EVERYTHING FALLING RIGHT FOR EX-A'S ACE.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

There's living right, and living at the right time.

Meet Barry Zito -- Zen guy, musician, would-be actor, dater of starlets, collector of stuffed animals and a man very definitely living both right and at the right time.

Zito, the consistently fine left-hander of the Oakland A's, has just agreed to a seven-year, $126-million deal with the San Francisco Giants.

This staggering contract is the richest ever awarded a pitcher, which results in three immediate conclusions:

Zito is the most fortunate pitcher in baseball history, Scott Boras has again proved to be the greatest agent in baseball history and the Giants are the dumbest organization in baseball history, or at least this week.

You could call it an historic signing.

Now this isn't in anyway meant to slam Zito, but let's get serious, this isn't Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, or perhaps more fairly, Greg Maddux, in his prime.

This is a very good pitcher with a smooth delivery who eats up innings and has avoided injury. He's had one outstanding season, in 2002 when he won the Cy Young after going 23-5 with a 2.75 ERA.

Any team would absolutely love to have him on their staff.

But for seven years and $126 million? This is baseball's most outrageous contract ever, or at least since Alex Rodriguez, another Boras production.

These are the same Giants who just bid against themselves to sign Barry ``Puffy'' Bonds for $16 million, and have now done it again with Zito.

Giving any pitcher guaranteed money for fiveyears is borderline ludicrous, but seven years is pure funny-farm material. It's padded room, white jacket and a lifetime subscription to ``Baseball America.''

This just in: Pitchers break down, particularly older ones. You cannot count on them being healthy for next season, let alone the next seven.

Colorado was the last brain-dead team to give a pitcher a laughable contract when it went eight years and $121 million for Mike Hampton. He's gone 53-48 since. He was ultimately traded by the Rockies to the Braves for Tim Spooneybarger and Ryan Baker (don't ask).

Then there was Boras' other boy, Kevin Brown, who signed with the Dodgers for seven years and $105 million, and do we really have to review how that went?

The Giants will pooh-pooh this, claiming Zito, who will turn 29 in May, has thrown for over 200 innings the past six years, keeps himself in excellent condition and is never injured.

Which is almost exactly the same line Boras fed the Dodgers (another team that bid against itself) before they signed Brown. He ended up throwing over 200 innings three times in his next seven years.

The Giants felt they needed to sign an ace because they had lost Jason Schmidt to the Dodgers, which begs for an interesting comparison. Over the past six seasons, Schmidt has gone 84-42 with a 3.45 ERA and Zito 95-49 with a 3.61 ERA.

The Dodgers signed Schmidt for three years and $47 million. Schmidt has five years on Zito, but otherwise they're very comparable, sans contract. Sounds like a win for Ned Colletti.

Be honest, Zito, who spent one season at Pierce College before transferring to USC, is a wonderful major league pitcher, but he's not a truly remarkable pitcher. He is not dominant. He is not Johan Santana.

He's not a $126 million pitcher.

He may not even be one of the 10 best overall pitchers in baseball today. Last season he finished 23rd in the major leagues in ERA and 39th in strikeouts.

The New York Mets, Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers were all seriously interested. When Boras started floating that he had a team willing to go seven years, reasonable men laughed and went home.

Mets general manager Omar Minaya studied the results of pitchers who signed lengthy deals and recognized the gamble was too great.

``This is one guy who has been healthy, and we all wish him well,'' Minaya said. ``At the end of the day, the history -- I could not recommend to my ownership to go sevenguarantee years.''

The Mets had offered $75million for five years and the Rangers were reportedly willing to go $90 million, but then came the Giants, who outbid the Mets, Rangers and themselves. That's some trick.

Zito is the 14th major leaguer to receive a $100 million deal, but the fourth this offseason.

If ever there was a time for a very good pitcher to enter his free-agent year, this was it. It was an woefully thin free agent class, and mediocre pitchers were signed to staggering amounts -- Gil Meche (Kansas City for fiveyears and $55 million, Ted Lilly (Chicago Cubs, four years, $40 million), Crespi High of Encino product Jeff Suppan (Milwaukee, four years, $42 million).

For Zito, this is an excellent deal and not just because of the dollars. He doesn't have to move but just drive across the bay. His ERA will drop in the National League. He'll be in a pitcher-friendly ballpark. It's a marvelous fit.

This is also supposedly -- hopefully -- the final year for Bonds. When he retires, the Giants will need a new face, a new centerpiece.

Zito best be prepared. When you sign a contract that ties for sixth-highest overall contract in baseball history, expectations have a way of heightening.

Time will clear that up. For today, Boras has served the Giants on a plate and Zito can feast. He is living right, and very much at the right time.

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Was it smart for the San Francisco Giants to invest in a seven-year deal for pitcher Barry Zito? History says no.

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press