Carlos Zambrano is a quarterback kicking field goals. A center guarding Steve Nash. A starting pitcher…well, you know the rest.
That’s the score, and we have no choice but to roll with it. Zambrano, himself – following a particularly disastrous outing – is doing his best to reframe the discussion and deflect, but with every passing “I’m fine,” it becomes increasingly clear that he is not.
And the whole thing is a distraction. Good thing the Cubs aren’t clinging to first place or something like that.
Zambrano said he was upset when the change first was made, but not any longer.
”Get this clear: I was unhappy the first day they told me,” Zambrano said. ”I wasn’t sure it was going to work. But now I accept it. I’m a reliever, and I have to do my job as a setup man. I want to help this team, and today I didn’t.
”I’m a professional. If the people in the front office make the decision, as a professional you have to deal with any situation they make. The same situation happened with Alfonso Soriano when he was playing second base [with the Yankees]. They moved him to the outfield and he was unhappy, but now he is a good outfielder. So let’s move on.
”If tomorrow they bring me back to the rotation, I’ll be more than happy to do that. [But] I’m a setup man now. I’m here; that’s what they pay me for — to pitch no matter where. If they need me to be here, I’ll be the eighth-inning guy until they say they don’t want me there.
”That’s the way I handle things, professionally, and accept it.” CHICAGO SUN-TIMES.
Perhaps I’m imbuing Zambrano’s comments with my own thoughts, but to me, that does not sound like a happy guy.
And even if he were happy, and even if he were successful, he’d still be doing it for but a quarter of the innings he’d be doing it as a starter. This is the definition of a no-win situation.