Carlos Zambrano repeated that he intends to retire once his current contract expires. He told reporters, including Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune, that he will retire after 2012 or 2013 when his contract is up. As Zambrano said last summer, he wants to spend more time with his family.
"Believe me, baseball takes a lot of time from us," Zambrano said. "So I think, depending on what happens in my career, I think this will be the last contract."
Zambrano's contract calls for a $17.875MM salary in 2011 and an $18MM salary in 2012. A 2013 option for $19.25MM can vest depending on health and Cy Young votes. When Zambrano was placed on the restricted list following his dugout tirade earlier in the year, he was pitching poorly, but he has rebounded with a strong second half. The 29-year-old has a 1.81 ERA since his return, despite his usual high walk rate.
36 million for the next 2 years, ouch.
Yea and he made almost 19million this year…wow.
only ouch if he does what he normally does……If he finally, and thats a HUGE IF, figured him self out with this anger mgmt stuff. And possibly keeps going to counseling. Maybe, just maybe he can live up to his potential. Remember this is big Z who has never had a 17+ win season ( i know wins are an over rated stat but they do still help) he has lead the league in quality starts the past few years so maybe something finally clicked and he can be that “ace” the cubs NEED going forward…if thats true then 36 is not as bad as it might be if big Z blows up every few months
Umm…no he cannot live up to his potential. He is not worth 36 million over 2 seasons because he will not magically turn into say Justin Verlander or Cliff Lee. He may be able to give some quality starts but there is no way he will be worth the 36 million. Thats just ridiculous. Roy Halladay made about 16 million this year, Zambrano made 19million, no way he lives up to this contract.
I never said he would live up to the contract….living up to the potential is different than living up to the contract. I said if he lives up to his potential then maybe that contract isnt as bad…
His potential ceiling is not an “ace” anymore though. 36 Million is bad either way, the market has changed since that contract…just saying that there is really no way that contract can be “not that bad.” Realistically it will be bad no matter what.
Yawn. The only real story here is that Z still hasn’t learned to shut his mouth. He can certainly retire if he wants, that’s his right. He doesn’t need the money. Still, why say, or repeat this now? No need. It’s only a little drama but drama none the less. Anger management apparently doesn’t address attention whoring.
why does he repeat this now? i assume its because it should decrease his chances of getting traded… since he wants to stay in chicago, its a smart move on his part.
Mmm, I see your point but I don’t believe that’s the case. I really don’t think Z is that subtle. He’s not the type to position himself that way. He says what he thinks, he’s not nuanced enough to pull this off.
The reasons for the repeat performance is that this guy is a narcissist and a moron.I mean does anyone in their right mind really care? He most likely was surprised that the world didn’t stop spinning the first time he made the pronouncement on his retirement, so he repeated it!
do you think he just decided to say this out of the blue? I’m guessing that a journalist asked him, “do you still plan on retiring after this contract?” or something like that, and he just answered the question.
Exactly. I love how people always assume that someone just came out of the blue and decided to blurt out an announcement like this. Odds are that someone in the media asked him about it, since he had commented on it in the past. There are legitimate reasons for criticizing Zambrano. This isn’t one of them.
With the influx of reporters always in the players faces, it is understandable if he says something. Most likely he said that as answer to some stupid question. They probably asked him if he hoped the Cubs traded him in the offseason…
I cannot figure out big Z, he goes through stretches of poor pitching and behavior, than seems to go through a period of flat out domination like right now. Than he does it all over again and this whole retirement talk just sounds strange considering he is at a baseball players prime point of their career. There has got to be something more to this than just him wanting to spend more time with family.
A 2013 option for $19.25MM can vest depending on health..
Does that include mental health?
Does this mean that if he gets cut he will retire?
Oh well. Cubs have with my projections
Jay Jackson- #3 or #4 starter
Christopher Archer- A solid #2 21-7 2.57 ERA 268 SO the last 2 years
Jeff Samardzija- Bullpen or #5
Andrew Cashner Bullpen or #4 or #5
Trey McNutt- #3
Christopher Carpenter#3
Thomas Diamond- Bullpen
Casey Coleman- LRP #5 a younger Randy Wells
Dae-Eun Rhee- projected 3 or 4
All to look forward to.
Since Z, Demp, Silva contracts will be idk what happen till then but I do think Dempster will be a Cub for the rest of his career. Possible rotation in 2012.
SP- Ryan Dempster
SP- Tom Gorzelanny
SP- Chris Archer
SP- Jay Jackson
SP- Randy Wells
What makes you think Tom Gorzelanny is a #2? Pretty solid, but I’d say a #4 at that year. By that time the Cubs have to have gotten rid of Jim Hendry. And maybe they will pick someone up.
I don’t think you’re giving Cashner enough credit, and you’re probably giving Jackson too much. I’m a huge fan of Jackson, but his fly ball tendencies could hurt him in the big leagues…especially at Wrigley. Cashner’s ceiling is much higher than a #4 or #5, provided that the Cubs actually take the kid gloves off a bit and let the guy build up his innings.
Samardzija Will never make it as a ML starter.. his last start was a fluke.. He has never pitched that well.. He’s one of the Cubs that needs to go too.
Didn’t Zambrano say at the end of last year if he had another poor season he’d quit?
Does anyone actually care about anything pertaining to Zambrano at this point?
This WAS supposed to be a reply to HerbertAnchovy.
His reflection.. perhaps his shadow.
Short of punching his father-in-law at the ballpark with his fists or betting on baseball games, I really can’t think of much else Carlos Zambrano can do to lower his trade value. Who is his agent,… Charles Manson?