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The W - Baseball - Carlos Zambrano retires...I think... Register and log in to post!
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It's False
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Since: 20.6.02
From: I am the Tag Team Champions!

Since last post: 2199 days
Last activity: 581 days
#1 Posted on | Instant Rating: 6.84
Well, ok then...

Chicago Cubs' Carlos Zambrano ejected, mulling retirement


    ATLANTA -- In a shocking wave of events, Chicago Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano cleaned his locker out on Friday night then told clubhouse personnel he was retiring and leaving the team.

    Zambrano had been ejected in the fifth inning after throwing two inside pitches that barely missed Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones.

    "It was a bad scenario all the way around and it didn't end very damn well," Cubs manager Mike Quade said.

    Quade was perplexed by the chain of events that occurred.

    "I came in, saw there was an empty locker," Quade said. "Then I heard that he was retiring, that he had left."

    According to clubhouse personnel, Zambrano said he had enough and left Turner Field before the game ended.

    "I don't know [if he's retiring]," Quade said. "So you guys go find him and see what he says."


Chicago W's, be honest. Assuming this turns out to be real, are you going to miss this clown at all?

(edited by It's False on 13.8.11 0243)



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AWArulz
Scrapple








Since: 28.1.02
From: Louisville, KY

Since last post: 99 days
Last activity: 99 days
#2 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.73
As a Cubs fan, I prefer that he focus and win games - he can do it. But if he is going to continue to show his ass then yeah. Retire and we get his money to spend on someone who can play. Now if we can just get rid of Hendry so we can actually find someone who can play.



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That the universe was formed by a fortuitous concourse of atoms, I will no more believe than that the accidental jumbling of the alphabet would fall into a most ingenious treatise of philosophy - Swift

supersalvadoran
Sujuk








Since: 10.1.08
From: westbury, new york

Since last post: 2750 days
Last activity: 1716 days
#3 Posted on | Instant Rating: 1.09
At the risk of sounding like a dick, I'll say any Cubs fan that wanted him even in the last couple of years is an idiot. He's a good pitcher but clearly not a #1 pitcher in the rotation and not one justifying having a big contract on. With all of his anger issues and how he falters in big situations, they should had gotten rid of him a while ago.

I saw the whole thing go down on Sportscenter last night and you could really tell he didn't give a damn anymore throwing inside to Jones. The smirk he gave the camera crew before he left basically told me he was cool with leaving the team without notice, with felt very unprofessional IMO. The Cubs should just cut their losses and move on.













Sec19Row53
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Since: 2.1.02
From: Oconomowoc, WI

Since last post: 31 days
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#4 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.96
Good riddance to a nutjob, as long as he REALLY retires. That manages to clear some cash off of the books.

Prince Fielder, I'm looking at you!
AWArulz
Scrapple








Since: 28.1.02
From: Louisville, KY

Since last post: 99 days
Last activity: 99 days
#5 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.73
Of course, his agent said he wasn't retiring. (because whatever percent of his millions goes to the agent).

The Cubs placed him on the 30 day disqualified list, no pay. The agent said they will appeal that decision.



We'll be back right after order has been restored here in the Omni Center.

That the universe was formed by a fortuitous concourse of atoms, I will no more believe than that the accidental jumbling of the alphabet would fall into a most ingenious treatise of philosophy - Swift

Big Bad
Scrapple








Since: 4.1.02
From: Dorchester, Ontario

Since last post: 1927 days
Last activity: 1496 days
#6 Posted on | Instant Rating: 7.45
I think the scarier news for Cubs fans is that Jim Hendry is keeping his job.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/08/cubs-to-retain-gm-jim-hendry.html



"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." --- Bart Giamatti, on baseball
Whitebacon
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Since: 12.1.02
From: Fresno, CA

Since last post: 119 days
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#7 Posted on
Oh, Jesus Christ.
Eddie Famous
Andouille








Since: 11.12.01
From: Catlin IL

Since last post: 2620 days
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#8 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.42

Well, then I'll be the idiot then, this time.

Sure, the Cubs didn't need a guy who hasn't had a losing record wince 2003....who is at times the only player on the team that tries to win games even in throwaway seasons like this one.

On a team that continues to PURPOSELY play Tyler Colvin and Carlos Pena, and gave innings to Doug Davis, Rodrigo Lopez and Ramon Ortiz, Z was HARDLY the biggest problem on this team. Plus the manager is a moron.

Zambrano is 30 years old, hardly ready for pasture. He is 120-71 since 2003...maybe the Cubs should have gotten some real talent to play this season instead of throwing it away with a team everyone knew could not possibly contend.

But go ahead, send Z away. He'll go somewhere and win at about a .620 clip....Cubs have PLENTY of those guys hanging around. Casey Coleman, step right up! Again!



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Since: 12.1.02
From: Fresno, CA

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#9 Posted on
I agree with everything you've said, but at the same time, Z doesn't seem to be able to get it together in Chicago, and he definitely seems like he's on a quick decline. Maybe he'll be more successful in a place like Oakland or Kansas City where there's not as much scrutiny. Hendry is easily the bigger problem.
supersalvadoran
Sujuk








Since: 10.1.08
From: westbury, new york

Since last post: 2750 days
Last activity: 1716 days
#10 Posted on | Instant Rating: 3.99
    Originally posted by Eddie Famous

    Sure, the Cubs didn't need a guy who hasn't had a losing record wince 2003....who is at times the only player on the team that tries to win games even in throwaway seasons like this one.



Like I said before, he's a good pitcher. But he's not a ace pitcher. If I'm paying for a top notch ace about $18 million a year, I would expect him to be among the league leaders in garnering wins for my team. You certainly should expect better than 9-7,11-6, and 9-7 the last 3 years. Not worth paying him the 6th highest contract (and the 2nd among pitchers after Johan Santana) in the NL. In fact, I would argue that his antics that results in getting suspended actually cost the team more games than the win-loss record shows. When he's banned, the team has to adjust their rotation and recall or bring up guys from the minors to take his place. That might count for a couple of more losses than if he was pitching himself and not causing an incident.

As for trying, did you see the same thing I saw on Friday? He straight up quit on his team. No amount of him 'trying' (and based on how he acted and talked badly about the Cubs, I doubt he really was trying all the time) justifies him quitting and walking out in the middle of the game. If you still want him back after all of that and want to overpay him, go ahead but don't be surprised when you're ridiculed once again when he acts up yet again.

That all being said, I do really feel bad for the fans. You're absolutely right in the management and ownership having no idea how to build a decent team. Unfortunately, I don't see anyway that is going to change anytime soon.













TheBucsFan
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Since: 2.1.02

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#11 Posted on | Instant Rating: 7.00
Zambrano is a very, very good pitcher on a very, very bad team.

Since 2003, his FIP (Fielding-Independent Pitching) is in the top 10 in the National League, his K/BB and HR/9IP ratios have been among the best in baseball ... he's an excellent pitcher. His win-loss record, like for every single pitcher in baseball, tells you virtually nothing about his performance and much more about the performances of eight guys surrounding him. The Cubs are a very, very bad team run by very, very bad management and have a very, very poor chance of winning any game they are in, whether Zambrano is the pitcher or not.

Of course, I make no defense for Zambrano's personality (well, maybe a minor one - I might be bitter and pissed off at the world too if I was among the best in the world at what I do and the prime of my career was wasted because I was surrounded by nincompoops). But any Cubs fan who thinks the team isn't potentially losing an outstanding pitcher here is either kidding themselves or not particularly aware of Zambrano's talents.
It's False
Scrapple








Since: 20.6.02
From: I am the Tag Team Champions!

Since last post: 2199 days
Last activity: 581 days
#12 Posted on | Instant Rating: 6.84
    Originally posted by TheBucsFan
    Of course, I make no defense for Zambrano's personality (well, maybe a minor one - I might be bitter and pissed off at the world too if I was among the best in the world at what I do and the prime of my career was wasted because I was surrounded by nincompoops).


Point taken, but at some point a guy has to be professional. You don't really see Felix Hernandez making a world class headache out of himself on a regular basis.




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thecubsfan
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Since: 10.12.01
From: Aurora, IL

Since last post: 947 days
Last activity: 327 days
#13 Posted on | Instant Rating: 9.63
    Originally posted by TheBucsFan
    But any Cubs fan who thinks the team isn't potentially losing an outstanding pitcher here is either kidding themselves or not particularly aware of Zambrano's talents.


They ARE, but they're also not close to good this year and highly unlikely to be close next year and it was highly unlikely he'd be back in 2013 before all of this. Losing four games in the standings may just swap you place with Pittsburgh.

They would've moved Z prior to all of this if they could. As good as Z's numbers have been since 2003, it's his numbers in the last few years that are very concerning. Like, average fastball speed:

2003: 92.7
2004: 92.9
...
2010: 90.1
2011: 90.2

His slider has also lost a couple MPH. His HR/9 is way up (even before the meltdown) and his FIP is an impressive 4.57. Z is still one of my favorites, but 2003 is a long time ago and he doesn't appear to be aging well. There are as many physical problems here as mental ones.

(Also, the last couple homer runs have gave up seems like he teed them up for the batters, but no one else seems to have seen it that way.)

By FanGraphs' super generous value math, Zambrano has never been an $18 million pitcher and he's unlikely to break that trend next season. If the Cubs can get out of this deal and sign someone for the $10 mil/year value Z's been giving, they still come out ahead.

The reality is the Cubs will never be able to get out of this contract - at best they will get some of the rest of this season's money back - and will trade him for someone else's unwanted contract. As bad as Hendry has been at a lot of things, that's actually something the Cubs have had a lot of luck with. Carlos Silva was not as good as Carlos Silva thinks he was, but he was a far better sight than Milton Bradley in 2010, and the Todd Hundley for Eric Karros & Mark Grudzielanek bad contract swap was actually sneaky great. Wish they didn't have as much practice at this, though.

I don't believe anything, pro/con on Hendry's status until the end of the season. There's a lot of people with agendas spinning stories, looking for shreds of evidence to prove themselves right and creating the shreds themselves when it suits them. The noise is overwhelming the sound by a great margin.

(edited by thecubsfan on 15.8.11 1100)


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I wouldn't have very high hopes for the pitching market this off season. I've heard things going around here that the Blue Jays won't be able to afford to keep Kelvim Escobar because he'll probably get 8 million bucks a season over a 4-5 year contract.
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