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Carlos Zambrano

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Dawson, Ahrens, Rays, Lee

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On this date in 1995, Dodgers right-hander Hideo Nomo became the first Japanese-born player in Major League history to be selected for the All Star Game. Nomo, then a 26-year-old rookie, took the big leagues by storm with his tornado windup and by posting a 1.99 ERA and 11.9 K/9 in 13 first half starts. The All-Star Game was just the tip of the iceberg for Nomo, who went on to win the Rookie of the Year award and finish fourth in the NL Cy Young voting.

Nomo's big league career spanned a dozen seasons with seven teams, and he retired with a 4.24 ERA and two no-hitters to his credit. He's credited with paving the way for Japanese players to permanently relocate to MLB.

Here are a few links from around the baseball blogosphere…

If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here.

Odds & Ends: Lee, Miller, Branyan, Phillies

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There may be a lot of NBA and NHL rumors and signings floating around today, but the MLB hot stove will only get hotter as we approach the trade deadline.  Here are some items from around the majors…

Carlos Zambrano Extension Reactions

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Back in August of 2007 when the Cubs signed Carlos Zambrano to a five-year $91.5MM extension, GM Jim Hendry told the AP that Zambrano was not the sort of pitcher the Cubs could have found elsewhere. 

"My strong belief is that we couldn't have replaced Carlos," Hendry said.

Zambrano, then 26, had already pitched four full seasons in the Cubs' rotation and had a career ERA of 3.66 with nearly one strikeout per inning pitched. He was in the midst of another strong season and had an outside shot at 20 wins with free agency just months away.

The deal came less than a year after the Cubs committed $136MM to Alfonso Soriano. And it came less than a year after the Giants signed Barry Zito for $126MM. Zambrano, three years younger than Zito and better at striking hitters out, threatened to leave the Cubs if he didn't get an extension, and other clubs had interest in the right-hander. Here's how some writers initially reacted to the deal that gave Zambrano the fifth-highest salary in the game, behind only Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez and Derek Jeter:

  • Tim Dierkes, MLBTR: "I've been back and forth on my opinion of a huge Zambrano extension … Part of me says that the Cubs got a slight discount, Zambrano's been an injury-free horse, and he'll still be pretty young throughout the deal. The other side of me says that his best years are behind him, he's got a ton of mileage on his arm, and almost no free agent pitcher deal of this magnitude could possibly work out. I think you could make a legitimate case for either side – sorry for the cop out."   
  • Rob Neyer, ESPN.com: "Does Zambrano deserve $18 million per season? Well, if you think Barry Zito deserves his $18 million per season, then Zambrano is definitely worth that much. OK, bad example. Zambrano's one of the five best pitchers in the National League, so he was going to get this money or more, somewhere. Still, I wonder if the Cubs might have been better off spending their $91.5 million who's been tested in the real major league."
  • Bruce Miles, the Daily Herald: "In this day and age of cynicism, especially when it comes to the mega-money world of professional sports, it's difficult to take anything anybody says at face value. Once in awhile, though, people say things and then follow through on them. All along, Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano, his agents and Cubs general manager Jim Hendry stated it was their goal to agree on a multiyear contract extension for Zambrano … It got done Friday, and it all got done without public sniping … Maybe this time, everybody will live happily ever after." 
  • Dave van Dyck, Chicago Tribune: "[The contract is an example of] putting your money where your mouth is."

Cubs To Place Zambrano On Restricted List

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The Cubs will place Carlos Zambrano on the restricted list tomorrow, according to MLB.com's Carrie Muskat (via Twitter). Players on the restricted list do not count towards a team's 25-man or 40-man roster, so the Cubs will be able to add a player to replace Zambrano. It's not the first time a prominent player has been placed on the restricted list this year; former Cub Milton Bradley spent time on the restricted list earlier in the year, and so did Yorvit Torrealba.

By placing Zambrano on the restricted list, the Cubs free up a roster spot and provide themselves with time to determine their next move. The Mariners paid Bradley while he was on the restricted list, but teams do not always pay players on the restricted list. The Cubs will pay Zambrano, according to Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com.

Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune reports that Zambrano will not return before the All-Star break as he undergoes treatment for anger issues. Cubs GM Jim Hendry contacted MLB, the MLBPA, Zambrano and agent Barry Praver about the team's decision.

The Cubs may want to move Zambrano and (part of) the $45.4MM remaining on his contract, but trading the big right-hander won't be easy, as MLBTR's Tim Dierkes showed earlier today. Teams are presumably uneasy about acquiring Zambrano given his salary, his recent tirade, and his 2010 numbers (5.66 ERA, 8.6 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9).

Trading Carlos Zambrano

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Carlos Zambrano signed a five-year, $91.5MM extension with the Cubs in August of 2007.  At the time, I had mixed feelings – the Cubs received a discount in the number of years, but still committed a big salary to a pitcher whose best years were behind him.  Talking to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times, Cubs GM Jim Hendry defended the contract yesterday:

"There was nothing wrong with the investment.  This guy was an outstanding pitcher in the National League, in the game, for the four or five years before that. And there's no question that the deal was a solid one in the industry. He certainly would have been one of the hotter tickets on the street if that thing went to the end of the season."

Wittenmyer says the Cubs now have an "obvious desire" to unload Zambrano and his remaining $45.4MM.  You may recall that the Cubs had a similar obvious desire with Milton Bradley last winter, and they eventually found a match.  Hendry may find trading Zambrano a bigger challenge.  For the moment, we'll toss aside Z's full no-trade clause. 

  • Carlos Lee is owed $46.85MM through 2012, his contract matches up quite well with Zambrano's.  However, the Cubs don't need an outfielder and Lee has a full no-trade clause this year.  It's impossible to imagine Lee and Alfonso Soriano in the same outfield, even though the Cubs liked Lee in the past.
  • Aaron Rowand and Edgar Renteria are owed a total of $35.7MM.  The Giants would be adding $9.7MM in salary, though that's not a bad price for Zambrano over the next few years.  But as far as team needs, this makes little sense for either side.
  • Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo are owed a total of $27.6MM.  The Mets would be taking on nearly $18MM to own Zambrano through '12 and finally ditch this pair of bad contracts.
  • Any deal with the Braves would have to involve Derek Lowe, who is owed $38MM through 2012.  I don't see why the Braves would want to make the switch.
  • The Indians could match the Cubs' Zambrano commitment almost perfectly with Travis Hafner, Kerry Wood, and Jake Westbrook.  It seems pointless, though, and Hafner isn't able to play first base.
  • The Royals' three bad contracts – Gil Meche, Jose Guillen, and Kyle Farnsworth - have $27.7MM remaining.  It's a poor match, though ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that the Royals are pushing to move Guillen and will eat a lot of dollars.
  • One last idea, perhaps the craziest yet.  The Yankees owe A.J. Burnett $58.3MM through 2013.  Burnett isn't faring well in the second year of his deal, and the Cubs would be taking on almost $13MM to make the swap.  The Cubs would assume less than $6MM if they included Derrek Lee, though.
  • As you can see, I failed to find a reasonable Zambrano trade scenario involving other overpaid players.  Feel free to speculate in the comments.

Odds & Ends: Branyan, Orioles, D’Backs, Marlins

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Links for Sunday..

Olney’s Latest: Giants, Zambrano, Fielder, Orioles

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In today's Insider-only blog entry, ESPN.com's Buster Olney ranks baseball's most irreplaceable players, with Albert Pujols and Adrian Gonzalez heading his list. Here are a few other highlights from the column:

  • Responding to Henry Schulman's San Francisco Chronicle piece about the Giants' need for bullpen help, Olney identifies two roadblocks. According to general managers, the relief market is "very, very thin." On top of that, a group of GMs polled by Olney named Brian Sabean as the most difficult GM to trade with.
  • The Cubs have tried to deal with Carlos Zambrano's past outbursts because of his talent and his $91.5MM contract. After the latest blow-up though, it appears the club has run out of patience. According to Olney, there's "an overriding perception within the organization" that Zambrano hasn't cared about living up to his end of the deal.
  • Given the non-existent extension negotiations between Prince Fielder and the Brewers, Olney says the team has two options: trade Fielder and receive a lesser return than fans would expect, or keep the 26-year-old and try to re-sign him after 2011.
  • Buck Showalter had a very good interview with the Orioles, who will also interview Eric Wedge this week (Twitter link).

Odds & Ends: Patterson, Marlins, League, Zambrano

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Some Saturday links as the Red Sox suffer their latest injury, this one involving Clay Buchholz and running the bases…

Rosenthal’s Full Count: Zambrano, Angels, Brewers

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Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com has a new Full Count video up, so let's dive in…

  • The fact that Carlos Zambrano is a 29-year-old pitcher still capable of winning 12-15 games a year should be enough to allow the Cubs to trade him, but of course the team will have to a eat a large chunk of the $45MM left on his deal. Rosenthal reminds us that the Cubbies came ahead financially when they moved Milton Bradley this winter.
  • The Angels still want to add a first baseman, and Adam Dunn is on their list of potential targets. If they do make a move for Dunn or perhaps Adam LaRoche, incumbent first baseman Mike Napoli could become trade bait. 
  • The Nationals have yet to get serious in any discussions about a contract extension with Dunn. 
  • The Brewers are still searching for pitching, and the Blue Jays could be a potential match. Toronto likes Double-A infielder (and Canadian) Brett Lawrie, but the Brewers would be reluctant to trade him. They would have to consider it if he could land them someone like Brett Cecil or Shaun Marcum, though.
  • Arizona will probably not want to keep both Dan Haren and Edwin Jackson since they combine to make over $20MM next year, but Haren's value isn't what it once was. One baseball person told Rosenthal that "[Haren]'s not at the top of anyone's list, he's just another name."

Olney’s Latest: Zambrano, Starting Pitchers, Indians

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In today's blog post at ESPN (Insider req'd), Buster Olney writes about how Diamondbacks' manager A.J. Hinch went against the grain by leaving Edwin Jackson in to throw 149 pitches as he no-hit the Rays last night. One unnamed manager blamed the media for the pitch count craze, but I want to add that much of it has to do with teams protecting investments. With the rise of salaries throughout the game even from just ten years ago, teams don't want to unnecessarily put a pitcher in the line of danger, so to speak. 

Here are the rest of Olney's rumors…

  • The Cubs may wish they could get rid of Carlos Zambrano following his latest tirade, but Olney points out that there's still $45MM left on his contract. Chicago would have to eat a huge chunk of that money to unload him.
  • The trade market doesn't figure to be very robust this summer because there just isn't a lot of money available around the league. The starting pitching market probably won't budge until Cliff Lee is dealt, at which point second tier fodder like Ben Sheets and Kevin Millwood would draw more attention.
  • The Indians' two most marketable players are Austin Kearns and Russell Branyan because neither is making big money. Kearns is owed approximately $417K the rest of the season, Branyan $1.11MM, and both will become free agents as season's end.
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