Giants splash out to land Zito

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Barry Zito has agreed a $126m deal to join San Francisco - the largest-ever major league contract for a pitcher.

Zito spent his first seven seasons with Bay Area rivals Oakland, going 16-10 with a 3.83 ERA in 34 starts last year.

Giants GM Brian Sabean said: "When you have a chance to acquire a pitcher of Barry's calibre, you have to exhaust every effort to get him on your club."

San Francisco badly needed a big-name pitcher after Jason Schmidt signed a three-year $47m deal with Los Angeles.

A three-time All-Star, Zito, 28, has been a workhorse throughout his career, pitching more than 200 innings in each of the last six seasons while also notching at least 10 victories.

The left-hander owns a career record 102-63 with a 3.55 ERA in 222 games. In the play-offs, he has seven starts, going going 4-3 with a 3.25 ERA.

Zito is the fourth player this off-season to sign for at least $100m, joining Alfonso Soriano, Vernon Wells and Carlos Lee.

Soriano inked an eight-year, $136m deal with the Chicago Cubs, Wells signed with Toronto for $136m over seven years and Lee signed for six years and $100m with Houston.

<li></li>Right-hander Jeff Suppan has agreed a four-year $42m contract with the Milwaukee Brewers.

The 31-year-old was 12-7 with a 4.12 ERA for World Series champions St Louis last season.

He was named MVP of the 2006 National League Championship Series after allowing one earned run over two starts against the New York Mets.

Suppan has a 106-101 record in 12 major league seasons with a 4.60 ERA.