Z for Volstad: A View From the Other Side

Michael Jong, manager of SB Nation's Marlins blog Fishstripes, gives a solid take on the Carlos Zambrano for Chris Volstad trade. Worth a read and, for love of Gah, a comment -- as of this writing, there is precisely one comment on the post, and I wrote it.

5 months ago daver 25 comments 0 recs |

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how depressing

Just wee-un.

by jesus christos on Jan 5, 2012 2:51 PM CST reply actions

how did you do that?

i sometimes think i’m pretty good with computers until i come here.

by tomas21 on Jan 5, 2012 4:52 PM CST up reply actions

it's a .gif instead of a photo.

by bdlugz on Jan 5, 2012 4:53 PM CST up reply actions

Thanks.

There are usually three sides to every story.

by Bad Dogs on Jan 5, 2012 2:56 PM CST reply actions

Their presumptions include Z behaving himself.

Will he?

by MN exile on Jan 5, 2012 3:15 PM CST reply actions

Right now, my guess is...

…that, yes, he will behave in Miami. First, Ozzie is there to speak to him (both literally and figuratively) in his native tongue. And, second, he’s in a contract year and knows that another suspension could seriously hurt the value of his next contract. Then again, if there’s any player in baseball who could prove me wrong, it’s Carlos Zambrano.

"[The Cubs] have a very famous tradition in baseball, and it will be nice to be part of turning it around." ~ Jamie Quirk, Bench Coach

by daver on Jan 5, 2012 3:51 PM CST up reply actions

The only place he could have gone is Miami.

First, Z loves to hit, so he would have rejected a trade to an AL team.

Second, he and Ozzie, as you point out, are close friends. Whether that translates into proper behavior on the field remains to be seen.

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by Al Yellon on Jan 5, 2012 3:51 PM CST up reply actions

so he would have rejected a trade to an AL team.

You keep saying this, without any basis in fact.

by Nunyabidness on Jan 5, 2012 3:53 PM CST up reply actions

It's my opinion.

He had full 10-and-5 rights. He likes to hit. I can’t see him on an AL team.

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by Al Yellon on Jan 5, 2012 4:02 PM CST up reply actions

the important thing is could Z see himself in the AL...

by AzCubfan24 on Jan 5, 2012 6:32 PM CST up reply actions

In my opinion

… no.

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by Al Yellon on Jan 5, 2012 8:37 PM CST up reply actions

unless, of course, they let him DH when he wasn't pitching

Yeah, I know, “unlikely” hardly describes how truly unlikely that would be.

by Reaver on Jan 5, 2012 11:56 PM CST up reply actions

My working theory is that it will.

I don’t want to get too carried away with this, but when you look back on Z’s career with the Cubs, he’s basically played for three guys: Dusty Baker, Lou Piniella and Mike Quade. None of those managers strike me as people Z could really relate to. Dusty and Lou were old school baseball guys just as hardheaded as Carlos himself, and I don’t think Z had much respect for Quade from the get-go. Ozzie is someone Z presumably respects and can communicate with on a much deeper level. Maybe that will be the key to keeping him in line.

"[The Cubs] have a very famous tradition in baseball, and it will be nice to be part of turning it around." ~ Jamie Quirk, Bench Coach

by daver on Jan 5, 2012 4:44 PM CST up reply actions

I remember when the Mariners site did that with Bradley

Those sad, silly fools

by Nunyabidness on Jan 5, 2012 3:54 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs

I think it's safe to say

No matter what Z does, Ozzie will always behave slightly worse….

by ak123 on Jan 5, 2012 5:45 PM CST up reply actions

Of course they looked at the glass half full,

but Cubs knew that glass included 6 incidents, some unreported among those in the locker room that disrupted the entire assembly.

They are dealing with nitro and when it gets hot it goes off…good luck.

A friend once told me: "I don't buy the idea that a team learns anything from a loss, the only thing they learn is how to lose games."---Knight

by Ivy Walls on Jan 5, 2012 3:31 PM CST reply actions

Z leaving was for the best as far as the Cubs are concerned

However, I won’t be a bit surprised if he has a good year for the following reasons: He and Ozzie are old buddies which should help keep him in line; he’ll be just another part of the rotation and won’t have the pressure of being perceived as the #1 or 2 guy; he has a lot of pride, and that will most likely motivate him to concentrate on putting together a good year. I see him as a possible Comeback Player of the Year candidate.

I hope he gets shelled every time he faces the Cubs, but I wish him nothing but success against their division rivals.

Yeah, I know there should be an apostrophe in "Vails," but punctuation wasn't an option when I signed up.

by Mike Vails Evil Twin on Jan 5, 2012 3:42 PM CST reply actions

i find it interesting

that the OP (SBN Marlins guy) notes that it’s almost unequivocal that Zambrano will be better than Volstad in 2012, citing 3 year history vs. Zambrano’s worst year…. despite the fact that Volstad (by FIP) was basically better than Zambrano last year. Feels like a stretch to say something is unequivocal when it just happened…

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by DartmouthCubsFan on Jan 5, 2012 3:57 PM CST reply actions

Yeah, I thought he went a little overboard there, too.

That’s probably much too strong of a word to use with a player as unpredictable as Z.

"[The Cubs] have a very famous tradition in baseball, and it will be nice to be part of turning it around." ~ Jamie Quirk, Bench Coach

by daver on Jan 5, 2012 4:00 PM CST up reply actions

Not to mention

Zambrano was a “mature” pitcher in his professional prime during those years; Volstad was at age 22, 23 and 24 for most of that period. Projecting a flat trend ignores the upward sloping success curve for many pitchers of Volstad’s age, and the downward-sloping curve for pitchers at Z’s age.

Note: the term “mature” was not meant in any form of psychological or behavioral sense, of any kind, whatsoever.

by Orval Overall on Jan 5, 2012 4:17 PM CST up reply actions