This picture was taken of the Cubs bullpen in the 5th inning of yesterday’s 8-1 Cubs win over the Brewers.  It’s still weird to have Big Z in the bullpen, and it’s going to be very hard to ignore.  Cheer on Z.

“I talked to Carlos today and told him we really needed him in the bullpen, and I felt he could do a really nice job there for us,” Piniella said. “He said he would do what’s best for the team. I’m very appreciative. You know, he talked about maturing. This proves it to me.”

Is it temporary?

“Temporary?” Zambrano said. “He told me that probably Randy (Bush) or Jim Hendry was looking for an eighth inning guy. And when they find a guy and trade (for a) guy and get that guy here, I will be back to the rotation. Right now they need somebody to step up in the eighth inning. I don’t like to be a reliever. I don’t want to be a reliever, but this team needs somebody to step up and help the bullpen.”

Piniella had a slightly different spin on the conversation.

“Temporary?” Piniella said. “We’re trying to stabliize things and win some baseball games. This will give Jim (Hendry) and the front office more opportunities to hopefully do something (via a trade). If not, this could be not temporary.”

Uh-oh.  Besides the obvious communication breakdown, this is going to cause serious waves in Wrigleyville.  As most people are complaining about already, putting an $18 million dollar a year starter in the bullpen is ridiculous.  I’m not so strongly against it, however.  How many times have teams in any sport kept a guy in the lineup way after they are effective just because they are “pot-committed” to that player in terms of sunken salary?  Should Eddie Robinson have kept starting even though he was horribly ineffective just because he had a big contract?  Did Eddy Curry deserve minutes because of his salary?  Should Soriano still be allowed to take the field just because of his contract even though the Cubs have a number of better options?  The answer to all those questions, in my opinion, is a resounding no.

Forget money.  Let’s just think about wins.  We have enough quality starters, but our bullpen has given up 18 runs in 14 8th innings.  That is insanely bad.  If Zambrano as a setup man leads to more wins, why not move him to the bullpen?  I mean I can still hate the guy for being such a bust, but I don’t think we should just leave him in the rotation because he’s making so much money.  Only time will tell if this is the right move, but I don’t think Lou is all that crazy.  I think he wants to win.

Zambrano got lit up, giving up 8 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks in just 1.1 innings of work.  While it was nice to see new addition Marlon Byrd go yard, as well as Ramirez, Big Z was the biggest problem.  Even the bullpen had some good moments in the 16-5 loss, and 5 runs is normally considered enough to win.  The two lefties Marshall and Russell combined for 4.2 innings of 2-hit no-run ball.  But Z, oh big Z.  He has the most electric stuff, but where does his head go?  And you know he lacks the ability to recover from a bad inning or even a bad at-bat.  For all those that think this year will be any different for Z in terms of learning to control his emotions, you are sorely mistaken.

Mark Buerhle’ description is the exact opposite.  This year will be no different for him in that he is the ultimate gamer.  The lefty gets guys out, and he does it quickly.  It really feels like he’s playing catch out there.  As a Cubs fan, I hear my fellow Cubs fans disparaging him year after year, talking about how he’s getting older and he’s “crafty” and all that kind of nonsense.  They are wrong.  The guy comes to play every time he takes the mound.  I would rather have 1 Buerhle with his decent skill-set and winning mentality than a 1,000 Zambranos with million dollar stuff and a 10 cent head.  The Sox got some help from their bats as well in the 6-0 victory, with Konerko and Rios hitting dingers.

Not only is Buerhle more reliable, but the guy is just more fun.  Check out this crazy play he made during yesterday’s game:

Baseball!!!!

Why did he have to kill Captain Crunch?

h/t: Zoner Sports

“Look, this is the only season I haven’t won 16 or 18 or 14 games,” he said. “If it happens again next season, two seasons in a row, I’ll quit. Believe me, I’ll quit. I just have to put this behind me.

For most Chicago media and many fans, its these kind of fits that have driven them to call for trading Zambrano this winter.  While some of his antics have effected the team negatively on the field, outbursts like this show his competitive (also insane, I’ll admit that) nature and do nothing to harm the team.  He just wants to pitch well and win in the worst way.  I’d rather have that than guys who don’t care at all.

• Milton Bradley’s mother chimes in on Milton’s problems with the Cubs.  Racism and negativity abound in this article. [Tribune]
• I’ve been hinting at this for many years, but there is mathematical proof that you should almost NEVER punt, kick a field goal, or attempt a PAT.  Over the course of the season those things create less points for your team.  Period.  Here’s a coach who is employing this strategy with a ton of success. [SI] + h/t: Kriezel
• Do I understand hockey completely yet? No.  Have I learned to love it? Somewhat.  And preseason fights are not hurting that process. [Zoner]
• Chicago Bulls finally have a big man coach.  It’s not a flashy name, but flashy names aren’t always the best coaches (see: Isiah Thomas). [Blogabull]
• The Bears catch another break.  Hasselbeck has a broken rib.  Even if he plays against the Bears this week, he’ll slowed considerably. [WCG]
• Looks like the MLBPA is going to appeal Bradley’s suspension. [Bleacher Nation]
• NFL Week 3 Preview.  Come and get it. [Midwest Sports Fans]
• The Zambrano trade winds are beginning to swirl.  Whether they are real, or media-induced, he has come out with three teams he would waive his no-trade clause for: Boston, Chicago (AL), and LA (NL). [Boston Globe]
• A Sonics fan, still clinging to his anger with the team for moving, is sentenced to the worst kind of hell there could be. [Truehoop]
• As of 2 days ago, Barack Obama still believed in the south siders.  Seriously. [The Swamp]

• Deron Williams dressed up like a goof with recspecs, a ghostbusters tee, and high socks playing dodgeball.  You have to see it to believe it. [BDL]
• I don’t usually link to this kind of stuff, but Maria Sharapova is a real looker. [Sharapova's Thigh]
• So the Milwaukee Bucks are still an NBA team, at least for fantasy purposes.  Kind of. [Give Me The Rock]
• Drew Barrymore is playing a Packer fan dressed like the Joker?  How strange…Also nice redesign Zoner! [Zoner]
• 21 different pictures of Packers fans doing what they do best: looking like fat white trash. [JCS]
• Cris Collinsworth is a complete idiot in the booth, but did you know he was a total jackass during his playing days as well? [Deadspin]
• With McNabb questionable for Week 2, it looks like the Eagles are pursuing Jeff Garcia.  Too bad Vick isn’t available. [Inside the Iggles]
• Here’s your NFL Week 2 Preview.  It’s got everything you need to know. [MidwestSportsFans]
• NFL players are donating their brains to science.  Just to make sure everyone is clear, let me die before giving me some football player’s “brain”.  Thanks.  [Bootlegger Sports]
• Another Chicago Blogger’s take on the Bears game.  Yeah, it’s negative. [Tremendous Upside Potential]
• It was NOT a good weekend for Ohio teams.  Browns, Bengals, Indians, Reds, Buckeyes all lost.  Ouch. [Paneech]
• Bruce Levine seems to think the Cubs are looking to trade Milton Bradley AND Carlos Zambrano.  It seems unlikely that they would trade both, but if the Cubs can shed bad contracts, they should.  Which begs the question: is Z a bad contract? [Bleacher Nation]
• I guess the Bengals prematurely ejaculated on the Broncos on Sunday, or at least that’s what Keith Olbermann ALMOST said.  You know he was thinking it. [Detroit4Lyfe]
• D-Wade held a charity bowling event at Ten=Pin in Chicago and a local blogger went and interviewed him.  It made me realize two things: Wade is awesome, and bloggers are dorks. [Docksquad]
• Patrick Swayze passed away, and here is a tribute to him by some sports guys. [Outside the Boxscore]

“I’ve Been Lazy” -Carlos Zambrano

Let’s start with Big Z and the lazy comment.  I am not going to argue that Z always does the smartest thing, but one thing he has is heart.  This situation is a case of sportswriters and sports bloggers taking a quote out of context in order to drum up a story, however.  The quote that had the media drooling over a chance to rip Z was “I’ve been lazy”.  Obviously a quote like that jumps off the page, especially in a piece about Zambrano trying to rehab a bad back in the middle of a Cubs divisional race.  If you read a little closer, you will see that in fact Zambrano has been anything but lazy, and not surprisingly, has just been stupid in his workout regimen.

“My problem is I’ve been lazy,” a contrite Zambrano admitted after his morning session. “There are things in life you don’t like to do, but you have to do them. I don’t like abs [abdominal muscles workouts] but I have to do them. I have to start doing them every day and be serious about it.

“I’ve got to be honest with me and with you [media] guys and the fans. I’m 28 years old, I’m not 16 anymore, I’m a big guy and I work hard every day [but] one of the things I don’t like to do is my abs, my core work.If I do abs every day and keep doing my job and be serious about my abs, I’ll be OK.”

That isn’t lazy at all.  He works out hard everyday, which is more than we can probably say for most baseball players going through the grind of a long summer.  He just hasn’t been intelligent about it.  If working his abs is the main problem, then this is a case of him owning up to it and hopefully taking the initiative (a little late, but still) to fix the issue.  My one main concern now is that based on Z’s entire quote, it appears to be a self-diagnosis.  Hopefully the trainers are the ones that told him this, and he didn’t just come up with it on his own, though with Z you never know.

“Devin is more of a go-get it guy, he is not really a back shoulder or jump up and get it [guy].  You learn from it. We made some mistakes. It’s the first preseason game. Luckily enough, we have some time to correct them and keep going.” -Jay Cutler

Do I even need to explain why this quote is not a big deal?  Sure, Jay should probably have kept his mouth shut and just taken the blame for a poorly underthrown ball.  If anything, however, he seems to be explaining how he is learning the capabilities and ranges of his receivers.  It seems he was under the mistaken impression that Hester was the kind of guy that would try to jump for a ball that was clearly underthrown, instead of watching the opposing team make an uncontested interception.  The quote itself was barely fingerpointing anyways, but the major concern is that this is a sign of how Cutler handles himself in front of the media.  He has clearly shown a tendency to blame others, and regardless of whether others are to blame or not, throwing your teammates under the bus is usually a poor decision.  My point is, what he said may have had some truth to it, but that doesn’t mean it should be said (ironic advice from me of all people, but under the circumstances he should have just shut up).

Well,

I’ve been calling Rothschild once a month for over a year. He never answers, but I always leave a message. Sometimes its Cubs related, but other times its not (happy thanksgiving larry!, etc.). I’m nice in the voicemails and I always act like we know each other.

Back in March I had ACL sugery. It was performed by the Cubs doctor (Dr. Gryzlo). Last Thursday I had a follow up appointment. While I was there I asked him for a status on Zambrano. He told me he’d be fine.

After the appointment with Grzylo I called Rothschild to let him know how we should handle Zambrano. I told him we have a comfortable lead in the central and we shouldn’t rush him back. I also told him to call me if he wanted to talk about it. Apparently, he wanted to talk about it, because he called me about an hour later.

I will have attached the voicemail. I’d classify Larry’s tone as “angry”

This is the voicemail, and you have to listen to it. It does sound like Rothschild. He’s definitely right to be pissed, even if we’d all like to give him some advice from time to time.  Oh, and don’t be calling him telling him you talked to Gryzlo or anyone else, ok?

With his circuitous route, Teddy Roosevelt Lilly took 271 games and 246 starts to reach the milestone, while Penny did it in 264 games and 260 starts.

What really drew my attention was the similarities between Josh Beckett and Carlos Zambrano. Each came into the league in 2001, with Beckett taking 211 starts while Carlos took 219 starts to reach 100 wins.  The similarities don’t stop at wins either.

Career Numbers for Beckett through 1309 IP (blame it on the blisters):

ERA: 3.74

CG: 7

SHO: 4

Hits: 1186

Earned Runs: 544

Home Runs: 136

Strike Outs: 1241

Career Numbers for Zambrano through 1484 IP:

ERA: 3.48

CG: 8

SHO: 3

Hits: 1248

Earned Runs: 574

Home Runs: 123

Strike Outs: 1254

Yes, Beckett gives up the long ball more often, but also has a better K/9 rate. The other numbers aren’t so different considering the slight difference in innings pitched.  Although as Carlos reminds us there is One Big Difference.

Beckett has won a World Series Ring, while the Cubs haven’t come close.

When Beckett was traded from the Marlins, it appeared as if the Marlins got a pretty good deal. Hanley Ramirez has performed at or above expectations becoming a fixture at shortstop for the foreseeable future or until the next youth (see High School) movement of the Marlins. The other players shipped from Boston included Jesus Delgado, Harvey Garcia and Anibal Sanchez. Delgado and Garcia have bounced around the minors with limited time in the majors, while Sanchez has been tantalizingly inconsistent, throwing a no-hitter in 2006 and tearing his labrum the next year.

Interestingly enough, the Marlins passed on a deal with the Rangers that would have reportedly yielded Hank Blalock and John Danks in exchange for the native Texan, Beckett.  One could argue that the Marlins would be better off with this duo than the cache of prospects they received from Boston.

With all the talk of Zambrano’s trade prospects and Toronto’s requests for four major-league ready prospects in exchange for Roy Halladay, it got me wondering whether the Cubs should pull the trigger on a Zambrano trade and if so what approach should they take? He’s no Halladay but he’s still a #1 starter who routinely gets through the sixth and seventh innings. Rather than four prospects, why not two good prospects and a low A.

If the Cubs can’t win a playoff series with Zambrano as their #1 because of an anemic offense. While the Cubs have plenty of young guys who have shown they can have moderate success if they’re given the playing time, they are still stuck with Theriot, Fontenot in the infield and Soriano and Bradley in the corner outfield spots. The first priority for upgrading would be the middle infield, strengthening their lineup for the inevitable NL Wild Card Round.

Sam "The Investment Banker" Fuld

With Jake Fox and Sam Fuld showing some promise as outfielders in the Cubs system, there might be less of an emphasis on getting an outfielder in return, but I would expect the Cubs to look for two legitimate major league starters in return for Carlos Zambrano.

Why not look to where the Marlins missed? The White Sox certainly benefited from their trade of Brandon McCarthy for the aforementioned John Danks. With McCarthy’s demise and Nolan Ryan at the helm of the organization, there is certainly an emphasis on getting starting pitchers who do not need to be coddled or babied. Carlos might be crazy but you don’t have to coo in his ear to get him to pitch well.  As an added plus, the Rangers are hanging tough in the AL West, only a game and a half behind the Angels in a competitive year for the entire division.

What might the Rangers have to offer, well, let’s start with the potential trade’s Hanley Ramirez, Rangers starting shortstop Elvis Andrus. Andrus was hitting .270 around the beginning of July before cooling off a bit over the last two weeks, but was widely regarded as one of the top 5 shortstop prospects in the league and so good that Hank Blalock was moved over to 3rd base to accommodate him.

The Cubs could replace Zambrano with another fellow Venezuelan, Martin Perez, a lefty with a great curveball who has pitched well at Single A this year, and is currently regarded as the 5th best prospect in the Rangers organization. Throw in another prospect or two and you’ve strengthed your infield in the now and your rotation for the near future, while further strengthening the farm system.

While this may be a little out of left field, it’s worth thinking of what the Cubs could get from trades since their recent history with free agent signings have left much to be desired.  See Soriano, Bradley, Fukudome.

With that, who do you have your eyes on in other organizations? What do you think is the weak spot that could be strengthened in a trade?

Monday: The Cubs went to Atlanta for a one-game makeup.  The Braves are a decent team this year, but definitely not a team that should scare the Cubs.  The Cubbies, however, did something amazing that hasn’t been done by a Cubs team in 20 years.  They got 10 hits but scored no runs in a 9-inning game.  The last time that happened was against the Astros on August 29, 1990.  Oh and this completed a 4 game stretch for Dempster in which he was 0-2 with a 2.10 ERA.  So at least he’s not the problem.  Milton Bradley: 0-1, 1K.

Tuesday: The Cubs head to Detroit to play a 3-game set against a tough Tiger squad.  The only good thing in this game was Marmol’s 1-2-3 inning.  Gregg blew the save on a walk-off home run to Ryan Raburn and the Cubs lost a nailbiter 5-4.  Milton Bradley: 0-2, 2BBs, 1K.

Wednesday: Okay, so the Cubbies lost the opener but it was a close game.  Well they lost a close one on Wednesday too, but this time they stranded 13 runners, which makes me sort of nauseous.  Carlos Marmol was back to his walking ways, walking in a run and throwing only 7 of his 16 pitches for strikes.  Tigers won 5-3.  To this point in the week, the Cubs had scored 7 runs and left 31 men on base.  Yikes. Milton Bradley: 0-2, 3BB, 2Ks.

Thursday: Would the Cubs get swept by the Tigers?  The answer should be obvious at this point.  One thing before I get all negative about this game.  JAKE FOX!  That kid can rake.  Lou needs to get him in the lineup as soon as possible and as often as possible.  He was 3-4 with a home run and a double.  Hoffpauir also had a big home run.  The Cubbies lost, however, 6-5.  The bullpen held up alright, but Lilly gave up 6 runs which was insurmountable with this Cubs offense.  Also allegations of Soto’s marijuana use came to the front this day.  Lou admitted he’s tried pot one time, but “couldn’t tell you the difference between a steroid and reefer.” Milton Bradley: Day off.

Friday:  The Cubs headed to the South Side for a crosstown showdown with the White Sox.  This was actually the one game the Cubbies won this week, although it may have been the worst game of the week for Cubs fans.  Marmol was flat out awful.  He could not find the strike zone, or even come close.  He went 2/3 of an inning, with 2 hits, 3 walks, and 2 earned runs.  Only 10 of his 24 pitches were strikes.  Soto did homer (hell he can get high everyday if he’s going to hit like that), and Fox hit another bomb to help the Cubs overcome Marmol’s trials.  The big story, however, was Milton Bradley.  After flying out in the 6th, he expressed his anger about his struggles by doing what all Cubs seem to do, taking it out on the Gatorade cooler.  Lou had had enough though, and told Bradley to change and leave the ballpark.  Great.  Milton Bradley 0-3, 2Ks.

Saturday: Lou decided not to discipline Bradley any further, putting him back in the lineup.  He was hardly the story, though, as this game was an exciting one down to the finish.  In a game the Cubs lost 8-7, no home runs were hit by either team until Podsednik’s walk-off in the bottom of the 9th.  Marmol of course struggled, as did Marshall and Heilman (not Heilman so much, but he did give up a run).  Milton Bradley: 1-5, 1K.

Sunday: At least Zambrano made this one interesting, although its not exactly professional to bean one guy because another guy stole home on you.  Though “class” hasn’t exactly been our M.O. this season so far, Z usually takes the cake.  I would be pretty upset if I was him too.  Its got to suck to know your team won’t give you the run support you need, and that a 4-0 hole is pretty much a loss.  They ended up losing 6-0.  Oh and good news everyone, Chicago favorite Mark DeRosa, who should never have been dealt and is having a very good year in Cleveland, was traded to the Cubs arch-rival St. Louis Cardinals.  Hooray.  Milton Bradley: 0-3, 1BB, 2Ks.

What a terrible week.  Marmol is losing it, Gregg blows a key save, the offense only scores enough runs to lose, Soto smokes pot, and Bradley can’t hit anything except a Gatorade cooler.  In a battle between on-field issues and off-field issues, I’m going to have to give a split decision to off-field issues this week.  Somehow the Cubs have managed to hang around .500.  Before this last week, it felt like if they hung around long enough, eventually things would turn around.  This week definitely made me feel much worse about it, though.  Someone needs to slap Bradley and make Marmol do 100 push-ups every time he throws a ball.

h/t: NESW Sports

“Three hundred? Me?” Zambrano said. “No, I’ll be out of here in five years.”

How does he know?

“After this contract, I’m done,” said Zambrano, who is signed through 2012 with a vesting option for 2013. “I’m serious. I don’t want to play. I want to help this team, I want to do everything possible to win with this team, but after five years or four years, or whatever I have left on my contract, I just don’t want to play.

“I want to stay home and see my daughters grow up and hang out with my family more,” he said. “Do you know how many Mother’s Days I spend with my mother? Do you know how many things I’ve lost in my life?

“It’s good to be here, it’s good to play baseball — don’t get me wrong,” Zambrano said. “But five years, four years, whatever I have left in my contract, I will retire. That’s it.”

And he wasn’t kidding.

Wow.  So Big Z is a big goofball and who knows if he means it or even if he does whether it will still hold true in 5 years.  Regardless it is a sad proposition for Cubs fans.  There isn’t much point in trying to guess what he will really do, but would you regard this as selfish by the big guy?  He is just a person and baseball is his job.  If you could retire from your job at 33 and not have to worry about money, would you?  I don’t think I would, since I would get bored and feel useless, but he really hasn’t been able to see his family much.  Baseball players, especially latino ones who have their family south of the equator, are essentially on an 8 month road trip every year.

On the other hand, most of us don’t have the opportunity to make history and be in the national spotlight doing things that very few other humans can do.

Bottom Line: If the Cubbies win a World Series I’ll get over Z’s retirement (if it happens).