Zambrano as Trade Bait?

[Little Slide Rooter]

Cubs To Shop Zambrano This Winter?

By Ben Nicholson-Smith [september 15 at 9:51am CST]

The Cubs plan on shopping Carlos Zambrano this offseason, according to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. Citing unnamed sources, Sullivan says the Cubs believe Zambrano would waive his no-trade clause to accept a deal to the right team. The 28-year-old righty jokingly suggested it might be easier to play in another market.

 

"Maybe if I go to a different city next year, if I get traded, I can do what I want," he said.

 

Sullivan says the Cubs think they can find a team willing to exchange quality players for Zambrano. The hot-tempered pitcher has at least $53.75MM remaining on his contract, however. He makes more per season than A.J. Burnett, so there's no guarantee that the Cubs would find takers.

 

This year, Zambrano has a 3.77 ERA in 143.1 innings. He's striking out 7.7 batters per nine innings, but has a characteristically high walk rate of 4.1 batters per nine.

 

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports pointed out this weekend that the Cubs, Blue Jays and Braves could all shop top pitchers this offseason. The combination of Zambrano, Roy Halladay and Javier Vazquez could be every bit as enticing as this year's crop of free agent pitchers.

 

OK, until this, I havnt taken these talks seriously, but now Im starting too. If they do trade Zambrano, they better have a damn good backup plan, and Im not talking the oft injured Rich Harden. Z may not be a tradional ace, but hes the best pitcher we have. If Z is traded, and someone like Halladay through trade or Lackey theroug FA doesnt take his place, Jim Hendrys dumber than I thought. You cant take a chance on Rich Harden as you ace, and risk spending a good portion of the season with a rotation of Lilly, Dempster, Wells, god knows what, god knows what.

[SouthSideRyan]

Paul Sullivan doesn't know anything about anything.

 

(Besides being hideous, he knows a lot about that.)

[dew1679666265]

OK, until this, I havnt taken these talks seriously, but now Im starting too. If they do trade Zambrano, they better have a damn good backup plan, and Im not talking the oft injured Rich Harden. Z may not be a tradional ace, but hes the best pitcher we have. If Z is traded, and someone like Halladay through trade or Lackey theroug FA doesnt take his place, Jim Hendrys dumber than I thought. You cant take a chance on Rich Harden as you ace, and risk spending a good portion of the season with a rotation of Lilly, Dempster, Wells, god knows what, god knows what.

 

Lilly has been as much the ace of the staff as Z has been the past three years. I don't know how much stock I put in these reports, but if we got a very good return on Zambrano and didn't have to pay any of his salary, I might have an interest.

 

He'll just be 29 next year, though, so I wouldn't be in a hurry to trade him.

[SouthSideRyan]

Zambrano's underrated by most Cub fans due to

 

A. his temperment

B. not taking into account the value his offense provides per start

 

That said, I have no issue trading him if we can get actual talent in return. Dumping his contract in a repeat of '04-'05's get rid of the cancers is not something I'd endorse.

[dew1679666265]

Zambrano's underrated by most Cub fans due to

 

A. his temperment

B. not taking into account the value his offense provides per start

 

That said, I have no issue trading him if we can get actual talent in return. Dumping his contract in a repeat of '04-'05's get rid of the cancers is not something I'd endorse.

 

Yeah, he's been a very good pitcher for a while now and will only be 29 next year. I'd be more than happy to keep him, but if we got a very good deal for him, plus had his salary to work with, I wouldn't ignore it.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I agree with what Derrek Lee said recently. This is still a very good team, and kept as is will be very competitve next year. Maybe if we can find the right middle infielder Id be all for it, but theres no reason to railroad anyone out of town. OK, theres no reason to railroad anyone other than Aaron Miles out of town.

[CUBZ99]

Z for Peavy? or Z for Halladay?

 

I could live with either of these trades.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I wonder if we could build a package around Z for King Felix. According to ESPN 1000, "upper management" is serious about shopping him.

[YearofDaCubs]

I wonder if we could build a package around Z for King Felix. According to ESPN 1000, "upper management" is serious about shopping him.

Why would the Mariners want to do that? It would make zero sense for them. It's not going to happen.

[Backtobanks]

Obviously an discussion of trading Zambrano would be limited to the handful of teams that could afford his contract. Add to that the fact Zambrano would want to stay in the NL to hit and you've about run out of options.

 

Mets - expanded deal centered around Zambrano and Reyes (possibly including someone like Maine?)

Braves - deal involving Vasquez plus Escobar?

Dodgers - Furcal plus Billingsley?

 

Of course, we could look into a three-way deal! :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo:

 

Z for Peavy? or Z for Halladay?

 

I could live with either of these trades.

 

I can't see these kind of trades simply because one team usually wants to get out of a big contract, not pick up another one.

[Halman]

OK, theres no reason to railroad anyone other than Aaron Miles out of town.

 

Uh Milton Bradley because he's a redassed blackman. We need more Fuld or Erstaditty grindiness.

[Little Slide Rooter]

OK, theres no reason to railroad anyone other than Aaron Miles out of town.

 

Uh Milton Bradley because he's a redassed blackman. We need more Fuld or Erstaditty grindiness.

 

Maybe we can go with Fuld, Johnson, and Fukudome across the outfield. Sure, they wouldnt be much offensively, but there would never be a base hit into the outfield by opposing teams.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I wonder if we could build a package around Z for King Felix. According to ESPN 1000, "upper management" is serious about shopping him.

Why would the Mariners want to do that? It would make zero sense for them. It's not going to happen.

 

They could reason that 3-4 years of Z is better than 2 of Felix. There's already talk they may want to pre-emptively shop him because they aren't going to be able to keep him. Getting a player of Zambrano's caliber would definitely soften the PR blow of trading your best pitcher.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Obviously an discussion of trading Zambrano would be limited to the handful of teams that could afford his contract. Add to that the fact Zambrano would want to stay in the NL to hit and you've about run out of options.

 

 

 

 

3 of the teams he stated hed like to pitch for were the Yankees, Red Sox, and White Sox, so Id assume hed take a deal to an AL team.

[Sever82]

I definitely could live with a trade of Z for Escobar and Vazquez. Moving Theriot to 2nd would make me very happy :D . This offseason to me is going to be like the bulls offseason in 2010. I could see the cubs moving a decent amount of pieces. The only players on the roster i see the cubs not moving are Ramirez, Soriano, Lee, Marmol, Dempster, Lilly, Soto, Theriot.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I wonder if we could build a package around Z for King Felix. According to ESPN 1000, "upper management" is serious about shopping him.

Why would the Mariners want to do that? It would make zero sense for them. It's not going to happen.

 

They could reason that 3-4 years of Z is better than 2 of Felix. There's already talk they may want to pre-emptively shop him because they aren't going to be able to keep him. Getting a player of Zambrano's caliber would definitely soften the PR blow of trading your best pitcher.

 

If we offered Z, 1 of Cahsner, Jackson, or Carpenter, as well as a few other prospects, maybe throw in Jake Fox the Mariners would listen. Of course, wed end up picking up part f Zs contract. However, the Ms do have a nice chunk of change coming off the books between Beltre, Bedard, Washburn, and Batista, so they may just prefer to try and lock up Felix long term.

 

I still say the best bet is not trading Z unless they already have an ace in their sights.

[Halman]

The only players on the roster i see the cubs not moving are Ramirez, Soriano, Lee, Marmol, Dempster, Lilly, Soto, Theriot.

 

One of these players is not like the others.

[Cubs Fan Dan]

LA would be a good fit for Z if there is a team I can think of off hand... Is it possible Hendry tries to deal of Z and Bradley in separate trades? If so would anyone have interest in Ethier as a centerpiece from the Dodgers?

 

Z's comments will make him less tradeable, as much as I love watching Z he does say some stupid [expletive].

[Little Slide Rooter]

LA would be a good fit for Z if there is a team I can think of off hand... Is it possible Hendry tries to deal of Z and Bradley in separate trades? If so would anyone have interest in Ethier as a centerpiece from the Dodgers?

 

Z's comments will make him less tradeable, as much as I love watching Z he does say some stupid [expletive].

 

I would love Ethier, however, if we moved Z, wed need to find another front of the rotation pitcher. Maybe John Lackey. Rumor has it the D Backs might not extend Brandon Webb, but Im not sure of the extent of his injuries. Ben Sheets and Eric Bedard are also options, but again, theres the injury history.

[davell]

I didn't think Z wanted to play in the AL because he couldn't hit over there? I could see him blocking a trade for that reason actually. But, Z says alot of things, so who knows what he actually means anyway.......I think the Mets or Dodgers are our best bet. We'd have to throw a ton more towards the Mets, if we were to try to get Reyes. I actually think the Mets would be more interested in Lilly than Z honestly.

 

I don't see any chance we could pry Billingsley away from the Dodgers either. I could see a package centered around Furcal and McDonald. Or maybe even something like Z/Soto for Furcal/Martin.

[davell]

LA would be a good fit for Z if there is a team I can think of off hand... Is it possible Hendry tries to deal of Z and Bradley in separate trades? If so would anyone have interest in Ethier as a centerpiece from the Dodgers?

 

Z's comments will make him less tradeable, as much as I love watching Z he does say some stupid [expletive].

 

I would love Ethier, however, if we moved Z, wed need to find another front of the rotation pitcher. Maybe John Lackey. Rumor has it the D Backs might not extend Brandon Webb, but Im not sure of the extent of his injuries. Ben Sheets and Eric Bedard are also options, but again, theres the injury history.

 

 

Whether it's Harden, Bedard, Sheets, or Webb(unlikely as I still see Arizona not letting him walk even with the recent comments), I think we'll wind up with one of them.

[Sever82]

I know this rotation would have a lot of health question marks but can imagine if the cubs traded away Z and then turned around to resign harden, sign sheet and sign Webb. A Rotation of Webb, Sheets, Harden, Lillly and Dempster would be amazing when healthy. But then again i'm dreaming, in that dream scenario the cubs would trade Z to the Yankees for Cano.

[Rusch33]

I think you're dreaming if you think the Yankees would trade Robinson Cano for Carlos Zambrano straight up.

[Cubs Fan Dan]

I am against trading Z,

 

However if done right (which Hendry has done in trades), maybe the Cubs can get the pieces to go for Vasquez or even Halladay. Then they could also resign Harden, risk Sheets, or go for Lackey...

 

I would prefer Harden or Lackey but even a rotation of Lilly, Demp, Vasquez, Wells, and Marshall/Gorz/FA (Wolf?) would not be terrible as long as the Cubs could keep some depth.

 

Z could potential land the right bat for around Ramirez and Lee.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I think you're dreaming if you think the Yankees would trade Robinson Cano for Carlos Zambrano straight up.

 

If the Yankees hadnt dropped the bug bucks on Sabbathia and Burnett in the offseason, that could have been a realistic possibility.