Cubs Interested In Shipping Zambrano? Here's Your Irresponsible Blogger-Turned-GM Post Of The Day!

The story of the day in Chicago baseball was the Cubs' 2-0 win against the Milwaukee Brewers.  The win would have meant something a year ago at this time as the Cubs and Brew Crew were duking it out for NL Central supremacy.  Right now, the Cubs' biggest battles are against themselves and mediocrity.

And now we bring you to the buried lead in the story brought to you by Chicago Tribune Cubs beat writer Paul Sullivan:

Now that Hendry is assured of returning in 2010, he'll have to decide which players to bring back. Dempster, who signed a four-year, $52 million deal last winter, is assured of returning. [Carlos] Zambrano, who signed a five-year, $91.5 million deal in August 2007, is not.

Despite the fact that Zambrano has a full no-trade clause, the Cubs plan on shopping him this off-season, sources said, believing he'll waive the clause to go to the right team, as Jake Peavy eventually did when the Padres consummated a deal this summer with the White Sox.

According to Cot's Baseball Contracts, Carlos Zambrano has $53.75 million coming his way from 2010-12, with a vesting option worth $19.25 million in 2014.

Let the record show that despite a mediocre season by Zambrano (8-6, 3.77 ERA), pitching has not been the Cubs' downfall.  The North Side staff ranks in the top-5 in strikeouts, ERA+, WHIP, H/9 and K/9.  But with a weak free agent market awaiting, now might be the best time to move Big Z.

But where?


NEW YORK METS

The Metropolitans might be the ideal landing spot for the beleaguered Cubs ace.  Big city, bright lights and the opportunity to be a hitter are probably things Zambrano would look for in a new team.  New York's "other" team provides all that.  Adding Zambrano would also fall in line with Omar Minaya's blueprint of creating a Latino baseball All-Star team in the NYC.

The Cubs could go one of two routes here.  They could opt to go for the home run and try to acquire the equally beleaguered Jose Reyes.  The shortstop has been bothered by injuries this year and rumors have already been floated that he could be moved.  Adding Reyes would improve the Cubs in a variety of ways.  It would move him immediately into the lead-off role, while pushing Ryan Theriot to second base.  For this to happen, the Cubs would likely have to eat a huge chunk of his salary.

Another option would be swapping bad contracts with the Metros, which would ideally send center fielder Carlos Beltran to Chicago.  As it stands now, the Cubs have a right fielder playing center, and adding Beltran (who makes $37 million over the next two years) makes a lot of sense as well.  Beltran is a career .392 hitter at Wrigley Field with 9 homers, 22 ribbies and a 1.292 OPS.  Bringing in the switch-hitting center fielder would leave Kosuke Fukudome in right field, especially if Peter Gammons' recent nugget of sending Milton Bradley back to Texas comes to fruition.

New York Yankees

If one New York team is involved, the other can't be too far behind, right?  The Yankees are a team that is usually more than willing to take on other teams' misfits and salary problems.  I wonder had Alex Rodriguez struggled mightily after the whole roid-gate thing if he would have been on the trading block because at times, I have wet pipe dreams of A-Rod suiting up at shortstop and reuniting with Lou Piniella.

Pure speculation here, but if the Cubs also threw in Ryan Theriot, could they land lefty-swinging second baseman Robinson Cano and his career OPS of .816?  He's owed $48 million through 2013 if all the options are picked up.

Boston Red Sox

If the Yankees are interested, so are the Red Sox.  Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman reported Toronto declined to accept Boston's 5-for-1 deal for Roy Halladay.  Could the BoSox be interested in Big Z?  If I were Jim Hendry, I'd be intrigued by a number of their prospects.

Texas Rangers

Remember when you were a kid and you had problems finding Waldo?  That's how the Rangers feel about finding pitching.  Former top prospects Edinson Volquez and John Danks have flourished since leaving the organization, so adding a pitcher of Zambrano's caliber might be the best avenue for Texas' team.

Infielder Michael Young just signed a five-year deal worth $80 million in 2009, and when he played shortstop he posted a .310/.358/.453/.811 line before moving to be the Rangers' full-time third sacker.

Colorado Rockies

If the Cubs want to go into complete blow-up mode, the Rockies might make an ideal fit.  The Rox usually have a good amount of young talent going through the system and actually making a difference at the big league level.  Chicago could land some valuable pieces in exchange for its troubled right hander.

THE ULTIMATE WILD CARD: Florida Marlins

Hear me out.

The Cubs have a problem child in Carlos Zambrano.  The Marlins supposedly have a problem child in Hanley Ramirez.  Since the 2002 season, the Cubs have made seven trades with the Marlins, six of them have spawned under The Hendry Regime.  So, the question is: does Trader Jim have another one left in him.

Bringing HanRam to the Cubs would be the blockbuster of all blockbusters.  He's owed 64.5 million over the next five years, so swapping salaries wouldn't be that big of an issue.  The Cubs would likely need to throw in prospects such as Jeff Samardzija, Andrew Cashner, Jay Jackson and (*screech*) Josh Vitters ... among others.

It'd be a deal worth making for both ends, seeing that the Fighting Fish build their teams around pitching, and always have a prospect nipping at the heels of their current players.  For the Cubs, slotting Ramirez in the No. 3 hole in front of Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez and Alfonso Soriano would give the Cubs the best heart of the order (on paper) in the National League.

As the title suggests, this post is highly irresponsible on several fronts.  But hey, one of the top signs that your team is out of contention is when trade rumors start popping up in September.  Besides, what else am I gonna do.  I've got to wait 'til Sunday to see a meaningful Chicago sporting event.

Baseball Defense Fail

Much was made about Milton Bradley's big boo-boo last night. But this morning, Luis Castillo made Crazy Uncle Milton look like Roberto Clemente.



It's why you use not one ... but TWO hands.

Baseball failure? Couldn't have happened to a better team.

Video courtesy of Awful Announcing.

Daily Dosage: The Johan Santana trade works for everyone

Finding the daily eye candy is harder than you think. Finding pretty girls is harder than you think. But that's what makes this fun.

So rather than search far and wide for the next best thing, I typed "Halle Berry" in my Google search bar and that's how I came up with today's choice.

On with the Dosage.

Insert another Santana, Supernatural headline here. If you listened the reports by baseball's talking heads this offseason, you would have thought Johan Santana was going to go 34-0, undefeated in the playoffs and bat .400 with 40 home runs and 150 RBIs.

Santana improved 8-0 with a 2.26 ERA in his last 16 starts in the New York Mets' 6-2 victory against the Chicago Cubs.

Maybe that's what I get for spewing my venom yesterday. I don't care, I needed that yesterday.

Javier Vazquez's ears are likely being filled with expletives. Maybe Ozzie Guillen was right about Javy.

Vazquez, who was challenged by the White Sox skipper to be more aggressive, dropped his record to 12-15 by allowing five runs on seven hits in four innings in the South Siders' 9-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

The win by the Twinkies brings them within 1.5 games of the Pale Hose, whose magic number remains at 5.

The magic number for this segment, 3, as in different nicknames I used for Chicago's South Side baseball team.

As for the other part of the Santana trade, Carlos Gomez, he went 2-for-4 with his 32nd stolen base of the season.

Quality Linkage:

• Matt Millen is done, son. [Fox Sports] The Lions still suck and I'm convinced Jay Glazer doesn't sleep.
• The Yankees dynasty is officially over. [ESPN] It's time to pop champagne like we won a championship game!
• Rodgers > Romo. [Dallas Morning News - Cowboys Blog] Blogs like that discredit bloggers like me.
• Donovan McNabb talks to a blog. [The 700 Level] I think that's cool.
• The Pierre Pierce saga continues. [Associated Press] Steve Alford still defends him. Still an asshat.
  

[Bleep] the Mets!

In 1994, Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes hit three home runs on Opening Day off New York Mets starter Doc Gooden. And the Cubs still lost. I was at that game. I bet Mr. Met was happy. F*ck Mr. Met.


I'm pretty sure as a Chicagoan, it's in my blood to have a disdain for everything that is New York sports.

John Starks and the Knicks.

Derek Jeter and the Yankees.

Victor Diaz and the Mets.

Who and the who?

Victor Diaz (with the help of LaTroy Hawkins) and Craig Brazell (with the help of Kent Mercker) helped break the collective heart of Cubdom in 2004 with a pair of home runs that helped seal another classic collapse by the Chicago Cubs.

And while the Cubs have the NL Central Division title and home field advantage throughout the NL playoffs locked up, there's one fan that has a little revenge on their mind.

Yeah, that's me.

I remember 2004 vividly. I remember breaking my television remote when I threw it off a brick wall in my dormitory when Hawkins gave up the homer to Diaz. And after Mercker got yarded by Brazell, a night of binge drinking and bad decisions ensued.

Someone needs to pay for that. And that someone is the 2008 New York Mets.

Nothing would make me happier than seeing the Cubs deliver the deciding blow to the Metrosexuals.

Sure, they've felt heartbreak. Ask the 2006 Metrosexuals who allowed an 83-win St. Louis Cardinals team win the pennant behind a game-winning Yadier Molina home run and a knee-buckling curveball by Adam Wainwright.

As painful as it was for them, imagine how it was for this young, impressionable baseball mind when his roommate jumped on the coffee table in celebration of the Cards' championship run.

OK, this is starting to turn into a rag fest, so I digress.

I was glad to see Jason "Grand" Marquis go deep against the Mets last night, but I'm not completely satisfied.

In the end, I want Ronny Cedeno to go 3-for-4 tonight against Johan Santana, taking the former AL Cy Young winner yard off a 3-2 changeup and hand him his first loss of the second half. I want to see David Wright take the collar against Sean Marshall. I want to see Jose Reyes swipe a few bags (only for the sake of my fantasy league), but see him stranded in scoring position.

It's up to the Cubs - who have the best record in the National League - to play spoiler.

I think that'd be grand.*

*Pun intended

The only thing left to look forward to

Well, let's be honest. The Cardinals are done. They're not coming back. No division crown, no wild card. Over, we are done.

I was feeling down about it until I realized something. The Cubs are in first place!

Most of you are probably saying 'Wait, I thought you were a Cardinals fan?' Yes, I am a Cards fan and yes, I hate the Cubs with a fiery passion.

That's why I'm so happy they're in first. I don't have to watch as whatever team goes and wins a World Series. I still have something to hope for. That something is for the Cubs to choke.

So, let's break down the possibilities:

Mets win East, Dodgers win West, Brewers win Wild Card

Under this scenario, the Cubs will go up against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS. I love the Dodgers' chances here. They have been on a role since acquiring Manny Ramirez, who will undoubtedly earn another hefty contract in the free agent market.

Currently, they're my favorite to make it to the World Series from the National League.

If the Cubs do slip past the Dodgers, then they would go up against either the Milwaukee Brewers or New York Mets. In a five game series, I think the Mets take it.

In the Cubs-Mets NLCS, the curse of Ron Santo takes place. There is no way the Cubs are getting past the Mets with Santo still part of the organization.

Phillies win East, Dodgers win West, Brewers win Wild Card

In this scenerio, the Cubs once again face the Dodgers in the NLDS. My prediction stays the same as above.

Once again, if the Cubs do slip past L.A., I think the Brewers take care of the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS, so that sets up an all National League Central NLCS.

The Brewers fired manager Ned Yost. They're now the team that has no chance. In a series against the Cubs where no one gives them a shot, they prove that Billy Goats can cause curses.

Mets win East, Dodgers win West, Phillies win Wild Card

Ryan Howard vs. Rich Harden and Carlos Zambrano, as much as this intrigues me, I don't see the Phillies beating the Cubs.

I see the Dodgers taking care of the Mets in that series, setting up Chicago to take a seat to Joe Torre ripping Yankee hearts out by making the World Series as Dodgers manager while the Yankees sit patiently at home waiting until CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets hit the open market.

I really don't care how it works out. As long as the Cubbies choke, I'm going into the offseason a happy person.

I love to see the Cubbies choke and all the sad faces on their drunk faces after it happens. The only thing that makes me happier is seeing St. Louis win.

Willie Randolph Got Hosed!

Some experts pegged the New York Mets and the Detroit Tigers as the teams to beat in their respective leagues. Now, the two are fighting it out to be forever known as the biggest disappointment in each franchise's history.

The difference: Motown's skipper Jim Leyland still has a job and Willie Randolph is making his way towards the unemployment line.

Randolph was axed at approximately 3:00 a.m. on the east coast, hours after the Mets beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. And while SportsCenter ran clips of a team seemingly rallying around its manager, the Breaking News crawl had Randolph as fired.

A 34-35 record (at the time of the firing) isn't terrible because of those 35 losses, 21 of them have come on the road where everyone in the world seems to struggle when they are not in the comforts of home.

But in a city that is delusional enough to think it should win every game, 1 game under .500 is unacceptable.

But how much blame should Randolph receive?

Carlos Beltran's slash stats (.270/.372/.475) with 10 homers and 47 RBIs is not worth $18.5 million. Carlos Delgado's offense hasn't just dropped, it's jumped off the Empire State Building because something has to explain having almost as many strikeouts (59) as hits (60.) Luis Castillo isn't terrible, but in a division with Dan Uggla, Chase Utley and Kelly Johnson producing at second base, .269/.367/.347 just isn't cutting it.

I guess that's Willie Randolph's fault.

Pedro's arm is falling off and so is Billy Wagner's ninth inning production.

Again, that's on Randolph. Right?

In the end, the firing was cowardly and that's just putting it mildly. How do you fire a manager in the middle of a series? How do you send the VP of Player Relations to whack the skip? Why was it done when the East Coast is sleeping?

And really, the real question is how do you replace Willie Randolph with Jerry Manuel?

I guess it's time to start counting down the days 'til Omar Minaya is relieved of his duties because his Latin American All-Star team hasn't worked out too well.