THURSDAY: Sullivan's sources say Zambrano has no intention of waiving his no-trade clause this offseason.
WEDNESDAY: Sullivan has comments from Zambrano in the aftermath of his report:
"Why, are you guys our general manager now?" he said. "I don't care. If the Cubs want to trade me, it's because they don't like me anymore. I have to move on. What else can I do? I just move on." Zambrano added he doesn't want to waive his no-trade rights, then left, saying: "That's enough."
Sullivan's latest article implies Zambrano's agent Barry Praver was not the source of the original "Cubs plan on shopping Zambrano" report, and Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald says the Cubs' baseball operations department denies putting the info out there. Who's left?
TUESDAY: The Cubs plan on shopping Carlos Zambrano this offseason, according to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. Citing unnamed sources, Sullivan says the Cubs believe Zambrano would waive his no-trade clause to accept a deal to the right team. The 28-year-old righty jokingly suggested it might be easier to play in another market.
"Maybe if I go to a different city next year, if I get traded, I can do what I want," he said.
Sullivan says the Cubs think they can find a team willing to exchange quality players for Zambrano. The hot-tempered pitcher has at least $53.75MM remaining on his contract, however. He makes more per season than A.J. Burnett, so there's no guarantee that the Cubs would find takers.
This year, Zambrano has a 3.77 ERA in 143.1 innings. He's striking out 7.7 batters per nine innings, but has a characteristically high walk rate of 4.1 batters per nine.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports pointed out this weekend that the Cubs, Blue Jays and Braves could all shop top pitchers this offseason. The combination of Zambrano, Roy Halladay and Javier Vazquez could be every bit as enticing as this year's crop of free agent pitchers.
