Cubs Place Zambrano on Disqualified List
By Chuck Sudo in News on Aug 15, 2011 3:20PM
Anyone who thinks Carlos Zambrano's latest hissy fit will result in the mercurial Cubs pitcher actually following through on his threat to retire has, to quote Rob Halford, another thing coming.
The Cubs placed Zambrano on Major League baseball's disqualified list Saturday, which suspends him from all team activities without pay for 30 days. In addition to hitting Big Z where it hurts -- his wallet -- the move also allows the Cubs to call up a player to fill his roster spot.
The Major League Baseball Players Association is expected to file a grievance on behalf of Zambrano. They may want to reconsider, if the reactions to his latest tirade from his teammates were used as a barometer. Ryan Dempster said Zambrano "made his bed."
"For us, we’ll just go out there and give our best tonight and move forward. The faster you move forward, the faster things get better."
Alfonso Soriano confirmed reports that he confronted Zambrano once the Cubs made it back into the dugout.
‘‘He was angry, and at the same time I think more frustrated,’’ he said. ‘‘I just said it, and he told me one word that I don’t want to say because he’s frustrated.’’
Zambrano did take time to speak about the incident with... White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. Guillen told reporters that Zambrano felt he was ‘‘stealing money because he’s not producing.’’
Zambrano's agent, Barry Tarver, has gone into spin control overdrive since Friday, reaching out to local sports writers he feels are sympathetic to his client's plight to muster support. But it may be too little, too late.