Chicago Cubs make trade and need to get Carlos Zambrano signed
Tuesday, the Cubs made some news. They traded Jae Kuk Ryu to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for outfielder Andrew Lopez and right-handed pitcher Gregor Reinhard. This is great news. I know nothing of the two scrubs from the Devil Rays farm system. Hopefully they’ll turn out to be something, but Ryu was just brutal. I was at the lone game Ryu started last year. I think he sprained his neck watching home run balls fly out of Wrigley Field. He looked lost on the mound all year. Great job by Jim Hendry to get something for this kid before he was found out to be totally incapable.
In other Cubs news Carlos Zambrano has said that he wants some of the Cubs money. That Jim Hendry and the Cubs have spent wildly this off season to shore up some of the holes in their lineup and pitching staff, and he wants his. He’s in a contract year, and would like to get his deal done before spring training starts. Z has also said that if he doesn’t get a contract that he’s not going to negotiate during the year, he’ll just test the free agent market. Every other team in Major League Baseball is licking their chops. Carlos Zambrano is one of the top pitchers in baseball. He’s proven to be able to stay healthy and give his team quality innings. Oh yeah, and he’s got great stuff. Even back when there was all the hoopla about Prior and Wood, Zambrano was still the best pitcher on the staff. There are very few pitching rotations that wouldn’t have him as the number one starter.
Note to Jim Hendry. Don’t let this guy get away. Greg Maddux started out with the Cubs, even won a Cy Young with the Cubs. They didn’t sign him. He only became one of the best 2 or 3 pitchers of the last 20 years. Zambrano could be in that league. So if you’re going to tie up $300 million with the guys you’ve already signed this off season, you might as well pony up the additional $90 million that it’ll take to lock up Zambrano long term or the rest just won’t even matter.
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