The Carlos Zambrano/Chris Volstad swap is now official, with the Chicago Cubs kicking in about $15 million of the $18 million Zambrano is owed in 2012.
Zambrano agreed to waive not only his no-trade clause to approve the deal, but he also waived the paper tiger 2013 vesting option, which would have seen him net $19.25 million in 2013 if he somehow managed to finish in the top four in Cy Young voting next year. Instead, he’ll get a $100k bonus now if he is named the Comeback Player of the Year. On his $18 million salary, that’s less than a 1% bonus. Swell.
More importantly, however, Ken Rosenthal reports that, commensurate with the trade, the Cubs and Zambrano settled the grievance he filed against the team last year when they placed him on the disqualified list for 30 days. The move, which followed Zambrano’s August 12 explosion and “retirement” in Atlanta, cost Zambrano about $3 million in 2011 salary, and he was fighting to get it back.
The two sides agreed to a $2.4 million settlement, according to Rosenthal, which saves the Cubs $600k.
According to Paul Sullivan, the amount of money the Cubs will send to Miami is based on the amount Chris Volstad makes in arbitration – in other words, the Cubs will send the Marlins $18 million, less the amount Volstad makes. That way, the trade is essentially an even swap.