Another day, another set of bullets about Carlos Zambrano. Thankfully, the Cubs have no plans to suspend Zambrano, and things are looking peachy keen once again. That doesn’t mean the Cubs won’t explore trading Zambrano, though…
- Zambrano apologized to Carlos Marmol, and the closer says things are fine. “It’s over. You’ve got to move on. It doesn’t bother me. He apologized to me and we’re friends and that’s not going to change things. It’s in the past.”
- After the initial wave of vitriol from the mainstream media passed – and the fans made clear their thoughts – Carlos Zambrano started to pick up some support from folks other than Bruce Miles. Bob Brenly said Zambrano’s method was poor, but his message was spot on. Brenly called the Cubs a “dead-ass team,” and said it was about time someone stood up and said he was tired of watching this crap. Even Steve Rosenbloom said Zambrano was right. Rick Morrissey, too.
- For his part, Zambrano doesn’t understand why his comments led to such a firestorm. “What’s the big deal about this? I said what I said yesterday because I was frustrated. At the same time, we’re a team. We’re grown men and I know when I make a mistake. I came to Marmol today before anybody talked to me and I talked to him and apologized to him about the comment I said. Like I said yesterday, we all need to get better. That’s my point. In a moment of frustration yesterday made me say what I said.”
- But Zambrano understands that, when he says something like this, it’s scrutinized more heavily because of his past. “Somebody has to say something. It doesn’t have to be me because every time I open my mouth it’s obviously a big thing.”
- Even though things are hunky dory now, there are still calls for the Cubs to trade Zambrano. The calls don’t really interest me – they’re reactionary, and, more importantly, wrong – but the idea that Zambrano could accept a trade and bring the Cubs back value does interest me. Zambrano is under contract for one more year, and would be hard to replace, but he makes a whole lot of money, and has a lot of tread on the tires. If the Cubs can move him for prospects, other than losing a guy who’s good for a story once a week, I can’t see a good reason not to deal him.
- Bruce Levine says Zambrano would probably welcome a trade at this point, and suggests the Yankees as a landing spot. Levine suggests the Cubs ask for Joba Chamberlain or Brett Gardner, together with some prospects. If not the Yankees, Levine says the Cubs should be on the horn with the other 28 teams, letting them know Z is available. What’s interesting: Levine is not a columnist, so these kind of overt suggestions are rare for him. In fact, he almost never says things like this unless the wheels are already in motion.
- Joe Cowley goes so far as to say that Zambrano’s comments were designed to alert the Cubs and the world that he wants out. Given the backpedaling and apologies today, I’m not sure I agree.
- Zambrano says he’s happy with the Cubs, wants to be a Cub forever, and doesn’t ”want to focus on being traded or whatever.”
obv we can tell that we’re not going to win with this team…complete overhaul…keep barney, castro, campana, wells, cashner, and marmol and lets get young… look at what the indians are doing… it can work
The Indians are not a bad example, in terms of optimism. They were supposed to be another two years away from competing.
agree, but won’t happen.
This team has more problems than Zambrano,
1) Fire J Hendry– Time For A CHANGE !!
2) Need A MAJOR LEAQUE MANAGER
3) Ricketts needs to Hire A BASEBALL MAN TO RUN TEAM
4) Admit to REBUILDING CLUB, make a plan and stay with it, stop piece-mealing everything
5) Ricketts was dealt bad hand with all bad contracts, admit it and stop making exuses
6) Good-Bye to K Hill, Fukudome,Ram,Big “Z”, Wood,
7) Since Cubs Out For 2011, Time to play kids and really see what you have to work with
I could see the Yanks trading for him.. too many things line up.. Rotheschild’s there, the Yanks love spending money and giving up prospects, it’s too perfect.. I wish there was a way we could pry Cano from them in a multi-player deal, but i’m dreaming on that one. Could you imagine, Castro to 3rd, Barney to SS, and Cano at 2B.?? That would be a nice start for the future..
Hendry could actually save his job if he pulls off some great deals by the deadline.. I seriously doubt he can though.
“Hendry could actually save his job if he pulls off some great deals by the deadline.. I seriously doubt he can though.”
havent we all been saying that every year? year after year? even after the playoff sweep in 08 i didnt think hendry could do enought to save his job. Yet somehow he remains.
I think he’s done no matter what at this point. You can only do so “well” in dump deals, and most of the time, whether they were steals doesn’t show for years. Hendry doesn’t have years.
Cano would be wonderful, but he might be one of the five most untradeable players in baseball. To put it in perspective, I think the Yanks would be less likely to trade Cano than the Cubs would be to trade Castro.
man i wanted granderson when he was available a couple years back. another miss by hendry in my book. so young, comparitivly, and so much plus side. i would love to get him but why would the yankees let the best hitting centerfielder in the game go.
Well, I’m aware there’s virtually no way in hades the Yanks part with Cano… but what if the Cubs offered a great multi player package? I mean, there’s a ton of guys we want to get rid of right?? Tell me the Yanks wouldn’t love to get big Z & Demp.. I’d just hope we get some value back from any trade of our so called “Big Guns’
I agree, we really whiffed on not getting Granderson… that would have been huge! Lefty, power, speed, from the Chicago area, etc…
I have a hard time believing the Yankees would part from Cano for just about anything the Cubs can realistically offer. They might take a package of Castro and Soto or something similar, but I don’t think so. Like I said, no way it would happen.
yeah, you’re dreaming.
What I am wondering is how much worse this can get before someone other than Zambrano within the organization acknowledges it. The losing streak is at 7, and they have lost 9 out of 10. And it seems like Zambrano and the fans are the only ones that care. Not even a hint of reality from any other talking head with the Cubs.
They don’t want to risk any more ticket sale problems.
That doesn’t seem like a double edged sword to you? You don’t want to risk ticket sales, so your team continues to suck and you don’t even acknowledge it? I understand what your saying Ace, but this has been happening for a longer than just this season, and I am p.o.’d that Hendry, Ricketts, and Quade all seem to think it’s just a matter of time until the Cubs start winning. What I’m starting to think is that a lot of us fans are more knowledgeable of what it takes for winning baseball than the Cubs are. Quade has a team with no major power threats, yet he comes out and flat out says, he has no use for small ball, that he plays for the big inning every time. Naive? Stupid? Incompetent? Insane? I think they may be all of these things.
Oh yeah, totally. I’m not saying I agree with it, but I’m certain that’s what they’re thinking.
im with you jeff. and for whats its worth, this recent skid coupled with quade’s apparent lack of desire to win (rediculous lineup and pitching decisions)… i’ve cancelled my trip to wrigley this year. this is only the second time i will have not seen at least one game at wrigley since i was seven, the first miss being in 03 when i had to forfeit my tickets to attend my grandmothers funeral. the significance of this trip was that it would have been my 3 year old daughters first game at the friendly confines (we live in denver now). I hear rickets talk about the updates and ammenities of fenway as if wrigley needs to mimc that to sell tickets. Heck wrigley is half the reason the cubs sell any tickets at this point: as a tourist attraction or a place for trust fun babies to go drinking at the day games. no, if he cant field a good team, or at least show the fans that they (the owners/the organizations) know what needs to be done and that they are addressing those needs with compitent leadership, im not spending my money. pretty soon all he’ll have are tourists and twenty something idiots at the games and real baseball fans will look elsewhere… god forbid the cell.
“Naive? Stupid? Incompetent? Insane?”…Baker-esque?
Ace-
Spot-on about Zambrano. I plugged your site on a few Tribune articles yesterday. It’s not fair- guys like David can write crap and claim to understand the fan base, yet are never held accountable for their uninformed and reactionary opinions. You write what the real deal is, and when you step out of bounds you have readers ready to try and set you straight. And other readers to set them straight! While there are certainly duds out there, readers on this site are more informed than anywhere else. Sites like this are the future, baby!
And, for the record, I don’t agree with the “Quade sucks” mantra yet. I’ve disagreed with some of his decisions, but understand him when he lays out his reasoning.
I like reading comments that dissect his managing decisions, or analyze his rationale for what he does, but it gets annoying when the auto-bot Cub fans come out with their standard “he’s not a major league manager” or “he doesn’t want to win” or other nonsense excuses that are both subjective and pre-formed by others for their commenting pleasure.
It’s always interesting to me the dichotomy between the nature of baseball and its fans. A baseball game of 3 hours usually includes only a small percentage of actual gameplay. It’s a game of patience, strategy, focused effort, and long-term commitment. 162 games? That’s ridiculous when you think about it. Yet fans, instead of displaying the patience one would assume is instilled in them by their very fandom, yearn to react quickly and negatively to a single game. Or a single week. Or even a month. I don’t hold myself above or differently than the fans I describe- I find that I live game to game, week to week, series to series, the same as I describe. It’s hard not to when you pay attention to nearly every game. Yet coaches, management, players, etc., all have to keep a long-view of the game if they’re going to make the best decisions for the future. And no, I’m not defending or attacking decisions made by the Cubs organization, I’m merely pointing out another interesting facet of the game.
Which, of course, is yet another reason to love this great sport.
Thanks for having this site, Ace. I hope it leads you to bigger, better, and wider audiences. Just don’t sell out when Carrie Muskat retires.
That’s a heck of a nice comment, Caleb. Thanks. And then as to the meat, great points. It’s hard to have an appropriately long view, given how baseball is all about these almost instantaneous moments.
Oh, but, by the way, I’m totally selling out at the first chance.
Don’t blame you. I probably would, too.
I was mostly kidding (famous last words).
Fukudome-RF—Barney-2B—Castro SS—Pena 1B—Ramirez 3B—-DeWitt LF–Campana CF—Soto C—Davis P———–Why Campana Batting 7th, NOT LEADOFF ????—–
Why not give Barney night off and put DeWitt @ 2nd and Colvin in Left Field, Fill lineup with left handed hitters, —– MY LINEUP WOULD BE—- Campana-CF—-Fukudome RF—Castro SS—Pena 1B—Ramirez 3B— Colvin LF–Soto C–DeWitt 2B—Davis P
.359 OBP in the minors vs .374 carreer OBP in the majors. Looks like the right choice to me.
If the Yanks, and it’s a big if, are will to take Z’s contract and give us Gardner or Joba we’d be fools not to accept. Gardner is still young and under control until 2015 and is a speed player this team needs, plus a change in scenery would hopefully help.
Wasn’t there something within Z’s contract that he would only consider a trade to two teams – the Yankees and the Red Sox? He sure would be better off elsewhere. He says he is frustrated. How much more frustrated will he be when cubs continue this downward spiral. Is Ricketts content being associated with a loser? As for the comments that Quade doesn’t care about winning, that is probably the worst misconception about him. He wants to win. He just doesn’t seem to know how.
I hadn’t heard that. Possibly it’s just speculation that those are the two teams he would waive his NTC for. In any case even if it were in his original contract he’s been in the league for 10 years and with the same team for 5 so his NTC means he doesn’t go anywhere he doesn’t want to.