Zito Crossing the Bay?

According to mlb.com, the Rangers were told that Barry Zito won't sign with them, and they believe he'll sign with the Giants.

Well, that's interesting. Apparently, it's a four-year deal, which will allow Zito to hit free agency again when he's 32. No salary figures have been released yet, but if the Giants did get a relatively short-term commitment, that can only be a good thing. The problem is that signing an over-rated walk machine (his unintentional BB/9 rate each year since he won the Cy in 2002: 2.98, 3.30, 3.34, 3.51, 3.76) like Zito for big money, even factoring in the shift to the National League, isn't going to help your team all that much when the average age of your batting order is something like 35 and your best hitter isn't even signed.

Yes, he's in a pitcher's park, but Oakland was a pitcher's park too. Yes, he's durable and can go deep into games, which is great, especially with the Giants' terrible bullpen. But you have to think that this is just the Giants making a "hey, we're hosting the all-star game!" splash that they were unable to make by acquiring Manny Ramirez or Carlos Lee. If everyone on the Giants stays healthy (and out of jail) and performs above their career averages, they could contend for the division. But they're a long way away from being a World Series contender, and signing a #3 starter for (presumably) #1 money in a market like this is something you do when you're one piece away, not years away.

Beyond the Giants, what does this do to the Mets? With Zito, their rotation at least would have possessed a level of respectability. Now, it's Tom Glavine, John Maine, Orlando Hernandez, Oliver Perez... and then who? Dave Williams? Aaron Heilman? Not good times...

EDIT: Now Gammons is saying that its seven years at $18 million per. Wow. That makes it a lot worse. Wow. The link at the top from mlb.com has been changed, but I swear that the original story said 4 years.