Where in the World is Carlos Zambrano?
Mark August 12 as the day the 2011 Chicago Cubs became interesting. Carlos Zambrano added to his litany of "me first" meltdowns last night with a tantrum that placed no teammates or Gatorade jugs in harms way, but was still epic. In the process, Big Z may have done the Cubs a solid.
Zambrano was ejected from last night's 10-4 loss to Atlanta after giving up a team-record five home runs to Braves batters. Instead of arguing with the umpires, Zambrano calmly walked off the mound and to the clubhouse, where he cleared out his locker and informed clubhouse personnel he intended to "retire."
Manager Mike Quade, to say the least, wasn't pleased.
Cubs GM Jim Hendry, who was visiting the Cubs Double-A team in Knoxville when he received word of Zambrano's latest "taking his ball and going home" act, said, "We will respect his wishes and honor them and move forward."
It's nice to see Hendry call Zambrano's bluff this time: the remainder of Zambrano's $91.5 million contract comes off the Cubs' books if he does follow through on his threat. If Zambrano thinks he can just make the threat and move to another team, he may be deluded. His clubhouse reputation makes him as anathema to other Major League teams as the remaining money due him.
