Big Z's hissy-fit

The Chicago Tribune had Z's top 5 outbursts in the broadsheet edition of the paper today. It was pretty funny. My favorite one was his incident with Michael Barrett. Yesterday's incident was tame, and it wasn't really that funny either.

The Cubs should consider long and hard about trading Zambrano this summer or this offseason. I think he has reached his peak, and the Cubs need to start rebuilding because they are all but done when it comes to championship dreams. I also don't think they are a playoff team so what's the point. I know the Wrigley zealots will cry about how the team made a mistake letting Greg Maddux walk, but Zambrano is no Maddux. and he is definitely not Beckett, Santana, Grienke, Linecum, Cain, and others. Honestly, he is a #2 pitcher at best. He is not a guy that I would trust to win a big game. I mean has he ever won a playoff game. Only in Chicago especially with the Wrigley zealots, a Cub can overexposed and overhyped.

He is too immature to handle the role of an ace, and he is not a guy that I would trust on my team when his team is in a rut.

It's embarrassing when a local newspaper especially when a paper is still run by the publisher that runs papers like Chicago Tribune goes out and published an ace starter's top 5 antics.

The Cubs are likely going to get a new manager next offseason, and they are going to have to get some guys that can handle the pressure of winning and playing in Chicago.

Trading Zambrano is the first thing they need to do.

Zambrano is 0-2 with a 4.34 ERA in five career playoff starts.

Even if you are correct about the Cubs championship window closing, I don't think Z is going anywhere. Public relations and public perception has always been very important in the way the Cubs do business. I think a lot of people would be furious if Zambrano gets dealt.

And what you mentioned about public relations and public perception is why the Cubs will always be losers, and why they have had a championship drought of 101 years, Jason. It's hard to win a championship, but when a team has reached the number 100 when it comes to drought, there has to be a reason, and now we know why.

When has teams ever won championships based on public relations and public perception? Championships teams have let fan favorites go. Look at the Patriots and Steelers. They have let fan favorites/winners move on to other teams. How about the Red Sox? Johnny Damon, Pedro Martinez, Nomar Garciaparra, Keith Foulke, Manny Ramirez, and other stars were fan favorites, and most importantly, champions, but you know what. They were let go too because Boston built a superior farm system to replace those guys under the leadership of Theo Epstein and his staff. The Red Wings have let players go away too, and they have managed to do quite well as they try to win back-to-back Stanley Cups, which makes them one of the best sports organizations today if not the best in sports.

If you want to notice the difference between two MLB organizations in Chicago, it is that the White Sox are not afraid to make unpopular moves while the Cubs are worried about what others think if they make moves. It's no coincidence why the White Sox are a successful organization than the Cubs.

As for the fans being unhappy if Zambrano gone, then I have to wonder about the knowledge of the Wrigley zealots when it comes to baseball, who quite frankly have none as they just go to the game to get drunk and act like fools, and then talk about it on message boards, news organizations, sports radio, and on YouTube.

If Jim Hendry can make a good deal, which is one of his weakness unfortunately, then the fans should get over it. The Cubs can get a lot of value for Zambrano especially with long-term contract, and I think Hendry has to pounce while the mercurial ace's is high because I don't think it's getting better in a few years.

Z is who he is. A #2 starter that acts like a 5-year old. That to me does not make him an untouchable.

I agree that the Cubs are likely not going to trade Zambrano for the reasons you mentioned, and that's why the Cubs are losers, and always will be.

Has a team ever won a championship based on public relations and fan reactions? Patriots, Steelers, Red Wings, and Red Sox are four premier organizations in sports today, and those organizations have let fan favorites go once their contracts are up or if those guys wore out their welcome. They make decisions based on what they feel is right not what fans think.

The Cubs can get a lot for Zambrano because any team is desperate for a talent like him. Pitching coaches feel that they can be the guy that get the most out of a talented pitcher so teams will line up for him, and the Cubs need to pounce on that before Zambrano loses value.

To me, Zambrano has been affected by the frustration of being a Cub, and he needs a new scenery before his career ends badly like Kerry Wood or Mark Prior.

The Chicago Tribune had a pie chart poll of Cubs fans voting for Z to leave in the sports cover of the sports section via broadsheet edition yesterday. I guess fans are done with him based on the response that Phil Rogers made a poll on.

I think it's time for him to go. It's not working for him and the Cubs. I think he needs to pitch in a city where he won't have any attention to deal with. His time is up. He may pitch well in another organization, but so what. Chicago sports fans saw enough of this fool, and the poll speaks for itself.

The Cubs need to do a lot of house cleaning. They need to get the ownership situation resolved, and they need to then dump Hendry, Lou, Milty, Z, and basically everyone that is playing in the Cubs uniform.

Z, like a lot of the Cubs' high-profile players, has a full no-trade clause. The Cubs are stuck with him regardless.

The Phil Rogers column was silly and kneejerk, IMO. Zambrano has been this way for years. His antics weren't a problem for Rogers and others when the Cubs gave Z his multiyear contract. They knew what they were getting into. They shouldn't be surprised by any of this.

Carlos is open to go elsewhere like Los Angeles. The Dodgers need a 1-2 starter if they want to win a championship, and I think Torre can handle Zambrano. He will go there because the Dodgers have a chance to win a championship this year, and he will play in a big market.

The Dodgers have good prospects in the farm system, and I think the Cubs can build around them.

Why is Rogers' column a kneejerk reaction? I have been calling for Z's departure since last month, and it's about time the writers in town got into the program.

Yeah, he has been that way for years, but at some point, when does he grow up?

Ask yourself this: If Zambrano had beaten the Sox on Sunday, would Rogers have written that column? Certainly not. That's why it is kneejerk.

I've never heard that Zambrano is willing to go to the Dodgers. He has said he would like to finish with the Cubs. He's not going to be traded anyway, so it's really not worth debating.

What difference does it make when Rogers would have written it? Even if Z won on Sunday, Rogers would have written that later in the season. This was ripe for the making.

I was reading an article in the Chicago Tribune yesterday about him being interested being a Dodger.

http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports_hardball/2009/06/zambrano-responds-to-tribune-fan-poll.html

Copy and paste this link on URL. Z made his quote there about him being a Dodger.

I think the Cubs could trade him this winter if they start their fire sale especially with the new owner coming to town whenever it is.

Rogers column was just a sensational piece of garbage. He was capitalizing on the emotions of Cubs fans who had just suffered a bitter loss to the Sox. That's all it was.

Oh stop it! What journalist never capitalize the emotion of fans? Huh? You see this stuff in Journalism 101. Rogers was not the first and he is not the last writer to do this. The bottom line was Zambrano has been a failure with Da Cubs.

No, the bottom line is Rogers wrote a terrible column.

It's one thing to say the Cubs should ask Z to waive his no-trade clause, and trade him for prospects. But that's not what Rogers wrote. He said the Cubs should put Zambrano out on waivers and give him away for nothing. He even suggested they take a 32-year-old minor-leaguer in return, if necessary.

Such a column is criminally stupid.

Are Zambrano's antics childish and silly? Sure. It's questionable whether he can ever anchor a pitching staff to a World Series title. Nevertheless, he still is a valuable asset to any team. The man has won 13 or more games for six consecutive seasons. He threw 200 or more innings in five of those six years. That type of reliability has great value in today's game.

For a columnist to suggest the Cubs give away a guy like Zambrano for nothing, that's just retarded beyond belief. I'd expect that kind of crap from the meatheads who call sportsradio. I expect better from a national baseball columnist at a reputable paper like the Chicago Tribune.

So I am curious what do you think of HEATHERFROMCHICAGO's favorite columnist accusing Ryan Theriot of using steroids? Now that was wrong, and I am surprised he was not even called out nationally. How is he any different than the dopey blogger who accused Raul Ibanez for using steroids on his blog? The Sun-Times should have suspended that person. After all, Jay Mariotti got suspended from the paper over the years. That was more of a joke than what Rogers did.

Didn't read that column. Don't really care.

That's not the point.

You call out Phil Rogers for capitalizing the emotions of Cubs fans yet how is Rick Telander any different to what he did? I like it how Sun-Times rip on Jay Mariotti for not going to the locker room after games, and it's a reasonable comment yet Telander writes a column that borders on heresay. In this newspaper business, you write something like that, and you are fire. If I ever wrote a high school player is using steroids in a community paper, not only I would be fired, but the newspaper and I would get sued.

I just told you, I didn't read the Telander column you are referencing. Therefore, I don't have an opinion on it.

I did read the Rogers column, and I thought it was stupid.

If there is any reason to go trade Zambrano, tonight should be another good reason. I got a good laugh of seeing Zambrano getting hit around even though the Cubs had a 6-0 lead against the Marlins.

Lou decided to take Z out since he had zero faith on his ace to hold that lead. If that's not an indictment of Zambrano, what exactly is? The team's best pitcher is Rich Harden not Zambrano.

If Zambrano can't handle pitching a 6-0 lead, how is he going to go pitch in a pennant race, which the team really needs him to win every start.

Zambrano is OVERRATED! I have no idea why the Wrigley zealots think high of this overrated stiff.

Zambrano left tonight's game with back stiffness.

So Carlos Zambrano admits he is lazy and he did not participate in the off-season workouts.

Two ways you can look at this:

Give him credit for being honest about it. Most athletes tend to lie or not say anything when it comes to training themselves for the season.

While Z should be commended for his honesty, it does not let him off the hook for his approach of his job. This should give the Cubs an incentive to trade him, which I have been calling for awhile now. Zambrano has won nothing in his life, and he is a knucklehead. Now, he showed that he does not care about his job, and that he is here for the paycheck. This type of nonsense is why the Cubs can't win a championship, and we saw it here, and maybe that's why Z tends to fail in October. Those little things matter, and we found out last night.

Why would I want a guy like that on my team? If Hendry or whoever still believes in him, he ought to have his head examined.

I hear the Cubs won't trade him for public reations. Public relations? The Wrigley zealots can't be accepting Z's nonsense after this news. If they are, then I wonder how much they know about the game of baseball, but then after I saw what took place last Wednesday night, which a Wrigley zealot threw beer at Shane Victorino, it's clear those idiots go to the game just to drink beer and start trouble instead of watching a game of baseball.