Zambrano clarifies and gets offered 5 year deal

[Monco]

Hendry needs to learn how to negotiate. With Carpenter at 5/65 and Oswalt at 5/73 a first offer of 5/90 is silly. But,with what was spent on Soriano,Marquis.Blanco,Floyd.I shouldn't be suprised.

[RichHillIsABeast]

Hendry needs to learn how to negotiate. With Carpenter at 5/65 and Oswalt at 5/73 a first offer of 5/90 is silly. But,with what was spent on Soriano,Marquis.Blanco,Floyd.I shouldn't be suprised.

 

Zito changed the market.

 

There was no reason for Z (advised by his agent) to sign before this last crop of FA pitchers signed.

[NCCubFan]

I think this quote clears it up.

 

‘‘This is the team that gave Carlos Zambrano his opportunity to play baseball since he was 16 years old. Big Z wants to stay here. ... Carlos wants to sign with the Cubs. But Carlos just doesn’t want to talk about contracts during the season.’’

 

Fixed.

:lol:

[Balsa]

Oh please let this happen.

[BigSlick]

This is good news, as long as he signs it.

[goonys evil twin]

People claiming that 5/90 is lowball, very low, or insulting are not being rational. It's a contract that averages to $18m a year. The difference between that and a Zito contract is that Zito went through free agency. You have to go through free agency to get those 2 extra years. Teams generally don't hand guys who are on their own team 7 year deals. It's the length that gets guys to move teams. 5 years is a very normal term for a player to re-up with his own team. It still gives him the opportunity to hit free agency again at a relatively young age, but does not short change him any money in the meantime. 2/36 might be lowball, but 5 years at $18m doesn't come close to fitting that description.

 

 

On the other hand, Bruce Miles claims that Hendry hasn't actually offered such a deal, they've just discussed parameters that would most likely include 5 guaranteed years.

[Chocolate Milk]

I don't know if anyone heard the interview with Z from yesterday but he said he wants a 5 year deal. I'm parapharsing here but he basically said, "The Cubs offered me a 5 year deal and I am looking for a 5 year deal so we are on the same page."

 

Take that for what it is worth. This was on Comcast this morning, if anyone in the Chicagoland area saw it and would like to verify.

[hardcorecubfan]

I'd be really pleased with 5/90.

 

Ya, so would i, but the school district hasn't offered that to me yet

[Guest]

I'd be really pleased with 5/90.

 

Ya, so would i, but the school district hasn't offered that to me yet

 

5 yrs at 90 bucks a yr, not a good deal. 8-)

[JC]

People claiming that 5/90 is lowball, very low, or insulting are not being rational. It's a contract that averages to $18m a year. The difference between that and a Zito contract is that Zito went through free agency. You have to go through free agency to get those 2 extra years. Teams generally don't hand guys who are on their own team 7 year deals. It's the length that gets guys to move teams. 5 years is a very normal term for a player to re-up with his own team. It still gives him the opportunity to hit free agency again at a relatively young age, but does not short change him any money in the meantime. 2/36 might be lowball, but 5 years at $18m doesn't come close to fitting that description.

 

 

On the other hand, Bruce Miles claims that Hendry hasn't actually offered such a deal, they've just discussed parameters that would most likely include 5 guaranteed years.

 

For the record, I don't think its lowball. I think it fails to incorporate his final arbitration year numbers. I'd rather see 6/$105M than 5/$90M.

 

With regard to Zito, 1) the Giants had to make a splash after losing Schmidt, 2) the Yankees and Mets could have come up with more $ if they wanted (which is somewhat telling), and 3) Zito is left-handed, and that fact still garners a confusingly high amount of weight in MLB.

 

Mind you, I'd rather have Zito for the money plus a rookie (Galhager?) than the money spent on Lilly and Marquis. Blech.