Carlos Zambrano to the Marlins Might Not Make Sense and Other Bullets

Tom Ricketts is just a game away from possibly having all of his favorite GM candidates available to interview. That’s because both the Rays and Yankees lost yesterday, leaving each team one game away from playoff elimination, which would open the door to theoretical interviews with Andrew Friedman and Brian Cashman. I suggest you adjust your rooting interests accordingly. (And, as usual, much more on the GM search is coming later this morning.)

  • Juan Rodriguez of the Florida Sun Sentinel says the rumored plan to restructure Carlos Zambrano’s contract so that he would accept deferred payments on the $18 million he’s owed for 2012 before getting his release makes no sense for Zambrano. If the Cubs can’t trade Zambrano, they’ll just release him, Rodriguez reasons, and then Z will be free to sign with the Marlins and get all of his money up front. This ignores the fact that the Cubs might be able to trade Zambrano for less in savings than they’d get by deferring payments, so if he balked at that plan, they could dump him on any number of teams – not his preferred destination.
  • Matt Szczur was named the 8th best prospect in the Florida State League (High A), which is impressive given his fading performance in that league after he was promoted from Peoria (A ball). Of Szczur, Baseball America said, “Though he often looked worn out after his mid-July promotion, his athleticism was obvious and he rallied to bat .368 in the playoffs.” Because of his odd contract, Szczur will be added to the 40-man roster this Winter, so the Cubs will be hoping he can have an accelerated development, possibly reaching Wrigley by early 2013 (if not late next year). Former Cubs prospect Hak-Ju Lee, who was traded as part of the package for Matt Garza this past Winter, ranked third on the list.
  • WEEI lists Ryne Sandberg among a list of possible candidates for the Red Sox’s open managerial position. I doubt it, but I did read elsewhere that current Red Sox GM Theo Epstein is considering candidates without ML experience.
  • Aramis Ramirez is the Cubs’ nominee for the Hank Aaron Award (best offensive player in the NL), which makes sense.
  • Barry Rozner offers his typical angry fare. Something marginally coherent about the next GM not being a “savior.” The Daily Herald really expects people to pay for this content?
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    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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