Backtobanks

Maybe he has and we haven't heard about it yet. No one's gonna put a claim in but I'd just like to see him in another team's uniform. It seems to me that we've heard about others being put on waivers, but not Grabow.

Whew! I was worried that the Cubs put Grabow on waivers. I'm not quite sure why he hasn't been put out there.

Exactly my point. Ricketts wants a GM that has built a winning tradition by developing their own players (i.e. the Red Sox). It's certainly not his fault, but Hahn falls short in that category.

Just speculating. It's the usual "Who needs a 1B and has money to spend?" Then send out a tweet making it look like some inside information or brilliant analysis. Everyone of us could have send the same tweet.

He's been pretty bad this year. Teams taking him on are going to be doing so out of the hope that he rebounds at least somewhat next season. Remembering that he's an emotional roller coaster, he's been bad this year on a horrible team with no offense and pitiful defense. I think Zambrano on a winning team with good defensive and offensive support would be a completely different pitcher. Also, a change of scenary and a move from near the top of the rotation to near the back of the rotation certainly would lower the expectation level. If Z was emotionally upset, wouldn't he be trying to strike everybody out instead of lobbing pitches over the plate? That theory doesn't really fit with the reasons he's struggled this season. And the person who expects the most out of Zambrano is Zambrano-a change of scenery won't change that. He might improve working with an improved defense, but his BABIP isn't high especially compared to his LD percentage. I don't agree that a change of scenary won't change things. Lower expectations, not being "the man" in the clubhouse, not being coddled by the manager and front office, not being stalked daily by the local media, etc. might go a long way to improving his situation.

What exactly do you mean by "winning tradition"? The Rays have never won a WS and the Braves' last one was in 1995; at least the White Sox won back in 2005. Plus, the White Sox have only had two losing seasons since 2000. I'll grant you that they've only made three playoff appearances since 2000, but it seems kind of strange that you'd discount the White Sox like they haven't done anything of note recently. Also, regarding the White Sox farm system, the White Sox do not spend a whole lot on the draft or international signings. That really puts a damper on a team's ability to build a farm system. Plus, let's not forget Kenny Williams' propensity to trade prospects rather than building his teams from within. The Rays have done a great job of winning in the toughest division in baseball while spending next to nothing. They have developed a ton of young players along the way. The Braves have won and/or been in contention in a tough division consistently for decades while developing many young players. The WS have winning seasons in one of the weakest divisions in baseball while having a horrible farm system and trading away many of the few prospects they've had. Hahn is talented, but I would expect better candidates to be applying that seem to better fit the criteria that Ricketts has stated.

He's been pretty bad this year. Teams taking him on are going to be doing so out of the hope that he rebounds at least somewhat next season. Remembering that he's an emotional roller coaster, he's been bad this year on a horrible team with no offense and pitiful defense. I think Zambrano on a winning team with good defensive and offensive support would be a completely different pitcher. Also, a change of scenary and a move from near the top of the rotation to near the back of the rotation certainly would lower the expectation level.

Rick Hahn would be a great choice, but I'm not sure it would be a great PR move to take a guy from the White Sox to turn around the Cubs. I think Ricketts will have a long list of excellent choices, so a connection to the crosstown rivals might hurt Hahn's chances. Ricketts would be a complete and total moron if he decided not to hire Hahn on the basis that Hahn works for the White Sox. If he's got a list of 10-12 people who are better or equally qualifed as Hahn, then I could see passing over someone from your crosstown rivals. I would agree with you if there's no one on the list as qualified as Hahn. BTW, Ricketts wanted someone who comes from a winning tradition and has a proven record on player development. Compare the WS front office on those two points with the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, and Braves. Obviously nothing has been decided, but there seems to be a lot of admiration pointed at the Red Sox organization as the way to go. That doesn't make any sense. I would agree with wanting a guy from a winning organization, but there's no way that the fact that he works for the White Sox would have any leverage in whether or not he's the guy. I expect some of the best and brightest GM candidates from teams that have a winning tradition to apply for the job. Using Ricketts' criteria, I would expect Hahn to be no better than the 5th or 6th best candidate. The WS don't have the winning tradition or the farm system that the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, or Braves have. Assuming a qualified candidate (or candidates) applies from one of those teams (very likely), he (they) would have to be considered over Hahn. In addition to fitting the criteria better than Hahn, it would avoid the potential of poor PR.

If more than one team wants him, then the Cubs aren't over a barrel. If he still has value to other teams, the Cubs can get that value. Relatively speaking, sure. But in the grand scheme of things they're unfortunately over a barrel. They're not going to trade him without either getting a horrible contract back in return, paying for most of Zambrano's 2012 contract or simply getting scraps. Given that he's still 30, his significant past success and his relative offensive value the Cubs shouldn't be in that kind of corner...and yet, here we are. I'm not sure about that. All of Z's deeper numbers are scary this season. His stuff is declining and he has become much more hittable. Line drive percentage is up, HR percentage is up, swinging strike is down, contact against is up, and he throws less fastballs every year. Knowing his arm history that is not a good sign at all. And with the run environment the last two seasons, the bar for pitchers is higher than it used to be. Z can probably put up a few more below average to average type seasons with some decent added value for his bat. Even if he were a model citizen and was on the free agent market this year, I probably wouldn't pay him more than 8 million a year and less if it was an AL team. He's that risky at this point without much upside. Some team will take a chance on him, but I'm not sure how much the Cubs are losing by him having character issues. Apparently rival teams were saying last year that they didn't see him as much more than a #5, and I bet his reduced stuff brings up red flags among scouts. Zambrano certainly is declining, but you can't convince me that he's not an upgrade to the #4 & #5 (and possibly #3) starters on a vast majority of the teams especially with the Cubs picking up most of his contract. Any negative talk about Zambrano's pitching by rival teams is just a way of lowering the price they would have to pay.

Rick Hahn would be a great choice, but I'm not sure it would be a great PR move to take a guy from the White Sox to turn around the Cubs. I think Ricketts will have a long list of excellent choices, so a connection to the crosstown rivals might hurt Hahn's chances. Ricketts would be a complete and total moron if he decided not to hire Hahn on the basis that Hahn works for the White Sox. If he's got a list of 10-12 people who are better or equally qualifed as Hahn, then I could see passing over someone from your crosstown rivals. I would agree with you if there's no one on the list as qualified as Hahn. BTW, Ricketts wanted someone who comes from a winning tradition and has a proven record on player development. Compare the WS front office on those two points with the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, and Braves. Obviously nothing has been decided, but there seems to be a lot of admiration pointed at the Red Sox organization as the way to go.

Rick Hahn would be a great choice, but I'm not sure it would be a great PR move to take a guy from the White Sox to turn around the Cubs. I think Ricketts will have a long list of excellent choices, so a connection to the crosstown rivals might hurt Hahn's chances.

It's not like he's been living in a shoe box. Nor is it as if you can't be those things and good at your job. I suppose that's true, but you don't see very much of that in the cold, impersonal, bottom-line oriented, and competitive business world of today. I'm not saying everything was better back in the old days, but some things certainly were.

Hendry believed in being honest, hard working, and friendly in a business that no longer uses those traits to define success. It was time for him to be replaced, but it's still a little sad to see it happen to a classy guy.

Yeah, all of this negative Zambrano talk hides the fact that he's a good pitcher who is an innings-eating horse. He's totally overpaid and certainly not an ace, but you can't tell me he couldn't be an upgrade as #4 or #5 (or maybe #3) on most pitching staffs with the Cubs paying most of his salary. Of course, then you need to decide what you're going to give up for him and do you want to deal with his emotional antics.

From MLBTR: Unloading Carlos Zambrano By Tim Dierkes [August 16 at 1:00pm CST] I would say the Cubs have no chance of unloading combustible righty Carlos Zambrano this offseason, but the Vernon Wells trade showed that even the game's worst contracts can be moved. The big difference there: Wells was coming off a solid 31 home run season and doesn't come with clubhouse baggage. Cubs GM Jim Hendry has been through this once before, ditching a little bit of Milton Bradley's contract and actually getting some value out of Carlos Silva in 2010. There was no way the Cubs weren't going to dump Bradley that offseason, and it's possible their thinking is the same regarding Zambrano. We don't need to run through Zambrano's history; suffice it to say that he has big-time negative trade value. Contract and attitude aside, Zambrano the 30-year-old pitcher still has some use at the back end of a rotation. He's consistently posted SIERAs in the 4.30 range, something for which plenty of teams pay around $4MM. However, teams signing the Kevin Correias of the world are hoping for innings, which Zambrano has not provided lately. And unlike most back-end starters signed on the free agent market, Zambrano has the potential to be a clubhouse distraction. That's why Zambrano cleared waivers even before his latest incident: he has major negative trade value. He could only be dealt for a player the other team wants nothing to do with, and the Cubs would have to send money or take a bad contract to match up with his $18MM salary for 2012. Here are 11 trade ideas, assuming Z is willing to waive his no-trade clause without compensation. •Zambrano and $12.5MM to Astros for Brandon Lyon. The reliever had bicep surgery in June and is out for the season. If the Astros are unsure about his 2012 outlook and would prefer to add Zambrano to the back end of their rotation without paying any additional money, this could work. •Zambrano and $12.5MM to Blue Jays for Mark Teahen. The Cubs could attempt to use Teahen as a supersub next year. But to Toronto, does Zambrano offer any advantage to Teahen? •Zambrano and $2MM to the Dodgers for Juan Uribe. If the Dodgers are having buyer's remorse on Uribe, this could be a way to wash their hands of the deal after 2012 instead of '13. But since Uribe still has some positive value, the Cubs would have to add a player or additional money. •Zambrano to Giants for Barry Zito and $46MM. I'm putting this here because the idea is a favorite of many Cubs fans and was even tossed out there by ESPN's Buster Olney today. Let's think this through though, because it makes little sense for either side given the huge contract difference. The Cubs would exchange one year of a problem veteran pitcher for three? Releasing Zambrano would be simpler. From their point of view the Giants would have to send even more money to compensate for having to have Zito through '13. And on the Giants' side, would they really want to be free of Zito so badly that they'd send another team over $40MM to make him go away? •Zambrano and $6MM to the Giants for Aaron Rowand. This, I can see, because the Giants might like to keep the money a wash and at least have the chance of getting some back-end innings out of Zambrano next year. If not, they could release him as they might Rowand. Plus, the years match up. •Zambrano and $1MM to the Mariners for Chone Figgins. I can also picture this trade, as the money is very similar and Hendry and Jack Zduriencik swapped problems before. Figgins is under contract for an extra year, but the Cubs could release him if things don't work out. •Zambrano to Orioles for Brian Roberts. Roberts is owed $2MM more than Z, but he may still have value if his concussion symptons go away. Plus, he was once a target of Hendry's. However, former Cubs exec Andy MacPhail isn't expected to be in charge of the O's this offseason, and in general Zambrano is just a headache compared to whatever Roberts might give them. •Zambrano and $8MM to Red Sox for Daisuke Matsuzaka. In the best case, Dice-K might be able to provide a couple of months of post-Tommy John innings next year, so maybe Boston would prefer to try Zambrano in some capacity instead. •Zambrano to White Sox for Alex Rios and $20MM. The White Sox would reduce the years of their burden if not the money, while the Cubs could pray Rios bounces back next year or else cut him loose. •Zambrano to White Sox for Adam Dunn and $26MM. The problem with both White Sox scenarios is that it's hard to see them sending so much money across town. Whereas from the Cubs' point of view, they'd probably just release Zambrano rather than increase the commitment. That said, Dunn makes sense for the Cubs at first base next year if the money is a wash. •Zambrano to Yankees for A.J. Burnett and $15MM. $15MM would even out the money, but since Burnett probably has more value as a pitcher than Zambrano, the Yanks would probably either want to send a lot less or just keep the better pitcher. We could play this game with Rafael Soriano too, but the Yankees would need a bigger gain than just Zambrano and a financial wash. •Bottom line: a few of these scenarios are feasible, with the best ones involving the least amount of money being sent and the Cubs getting a truly low-value player in return. Photo courtesy of Icon SMI.

The Marlins already have a very good GM, I'm not sure what use they would have for Hendry. And I reiterate, Z has a no trade clause and a big salary the Marlins likely cannot afford. I'm not sure Mike Quade is an in demand manager either. I'm sure Z will be waiving his NTC and the Cubs are going to be paying his salary anyhow to dump him. Hendry can go into scouting and Quade can learn spanish and how to curse to appease the fanbase.

Phil Rogers in today's Tribune suggest Morrison to the White Sox as compensation for Ozzie Guillen. How about Hendry, Quade, and Zambrano for Morrison. :yahoo:

And a big tax write off.

Nobody can do anything to keep someone from walking away from that kind of money. That includes his agent, his wife, his friends, the union, etc. The point is that everybody realizes that Zambrano is immature (or emotionally unstable) enough to say things without thinking about the consequences. After saying something that jeopardizes his career, I'm sure his agent, wife, friends, union, etc. made him realize the error of his ways.

I agree that it's really unlikely, but I also think if anyone were to decide to leave that kind of money on the table it would be Z. It's possible that he's run out of people to blame for his dwindling success and may just not enjoy going out there anymore because he's not up to his own standard of play. He very likely has too much pride to phone it in and count his money next year, and the trade that he'd be likely to force could potentially offend him as well. He's also just stubborn enough to tell his agent and the mlbpa to go [expletive] themselves. Allowing for ALL that, I think there's a 10% chance he retires. Jesus, I just did this up PTI-style. There's no way Zambrano leaves that much money on the table. Also, his agent and the player's union would certainly push him to return.

Quade's not stupid. He knows that he is going to get fired after the season, so winning a few extra games looks better for him. Hendry should have promised him a spot in the organization if he let the kids play the rest of the way.

If Hendry is retained, I guess this is the best possible alternative. However, if Hendry stays, I'm not so sure that Quade will be dismissed. No way Quade will be dismissed if Hendry is back. They'll let it ride one more year with both. Somebody needs to be the scapegoat for this season, so Quade will be fired. Quade was great as a coach/ml manager, but he has been bad as a ML manager. As I posted originally, hiring Gillick right after the season would give him the opportunity to build a team that could contend annually by 2013. Giving Gillick the chance to hire a long-term manager this year, put in place his own GM next year, and having the money and power to acquire players through two off-seasons and one trade deadline should build the Cubs into the organization it should be by 2013.

Obviously we won't know for sure for awhile, but I've been saying all along that it wouldn't surprise me if Ricketts hired someone like Gillick to be president while retaining Hendry as GM. Basically having Hendry go through Gillick on all baseball decisions. With Quade gone after this year, Gillick can hand pick a long-time manager and pick his own GM for 2013 while making the important personnel decisions on the roster immediately.

From MLBTR: MLBTR's GM Candidates By Ben Nicholson-Smith [August 12 at 9:30am CST] It’s too early to predict with complete accuracy which franchises will be looking for new general managers in the coming months, but it’s fair to assume that an opening or two will emerge, maybe more. In anticipation of these openings MLBTR has surveyed dozens of baseball people about candidates for general manager jobs. Over the course of the past six weeks, Tim Dierkes and I have heard from a diverse collection of voices, including GMs, agents, scouting directors, scouts, former GMs and, we expect, future GMs. It's now time to present the resulting list of 20 GM candidates, plus honorable mentions. The list is by no means comprehensive; we acknowledge in advance that the list of qualified GM candidates extends beyond the 28 names below. We have limited the list to those who obtained three votes or more from their peers within the game and we are focusing on the candidates who have yet to accept a permanent GM job. Many former GMs like Josh Byrnes and Paul DePodesta received votes, but we are presenting those who haven't had a full-time gig. Here is MLBTR’s inaugural list of the top 20 GM candidates in MLB: 1.Jerry DiPoto, Senior VP, Scouting & Player Development, Diamondbacks 2.Rick Hahn, VP, AGM, White Sox 3.Thad Levine, AGM, Rangers 4.Ben Cherington, Senior VP, AGM, Red Sox 5.David Forst, AGM, Athletics 6.Tony LaCava, VP Baseball Operations and AGM, Blue Jays 7.Mike Chernoff, AGM, Indians 8.Bryan Minniti, AGM, Nationals 9.A.J. Preller, Senior Director, Player Personnel, Rangers 10.Kim Ng, MLB 11.DeJon Watson, AGM, Player Development, Dodgers 12.Al Avila, VP, AGM, Tigers 13.Damon Oppenheimer, Scouting Director, Yankees 14.Mike Radcliff, Vice President of Player Personnel, Twins 15.Bill Geivett, Sr. VP Scouting & Player Development, AGM, Rockies 16.John Ricco, VP, AGM, Mets 17.Jeff Kingston, AGM, Mariners 18.Logan White, AGM, Amateur & International Scouting, Dodgers 19.Peter Woodfork, MLB 20.Matt Klentak, Director of Baseball Operations, Orioles Honorable mentions in alphabetical order: Matt Arnold, Director, Pro Scouting (Rays), Jeff Bridich, Senior Director of Baseball Operations (Rockies), John Coppolella, Director of Baseball Administration (Braves), Dan Jennings, VP Player Personnel & AGM (Marlins), Jason McLeod, VP, AGM (Padres), J.J. Picollo, AGM, Scouting & Player Development (Royals), Shiraz Rehman, Director of Player Personnel (Diamondbacks) and Josh Stein, Director of Baseball Operations (Padres).

With all the discussion about the skin bleaching, I just wanted to check whether Sammy is on the left or right in this picture. :lol: