's supposed to be leak proof, this whole BALCO mess is leaking all over the place. In response to charges of misconduct brought on by details of the investigation leaking, , the court leaked documents on Friday detailing an interview Federal Agents had with Barry Bonds' personal trainer Greg Anderson ("Barry Bonds' Personal Trainer Gary Anderson", of course, pretty much being his new name). In the report, Anderson named several Giants' players......

SFist had high hopes for a series sweep for the Giants throughout last night's game against the Astros, but the bullpen had different ideas. Taking a three-to-two lead into the ninth inning, the San Francisco relievers did their best early-August impression by allowing five ugly runs, costing Jason Schmidt a well-deserved victory and chipping away at his fading Cy Young chances. You have to wonder if the Giants let their emotions (or their testosterone) get......

Back in the halcyon days when SFist was launching and the Giants were getting their collective ass handed to them by the lowly Cincinnati Reds, it was looking pretty grim down at Third and King, and SFist was starting to think about next year for San Francisco baseball. But, oh, how things have changed. SFist got its playoff tickets in the mail yesterday and is pretty psyched about the idea of October baseball as the......

Having successfully leaned on ace Jason Schmidt in the face of utter despair once again, this time turning to him to save them from from the ignominy of a season sweep by the lowly Pirates, the Giants are staying on in the Keystone State for their next series, heading east to face the Team of Brotherly Love in their cosy new ballpark for the first time tonight....