Cubs management overreacts, makes Z situation worse

Just curious, but i don’t really see a relevant relationship

Its an inept front office, what do you expect.

But they had to do something to him for walking out on the team…

This team has loafers and people that are just walking through the season. I know management does not seem to care about that. But you just cant quit,

Talk about exhaustion of a ballplayer. The bigger issue is why was this behavior tolerated for the last decade.

If anyone blew it it was Z. Enough is enough.

Bull. You know who did over react? Zambrano. What grown ass man has a bad day or game and then proceeds to retire? Is expect that from a child, but a grown, professional athlete? Come on man.

And this is not Z’s first rodeo with crap. He has an annual blowup. Nothing about this is blown out of proportion. And I’m starting to wonder if Z is one of the problems with team chemistry, etc.

…. the Cubs were NEVER going to get much for Zambrano. He’s been widely known throughout baseball as, charitably put, hard to handle, and no team will give up much to get him. Case in point- the Yankees have really needed pitching. They now have Rothschild and Zambrano is still a Cub. Moreover, Zambrano is his own media circus. He brings all this on himself, whether it’s punching Barrett, yelling at Lee, attacking water coolers, or throwing at Chipper Jones, getting ejected, clearing out his locker, and “retiring”.

Finally, with him gone, you’d think it would increase the chances of FAs coming to Chicago.

This isn’t the Cubs fault. This is Zambrano’s doings that forced their hand.

How much of a jerk do you have to be that your teammates seem glad to see you leave? Did Cubs management fail him by not insisting he continue therapy? That is entirely possible. We don’t know the details because they are protected, but enough is enough. I have always loved Zambrano’s competitive fire. I hate the anger issues he has. I am as tired of explaining them away as I am tired of answering questions about Bobby Knight when friends find out I am a Hoosier fan. At least with Zambrano gone, I will no longer have to make excuses for bad behavior. If no one wants him, cut him. I don’t want him poisoning the atmosphere in next year’s clubhouse.

MONEY offered impacts FA signings, period.

They may already know their return ion a trade and decided DQ was best.

I couldn’t care less about a showdown with the union.

Can’t take that poll because I don’t want either back.

The media circus is not around the clubhouse and that’s the important part.

But really now, who cares. They’re a crappy team and not going anywhere soon.

you should have stopped there.

1. “They’ve assured he’ll bring no return this winter.” Actually, his declining velocity, inconsistency, $18 mm salary, and lengthy history of disruptive behavior already conspired to ensure he’d bring no return this offseason. The best the Cubs ever could hvae hoped for was salary relief from a team willing to pick up some portion of his deal. If the restricted status holds, that creates $3 mm in salary relief already. And they can still trade him for just as much value (read: very little) as they would have been able to without putting him on that list.

2. “They’ve created a media circus around a lousy ballclub and probably ensured that a few more fans stay away in September.” Several problems with this. A) Its Chicago, there’s always a media circus here. B) Lots of fans are applauding this action, making it just as likely more will come as will stay away. C) If anything is going to drive fans away this September, its the lousy performance of the ballclub, a fact that was already occurring before Z was put on restricted status.

3. “They’ve forced a showdown with the MLBPA, which is stupid.” Why is this stupid? The worst that happens is Z gets his pay reinstated. If the Cubs win, they save $3 million. If they lose, they are in the same position they would have been without attempting to designate him restricted. And in the meantime, they keep Z away from a clubhouse in which he has few supporters.

4. “They’ve decreased their chances of landing any half-decent FA’s this winter.” This makes no sense, as others have pointed out. Players on Z’s own club aren’t supporting him in this, so if you think there’s a groundswell of support amongst the FA class that will now shun Chicago because they didn’t stand by their man when he acted like a complete buffoon for what must be the 20th time in his career, you’re wrong. Most FAs either don’t care about this, or will be relieved not to have him as a teammate next year. It’s not like Prince Fielder is sitting around saying: “Well, I’d love to take $180 million from the Cubs, but since they apparently have no tolerance for the impetuous antics of an overpaid, underperforming manchild like Z, I’d probably be better off taking $160 from Anaheim.” The only FAs who could remotely care about this are the kinds of knuckle heads we don’t want them to sign anyway.

5. “They’re also using Casey Coleman beyond his ‘sell by’ date.” I don’t even understand this criticism. Are you saying they’re overworking Coleman when they should be shutting him down for the year? If so, that’s wrong, between AAA and the Cubs he’s pitched about the same number of innings as in 2009 and fewer than he pitched in 2010. He should still have another 40-50 innings in him on a natural progression. If not that, are you instead saying that they could have traded him for value, but now he’ll be exposed by MLB hitters and lose trade value? Because if so, that’s pretty silly. We’re not the only team with scouts. Its not as if Coleman was going to be confused for Chris Archer this offseason and used in a trade.

Overall, what they’ve done is dealt firmly with exactly the kind of nonsense that has been tolerated for far too long. Z is 30 years old. He’s been in the big leagues as a regular for a decade. If he hasn’t learned how to control his emotions by now, he never will. Or at least, he never will as a Cub, and in the meantime he’s a teammate that other Cubs players don’t respect and don’t want to play hard for. The only thing the Cubs did wrong here was in not doing the same thing years ago.

1) We were already in Single-A prospect territory for his return, so it’s not like it is a great loss.
2) Media circus??? Puh-leaze. This will be forgotten by the time of the next Red Sox-Yankees series.
3) The MLBPA will do its job and try to get this lessened or try to make sure he keeps his money. There will be no hard feelings on either side.
4) Free agents aren’t planning on taking less money in solidarity with Zambrano.
5) Who cares?

Look, you have somewhat valid concerns in a vacuum, but you have to balance that against the, to me, unthinkable notion of actually trying to bring Zambrano back. None of your concerns outweighs the choas that would create.

The Cubs’ biggest mistake was in not dealing with this two years ago. Some of us wanted him gone a long time ago.