The 2012 Marlins just got a little more interesting. In case Ozzie Guillen, Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Heath Bell didn’t add enough intrigue to the upcoming season, the team has officially acquired Carlos Zambrano from the Cubs for Chris Volstad. The Marlins will pay $2.5MM of Zambrano's $18MM salary in 2012.
Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein had a productive meeting with Zambrano after the season, but the right-hander hadn't seemed wanted in Chicago for a while. The Cubs placed Zambrano on the disqualified list last summer following an August outburst and declined to play him in September, after his 30-day suspension ended.
Zambrano waived his no-trade clause to play for Guillen, his friend and fellow Venezuelan. Zambrano also waived his $19.25MM option for 2013, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (all Twitter links). His deal now includes a $100K bonus for winning Comeback Player of the Year in 2012. Zambrano settled his summer grievance with the Cubs, obtaining 24 days of salary (nearly $2.4MM), according to Rosenthal.
The deal gives the Marlins a projected rotation of Buehrle, Josh Johnson, Anibal Sanchez, Ricky Nolasco and Zambrano. It presumably takes the Marlins out of the running for another Cubs starter: right-hander Matt Garza.
Zambrano, 30, posted a 4.82 ERA with 6.2 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a 42.4% ground ball rate in 145 2/3 innings for the Cubs in 2011. He has spent his entire 11-year career with the Cubs and earned nearly $100MM in the process. Zambrano, a three-time Silver Slugger, owns a .241/.251/.395 career line as a hitter and has hit 23 home runs. The Cubs signed him out of Venezuela in 1997 under former GM Ed Lynch.
Volstad, a 6'8" right-hander, posted a 4.89 ERA with 6.4 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 52.3% ground ball rate in 165 2/3 innings for the Marlins in 2011. His career numbers (4.59 ERA, 5.8 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, 50.4% ground ball rate) show he's a steady if unspectacular back-of-the-rotation option. However, he's homer prone and struggles against left-handers, as MLBTR's Mike Axisa pointed out earlier in the offseason.
The 25-year-old former first rounder projects to earn $2.6MM through arbitration in 2012 and will remain under team control through 2014, which makes him a relatively affordable medium-term option.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported that the teams were nearing a deal (Twitter links). Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com, Juan C. Rodriguez of The Sun Sentinel and Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago also contributed to the story as it broke. Ben Nicholson-Smith contributed to this post. Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.
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Over/under: you will post this at least 2.5 more times.
under, last time
Man the cubs must HATE Biz Z to OVERPAY his contract! lol.
I’m just enjoying how it says the Marlins agreed to acquire Zambrano. Almost gives off the impression that the Cubs were begging somebody to take him off their hands.
Epstein: “Come on Larry, ain’t Volstad for Big Z an even trade?”
Beinfest: “Come on Theo, I’m no The… er, how about paying most of his salary?”
Epstein: “You can pay $2.5M of his salary.”
Beinfest: “Throw in some water coolers.”
Epstein: “DEAL! Hey Joe, bring out the good champagne. WE GOT RID OF HIM!”
The Cubs will pay 18 of the 15 mil? I didn’t think it was possible for the Cubs to trade Zambrano and come away losers. Only the Cubs…
That’s an MLBTR mistake. Go read Levine’s actual tweets.
Eat your heart out Barnum and Bailey, the Miami Marlins are the “Greatest Show on Earth”…
The Circus Comes To…
Ha ! They could be the next reality sports show or Xtreme sports show .
Or the next Real World
Ozzie Guillen was already in a sports reality show. You bet MLB Network will be all over this.
Sorryano to the Braves next?
I wouldn’t be surprised if he went to Tampa while Chicago eats most of his salary
soriano would probably waive his ntc to got to a good AL team so close to the Dominican. the problem would be the money. cubs would want quality prospects back if they had to pay more than half his salary. soriano can still hit.
He could go to baltimore but rays havent showed interest
looking at cot’s contacts, BALT has shown some surprising financial restraint recently. would they want to move m reynolds or b roberts? the cubs would still have to kick in $25-30M and maybe a prospect to even out the talent. stewart/reynolds platoon might be interesting.
I’m sure the Rays would give up one decent prospect if Chicago ate most of his salary
No thanks, not even if they payed $30M of his $20M salary
Sorryano? Really? We still think that’s clever?
LOL . If this actually happens I will personally hold it against you . LOL .
How are the Cubs going to pay $18M of Big Z’s $15M salary… I think they got that switched… Regardless… Good riddance! Happy New Year! 😀
They paid the extra $3M to give their problems to the Marlins .
18 MM of 15 MM? Wow!
That might be right – the Cubs gave them $15 Mil to take Z and $3 Mil to acquire Volstad.
Levine says the Cubs will pay $18MM of Zambrano’s $15MM salary.
You mean $15MM of the $18MM salary?
Great trade for the Cubs!
Yes I kind of like this deal for the Cubs. They get younger, have a starter locked up, and get rid of Z. Not a big return but cheap back of the rotation starter locked up if they need him
How is it possible to pay $18m of a $15m salary?
18 out of 15…Hell of a deal for the Marlins!
Too good to be true, or even make sense!
damn Cubs have to pay $15 million of his $18 million salary
So the Cubs essentially save enough payroll to pay for Volstad. I think I’m good with that.
“Levine says Cubs will pay $18MM of Zambrano’s $15MM salary.” So the cubs are paying Miami to take him?
Dunno if it was just edited, but now reads, “The Cubs will pay $15MM of Zambrano’s $18MM salary.”
ya they just edited it
Salary amount fixed. So I edited my comment.
Cubs are paying the Marlins 3MM more than his 2012 salary to take him??
Well you know, he will bring in the latin crowds…
….or anyone who wants to watch a grown man throw a fit .
If I had a good view of the water cooler in the Marlins dugouts on days he was pitching, I’d do whatever I could to get him to freak out.
According to ESPN… ”
The deal, which is pending physicals, requires the Cubs to pay $15 million of the $18 million owed Zambrano in 2012. Zambrano has a $19 million vesting option for 2013 if he finishes in the top four for the Cy Young Award.” (A quick post typo…)
$15 million plus Zambrano for a giant who went 5-13 last season? It sure is tough being a Cubs fan…
It is being a Cubs fan but it wouldn’t matter who the Cubs got… Losing Big Z… No, No I mean gaining a player not named Big Z for him is a positive move for them… He is a mess…
W-L record? Really, it’s 2012. His gap between ERA and FIP show that he was one of the more unlucky pitchers last year. He isn’t stellar, but a solid option, and the Cubs will probably get more innings from him than they would with Zambrano. Also less headaches.
I guess he’s just been unlucky the past few years, all the home runs he’s been giving up. But then, considering how unlucky the Cubs have been for the past 100 years, can’t imagine how badly Volstad will pitch in 2012.
…And the insane crowds
ummm, this is a weird trade. I’m interested to see what fangraphs (hopefully Dave Cameron) writes about this.
this is impossible to analyze sabermetrically, because of the intangible nature of Z’s head-casedness. How do you put a number on that? On paper this is a total steal for the fish – I’m hoping there’s another name or two from the low minors yet to come out.
well if xFIP is your friend, not really. I think Z can be a 3WAR pitcher, and I really am going to be rooting for him. Volstad is incredibly uninspiring, but not really far off big Z’s most recent years.
this is impossible to analyze sabermetrically, because of the intangible nature of Z’s head-casedness. How do you put a number on that? On paper this is a total steal for the fish – I’m hoping there’s another name or two from the low minors yet to come out.
Volstad is arbitration-eligible, and after making 88 starts in three years, he’s probably in line for at least $2 million, if not $3 million. So basically the Cubs either hate Zambrano, or they think Volstad will be just as good, as the finances wash.
If they both repeat last year (and Z pitches a whole year), I guess it’s a wash. Best of luck to Big Z, but you used to be able to put good, after crazy when talking about him.
I think they ( the cubs) beleive that Volstad will pitch to roughly the same type of stats as Zambrano would have in chicago ( they were somewhat similar in 2011). With the money sent over it is a wash but cubs lose the headaches and if Z flipped out again then they wouldn’t get anything out of him and be a huge distraction with what appears to be a more youthful cubs roster. Zambrano could very well pitch like the old days and Marlins will have won the trade but pretty sure he would not do it for cubs so trade had to happen. Maybe Volstad pitches well enough to be productive for 3 yrs fairly cheap – I am just happy he is gone. Now the question is how much of Sorianos contract will Theo eat to ship him out? I can’t see them eating more than half unless something good comes back in return- not a clubhouse issue and he still has value just not equal to his contract.
soriano and $27M to SEA for c figgins? the problem with that may be soriano’s NTC. You have to think he would waive it to got to boston or the yankees. Maybe package him with garza?
That would be dumb. Figgins was washed up the year he left for Seattle. Unless they flip him and package him with someone like Soto and Marmol, Jed and Theo wouldn’t be caught dead agreeing to that.
well, they would save $9M in the third year. also, jed & theo have shown a proclivity for picking up players who had a down year last year hoping for a positive regression to the mean a la Ian Stewart, David DeJesus or Travis Wood. It would compliment the stewart deal especially, giving the cubs depth at second and third. figgins is much more of a small ball NL style player while soriano is obviously more of an AL one.
Is the extra $3 mil to the Marlins for Zambrano’s attitude? I think the Cubs are just happy to be gone with him. Though, he had his worst year last year, Volstad has shown promise before. Go Cardinals!
Stings the nostrils…
I’m gonna be honest with you, that smells like pure gasoline.
Just walking off a situation. Don’t act like your not impressed. —– Theo
LOL… Nice bro…
This trade smells like pure gasoline…
and is illegal in nine countries…
There’s got be more than Volstad going to the Cubs if they are paying that much of Zambrano’s contract. This doesn’t make any sense for them if this is really it.
Yeah, essentially they are paying Volstad $15.5 mil this year. Why, that’s Edwin Jackson money! 🙂
Hey don’t be giving Scott Boras any ideas on how to spin this now.
Probably a gross or two of fine Cuban cigars. Since it is illegal to possess them in the US neither side is likely to disclose that part of the transaction.
If we’re adding illegal things it wouldn’t be cigars (at least not if I’m negotiating).
I’m indifferent on this until I see which Big Z shows up. However, I highly doubt he will be any worse than Volstad. Also, I guess this means Javy isn’t coming back?
I think it’s a good gamble on Miami’s part. Only $2-3 million (and a pitcher who they weren’t going to have room for anyways) to see if Big Z (who has been working hard this off-season to get into better shape, mentally and physically) still has it. Add in good friend and now manager Ozzie Guillen, and it could pan out nicely for the Fish. If Z tanks it, they’re not really hurt too badly. Cubbies could NOT head into the new season with him still on the roster, and even though they gotta eat so much of that awful contract, it may be worth it in the name of starting fresh as a franchise.
Is he the modern day babe ruth?
Soon to be tweeted: “The Marlins just tebowed the Marlins.” -Jim Bowden
This sounds like someone called in a favor after someone else made incriminating photos disappear. This is a lose/ lose trade, but someone’s problem got solved.
over/under 8.5 wins
try a better stat
line
amazing that he hasn’t had fewer than 9 wins since ’02. I’d take the over
amazing that he hasn’t had fewer than 9 wins since ’02. I’d take the over
He’s got more baseball left in him, for sure, he’ll be great with the Marlins. The Cubs lose a nice guy but a headache on the field. And they swap a 30-yr-old for a 25 yr-old withe 3 cheap years left. I get it, we’re assembling a team of young guys and letting them play, see who develops, then go for it in a couple years. They might have released Big Z anyway rather than have him pitch in ’12.
There’s no way the Cubs are just getting Volstad back if they’re gonna pay close to 85% of Z’s salary. Right?
I agree. They should have to pick up a bad contract or two from Miami to make this a fair deal.
The Marlins can sign Jorge Julio to a 10-year deal and then the Cubs can have him. Fair enough?
Juan Pierre!
Wrong. Just Volstad.
Well, this is…something.
I hear they also got a lifetime supply of Gatorade coolers.
Of course, with Z gone, that isn’t worth what it once was.
They also get Pay-Per-View rights to the Volstad/Nyjer rematches that will surely take place during games against the Brewers.
I can’t wait to see “Mr. Plush” vs. “The Big…Something” at Wrigley. I promise I’ll go to every Cubs/Brewers game at Wrigley in ’12 when both are playing.
I hope Nyjer get’s to take him out on a bunt single that he has to cover. Volstad is as much of a jerk as Nyjer is accused of being.
I remember the Cubs coming in and shutting down the Padres during the final home series of 2010. At the time (and yes, I know; Padres line-up, pitching in Petco), Big Z looked like he at least partially regained his form. I know 2011 didn’t turn out like people thought it might for Big Z, but maybe with a new commitment to his off-season work, plus Ozzie Guillen, Zambrano could be somewhat productive.
Ryan Howard is going to miss Volstadt. Career line: .500/.581/1.462 8HRs in 26ABs.
There’s always those times they get to see each other in Chicago and Philadelphia…
Yes!! This is an excellent deal for the Cubs. Everyone knew we would have to eat almost all of the contract. That shouldnt surprise anybody. But if we were going to be able to trade him (which I didn’t think we were), I never would have thought that we could get a decent Major Leaguer back. I was expecting something along the lines of two single-A hopeless prospects. But Volstad?! go cubs!!!
He’s a young Kyle Lohse or Ryan Dempster. Far more than I thought the Cubs could get in return. Miami must have really wanted Z.
Ozzie wanted Z. I agree Volstad has potential. We havent seen his ceiling yet. Also its crucial the Cubs have rotation depth so that we dont have to go fishing for doug davis/ramon ortiz/rodrigo lopez again. so getting prospects back wouldve been a complete waste of $15 mil and Z. Now at least we get Volstad.
Volstad was probably going to be non-tendered this year, so no. It wasn’t a loss for them.
P.S. Good luck Carlos, I always tried to go to the park days you pitched!! You were awesome for a long time. However, I must confess I can’t wait to see Ozzie & Big Z’s first fight!!
does anyone think Ozzie is going to change Zambrano? I personally could go either way, i could see him carrying himself like a brand new ballplayer, or i could see him being the Big Z of old
I think there’s a lot of motivation for Z to behave. He’s got a manager he’s personally friends with. He’s in a good environment for a Latin player. Not sure if he has any friends on the team or not. He’s a year away from free agency so I’m sure he wants another pay day and would want to re-establish his value. He’s on a team with bigger stars on it so he can “blend” in more. Ozzie is going to take a lot of pressure of him with his bigger personality.
Simply ….. NO .
Z is in decline, Volstad is only 25 & could get better.
Hell of a deal for the Marlins.
Z will be a stud for the Fish–would’ve exploded as a Cub—They were in a lose-lose situation
I’m convinced you mean literally explode and not actually be good.
He’s gonna get rocked at CBP!
And Turner Field . Chipper owes him after last years buzz cut of a pitch behind the ears .
Jason Bay (5 HRs and 16 RBIs in 53 PA) welcomes Zambrano with “open arms”. I’m sure this is mostly from his Pirate days.
Just trying to round up the rest of the NL East (I tried Nats vs Zambrano’s Career in baseball reference and no one in their roster has 3 RBIs or less; Zimmerman and IRod have the most PAs against him).
He’s gonna get rocked at CBP!
he´s going to hit 25 HR for the Marlins
This sounds like a good beginning to a reality show, Zambrano, Guillen and Ramirez all in the same clubhouse hahah. Regardless, I think this is a good pick up for the Marlins.
Pretty low risk move for the marlins.
so glad to see Zambrano gone, good luck Miami. Should be a colorful clubhouse. Maybe they should try to bring back Albert Belle and Milton Bradley 🙂
If you listen real close, you can hear “na-na-na-na, hey-hey-hey, goodbye” playing over the wrigley field speakers
You knew they were gonna dump Z. So, we took a flyer on V (Volstadt) as a little bone to get the deal done. Don’t expect V in rotation unless he earns irt.
Disappointed to see Chris Volstad leave the division. The Phillies big left handed bats own him.
Z is gone…..no surprise. V will not be in the rotation unless he earns it. had to throw Miami a bone.
Z is gone…..no surprise. V will not be in the rotation unless he earns it. had to throw Miami a bone.
For that price, the Tigers should have picked him up. He would probably feel more comfortable with more latin players and when he is on, he is one of the best in the game.
I think Z is past the point in his career where when he’s on, he’s one of the best in the game, but he can still be a good #3 at the least.
He’s only 30.
Has nothing to do w/ age. His stuff simply isn’t as good as it used to be. Control has gotten a little better, but his velocity has dropped and that once-filthy slider is no longer an elite out/K pitch.
This was a pure salary dump for Theo and the Cubs. Volstad will eat innings on a 2012 Cubs team destined for last place in the NL Central. It’s a miracle they got anything in return for Zambrano. Miami basically gets #2-3 type starting pitcher for free, and if big Z has his annual implosion, they could DFA him and lose nothing but a AAAA pitcher…..good move for both teams!
Not sure why Theo said he was going to give Z every chance to pitch for the Cubs in ’12, though. Going to be a lost season. Could’ve auditioned him for the first few months and possibly gotten more than Volstad.
Or had him go through another of his episodes like the last few years, and gotten nothing.
Could be worth the gamble, but it may not be worth the risk.
it is not really a salary dump when you pay almost all of the salary.
It’s not really a salary dump at all, they are paying $15M of Z’s contract and will probably pay Volstad $2.5-3M this year which equals Z’s salary this year. It was more of a personality dump… : )
I look forward to the Morrison-Guillen-HanRam-Zambrano steel cage match! Perhaps Ric Flair can be the Marlins mascot? Wooo!
Well, Flair is really strapped for cash. Hence why he is still wrestling in his 60’s.
I’m betting you can get him for cheap. Maybe a low A porspect to TNA Wrestling.
Looks like Theo traded $15.5mil for three years of control of Volstad at a reasonable price. This comes shortly after acquiring five years of control of Travis Wood.
Clearly, he places value on years of control for starting pitchers.
This has the makings of a tear down. Expect Dempster and Garza to soon be moved.
This is great for the Cubs, Horrible for the Marlins. Cubs actually are getting a good pitcher, they finally could have a #1 for the first time since Wood and Prior.
#1?
Fine #2 but he’s better then Z any day of the week. It makes no sense for the Marlins to become contenders again then ruin their team with Zambrano. Unless they think Ozzie can control him.
#2?
Is that really necessary? Garza ture#2 at #1 Volstad. #2 Dempster #3 and 4 and 5 are up in the air with Wells. Volstad is easily a #2 on the Cubs and he was one of the better pitchers for the Marlins the last 2-3 yrs as well. I would’ve tried to get a little more for Z or get Nolasco back to his original Org.
He’s still gotta fight w/ Wells, Wood and possibly Cashner for the #3 spot. Neither of those 3 is a lock, but I have a “smidget” more faith in one of those guys in that role.
Volstad is a lock for the 25 man roster regardless how he does hin ST.. look at what Koyie Hill and Soto did for 2011 ST they hit .067 and .240 they made the team out of ST while the best catcher of the 3 hit a horrid .650 Wellington Castillo but their excuse was he was hurt. Hitting 4 HRs and 15 RBI and .650BA seems fine to me.
dude, one of the better pitcher for the marlins the last few years? have you ever watched a game that chris volstad has pitched? he is a poor pitcher who deserves to be in AAA. He has no business in a major league uniform at all.
He has been sent to the minors every single season that he has pitched to “get it together” the guy is not a major leaguer. If you want to call him a #2 starter, it better be for the peoria chiefs!
If you’re implying that Volstad pitches like #2, I agree, however if you’re implying that Volstad is anything other than an innings eater 4A player who will be lucky to make the Cubs major league roster, you must put down the bong.
Hell I wish I was on a bong and could believe myself and say the Cubs will be better this year. That would be a blatant lie. Every Cubs fan can believe what they wish but the reality of it is the Cubs will be bad for at least 4 more yrs. They need to trade Marmol, Soriano and most important Soto
Please stop with the nonsense. You don’t know what you’re talking about!
I know what am talking about, Big Z is more of a distraction then Hanley Ramirez being indecisive about willing to move to 3rd base or wanting a trade.
If you think Chris Volstad is a #1 then you don’t know what you’re talking about. Everyone knows Zambrano is a distraction. That’s not exactly a revelation or profound insight.
This is low risk-high reward for the Fish. Well, unless you include the risk of Z and Ozzie getting into an argument that turns into a cocaine fueled shootout Scarface-style ending with both of them shot dead floating in a fountain in a ritzy Miami villa. There’s always that.
fingers crossed!
that’s the most likely outcome
say hello to my little friend
…
Rotation depth was originally a problem. But now with recent moves, the Cubs actually have 7 starters pending a Garza trade which will happen eventually. This trade retains depth of an average rotation. As we saw last year depth is huge so this is great.
Let’s be real Zambrano is the real loser here. He goes from wearing an awesome blue uniform to something that crawled out from the 80’s and made it to 2012. Those new uniforms for the Marlins are honestly worst then the Astro’s late 80’s to early 90s unis.
Hater be hatin’
Sorry but you know the marlins have horrible uniforms.. Cubs have one of the best if they stop wearing their practice uniforms in the all blue shirt.. they need to have the pinstripes exclusive at Wrigley.. that’s another good thing about. Big Z going away. He always wore that ugly blue uniform at home and on the road
Just can’t get over that series loss, huh.
no one can get over your team’s awful uniforms.
Theo once again makes just a savvy move. As good as Zambrano’s best years were, those are in the past. Not to say that Big Z can’t be a productive player in the future, but he is just not going to be better than he has been. So instead of hanging onto a 30 year old plateaued malcontent talent Theo acquired a younger pitcher with the potential to possibly one day match Zambrano’s production.
The Cubs are doing a complete and total re haul of not only the roster, but the culture. This means replacing locker room cancers, albeit cancers with talent, with actual baseball players.
Ha! good luck with Volstad. You say potential but you don’t see him pitch every 5 days xD
Yea…that didn’t work out
It’s good Miami found someone as big of a liability emotionally as Josh Johnson is physically.
Man I can’t wait for the first time Hanley Ramirez boots a ball at 3B when Z is pitching!! Z, you think Aramis is lazy? You haven’t seen nothing yet. Z vs Hanley with Ozzie as a moderator….the greatest show on Earth!!
funny are all the different opinions of this trade. reality of it all is the cubs found a way to swap a roster spot and a clubhouse time bomb for a former first round pick with a chance at a decent upside with the change of scenery. good move by the cubs and good luck to big z.
First lets stop stating how good he was the last 1 1/2- 2 years he averages 14-9
3.60 era and a 1.39 whip. The Cubs are not getting field value for him but clubhouse value is a different story. Here is my analogy –Say you are walking barefoot on the beach and you step on a broken bottle you to the hospital and it is stitched and you go home. Now your foot is bothersome and hurts but you do what the doc wants, on day you see it is inflamed and has pus oozing out you go back to the doctor andhe again cleans it out and gives you more medicine. A couple of days later it is still discharging pus and blood and is turning black–Now you have 2 choices keep the foot and hope it heals even tho it shows signs of gangreen or cut the foot off and adjust to a new life without a foot.. For years now Z has been festering with the Cubs and showed no signs of improving. Time was to cut the clubhouse cancer out.
haha that’s great but exactly right
Wow, getting rid of Zambrano was worth THAT much to the Cubs?
If Guillen can control Zambrano, this was a STEAL for the Marlins. If not, well at least he wasn’t that expensive.
At least we won’t have to see Volstad send balls out of the park every fifth day. Stanton does that more than enough.
The people who are evaluating this trade based on Carlos Zambrano on paper or worse yet, Carlos Zambrano’s upside are kind of missing the point: the craziness that shows up off the stat line has made him worth considerably less than he seems on paper for quite some time, and has put his upside further and further out of reach.
The Cubs are trying to change a losing culture. Getting rid of their most relentless PITA *had* to happen.
And, as has been pointed out several times here, Zambrano’s recent career trajectory isn’t all that different from Volstad’s. If anything, Volstad will probably be of a similar level of mediocre, but over an additional 40 or so IP.
Plus, there’s the whole him not being a raging lunatic thing.
I agree. I believe we will never see the actual winner/loser here. Z may pitch well in Miami, but may not have pitched well here. And on a rebuilding team, he may have lost his temper a lot more, thus being a further cancer in a clubhouse where leadership is needed.
I’ll ask the Marlins fans how much of a “steal” this is when he gets suspended or blows up on a cooler. Zambrano is a sad excuse of a pitcher and getting anything in return for this bum is a miracle.
I’ll go ahead and say this. As a Braves fan I’m afraid Z is gonna be as good as ever this year on the grounds that he feels like it. Follow his stats compared to the seasons the Cubs had, the dude wants to compete and goes on his rampages and loses focus when he’s playing for a bad team.
On a completely new team in an environment where he wants to be? I am afraid the Fish just stole a #2 starter for next to nothing.
Not sure he has #2 in him still, but I totally agree with a change of scenery to a competitive team might help raise his spirits.
Anyone care to project?
12 W, 4.25 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 160 K
11 W, 4.40 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 150K
9-9 , 150 innings pitched , 4.50 ERA , 125 SO’s , 3 on-field tempur tantrums , 2 damaged coolers , and 1 locker room brawl followed up by an injury that finishes him for the rest of the season .
Is it possible they flip Volstad at a later date?
volstad to boston for theo compensation
It’s good, ozzie there..The not going to take any of Zam’s Crap. On a one year deal..this is a good deal for the Marlins.
You know… Z was a great pitcher when KWood and MPrior were the arms ahead of him…
Really love this deal for the Marlins. I won’t be surprised if Z blows up on them at some point, but they basically dumped their (maybe) #5 starter for a gamble on a guy who could be much better than the guy they traded. And they spent zilch to do it since Volstad could very well make $2.5 mil in arbitration. At best, Z does way better than Volstad ever could have. At worst, Z implodes and you dump him and one of your prospects takes his place, just like they would have done with Volstad anyway (assuming he continues to suck).
Same downside (DFA’ed, minors, long relief, etc.), way different upside, same cost. Easy choice in my eyes.
*Not to say the Cubs lost this trade. They’re in much better shape too simply by getting rid of someone they didn’t want who didn’t want to be there either. The fact that they’re paying $15mil for it to happen kind of stings though.
Plus, on Chicago sports talk show they said there were a lot of vets on the Cubs that didn’t want to see Z back either.
I wonder if Zambrano’s velocity and movement are down because of age (strange to be several years in decline at 30) or injury or whatever, or because he is sacrificing it to improve his control.
He was undeniably wild in the early years of his career, but that was also when he was at his most effective. I wonder if Ozzie just told him “screw it, let loose and see what happens” if he would be more successful. Does he still have it in him somewhere or are those days simply gone?
i didnt expect us to tender volstad so no loss. zambrano should be a solid number 5
You can’t seriously be looking at this as a Zambrano for Volstad and comparing career stats. This is a dump of the grossly overpaid Rasheed Wallace of MLB for a warm body who could eat innings which will be needed this year on the Cubs.
Can only imagine a dugout fight between Zambrano and Ozzie…2 guys that define temper tantrums.
Zam will throw a fit on the mound and throw at a batter in the first month of play and he will be suspended for the rest of the season, this guy is a looser! Marlins just dont get it, Zam is going to loose it and it will be all over for him.
Cant you just see Zam and Hanley in a brawl in the dugout with ozzie between them, Miami could loose 2 players and a coach in the first week of play, hahaha. good luck
I can smell the bouillabaisse of emotions of this Miami team.
The last piece of the puzzle is to trade for nyjer morgan
Zam,morgan,hanley on the same team? hahaha, it would be worth a ticket just to see whose going to get the first punch in!
It’s going to be so nice to see Volstad in another team’s uniform. Any other team would have done (and one in the division would have been even nicer).
For 2.5MM you have your choice of Big Z or Volstad? Cubs are paying balance either way. Doesn’t Z bring a draft pick unless he vests? I think Marlins win hands down. Good luck Big Z. I liked watching when you were on.
Would you offer arb to Zambrano? You’re quite a brave man.
This trade works for both teams. Z couldn’t come back to the Cubs because after his many outbursts, his final one in Atlanta was the last straw. After trying to hit Chipper Jones(which he couldn’t accomplish because of his poor control), he walked out on his team and quit. He could not return. He might pitch OK for the Marlins. He might not. It doesn’t matter. The Marlins don’t have much invested. The Cubs win because they didn’t think anyone would take him and certainly didn’t think they would get anyone for him.
Marlin fans, here’s a scene you will see this year. Z walks a guy. There’s an infield hit. He starts sweating. He thinks he has the next guy struck out but the ump calls it a ball instead of a strike, and he walks him. Now he’s fuming. Stomping around the mound. There’s a grounder to Hanley for a double play. But Hanley boots it. 2 runs score. Z stares down Hanley. They have words. Z is pissed. So he tries to blow away the next hitter. But he doesn’t have the fastball he once did and it ends up in the seats. The inning finally ends and Z stares at the home plate umpire.
When he gets to the dugout he throws his mitt and starts screaming. He says something to Hanley and they start to go after each other. Ozzie has to get between them. Well, you get the picture. I’ve seen this movie at least 5 times. Buy your popcorn, sit back and enjoy.
The Mariners thought they could tame Milton Bradley too. The Cubs celebrated when he was gone and now the Mariners celebrate that he’s gone. Zambrano will freak himself out of baseball. His tools aren’t good anymore and his attitude is worse. Even if he did have a good year in Miami, I’d still make this deal knowing that. I won’t miss him, I won’t miss his attitude and his effect on the clubhouse.
Good deal for both teams. Cubs get rid of a huge distraction while Carlos gets a much needed change of scenery. Cubs fans also get to laugh at Z when they see him in that ridiculous new uniform. The Marlins are winners here becuase it sounds like Z is going to throw his arm off for Ozzie. The man has a new location, a new manager he respects and a new lease on life. He could win 10+ this season at least.
if big z keeps his temper in check, the marlins rotation looks good.
Very low risk, high reward move for the Marlins.
Marlins have really screwed up their team big time adding the big Z cancer to the mix, he goes nuts when fans get on his case, can’t handle the negative and he is a very selfish human, it’s all about him. It’s very interesting to watch to him when he goes off the deep end and starts throwing his temper tantrums.
You have to ask why would a team pay 15 million to get rid of this guy, that’s how bad he is. He’s not a team player, walked out on his mates and picked a fight with Derrick Lee who is a really good guy.
He’s not a nice person to the fans as well, he’s crazy! I’ll be watching when Marlins come back to Chicago to play in April, we’ll see how he acts when he can’t find the strike zone. Stay tuned! Marlins aren’t going anywhere with this loser!
most overrated team in baseball..