In a report in today’s Chicago Tribune, Carlos Zambrano tells Paul Sullivan that he expects to stay with the Cubs.
Zambrano told Sullivan, who has a full no-trade clause:
“Like Arnold Schwarzenegger said, ‘I’ll be back’…Believe it. All new episodes next year.”
…to me, this is the type of player the Mets should try to acquire… he did have a down year, but he’s a proven ace with the Cubs and would be a great fit at the top of the rotation… he also brings a unique personality that the team is lacking…his desire to win could rub off on players even though he has a volatile personality…
Added to, by Matthew Cerrone, 1:20 pm:
...i’m still torn on z… i think he’s good enough to be the second-best pitcher on the Mets… it’s just, he’s an absolute loose cannon… to me, that’s a good thing, and a bad thing… i mean, it would not surprise me to see take a swing at someone on his team, and quickly turn this place in to the Bronx Zoo… at the same time, he’d be entertaining, and his passion to win could be infectious… ugh, i don’t know…
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I agree with your comments on this post Cerrone…but… wouldn’t a similar effect be gained by signing Bedard, Harden, or Sheets… and probably for less $? I think that any of these 3 would be a wiser option UNLESS the Cubs would take Perez and/or Castillo from us.
On my wish list for the off season… I hope that the Mets can bring on two ro three of these 5 SP; Bedard, Harden, Sheets, Piniero, or Marquis.
what would it take to land zambrano?
I meant Baron…not Cerrone.
“he did have a down year this year but he is a proven ace with the Cubs and would be a great fit at the top of the rotation…he also brings a unique personality that the team lacks as well…”
Several things:
1) Carlos Zambrano hasn’t pitched like an ace since 2006, when he had a 3.41 ERA. He hasn’t had a sub-3 ERA since 2004, and that was the only time he did it. The last three years including this one his ERAs are 3.95, 3.91, 3.77…. those are good numbers, but they certainly aren’t the numbers of an ace
2) Compared to his last few years he’s actually slightly improved his ERA this year, he just happens to have fewer wins to show for it.
3) I love how right now you call his personality “unique”. Just wait until he starts getting booted out of games for arguing, or somebody on the other team gets in his head and he lets the game completely fall apart. Then you’ll be replacing “unique” with “headcase”
4) Speaking of headcase, do we really need another rotational headcase (Ollie)
Z + 3M for Ollie and Castillo is almost budget neutral.
z+milton bradley
for ollie + castillo…
and matt,
wouldnt anybody that comes to the mets automatically be their second best pitcher?
Sylow & Derx,
Have you guys even thought at all about what you’re suggesting? Do you honestly think the cubs will give up their #2 pitcher for Luis friggin’ Castillo and Oliver Perez? Why in God’s name would they do that???
Castillo SUCKS at defense and hits singles, he has no other skill. And Ollie is simply terrible. Doesn’t matter if they’re getting rid of salary…. Cubs are a big market team, their payroll is higher than the Mets, its not like they NEED to dump salary.
Basically, I think it is absolutely assinine to suggest that the Cubs would ever trade Z for a combination of Ollie & Castillo.
Guys like Castillo and Perez will be mets next year, not because they’ve earned it, but because we paid them to much money. The cycle continues.
Notice the tigers were playoff contenders while eating Sheff’s salary? Maybe we could learn something here
I really didn’t suggest it, the names have been mentioned either here or elsewhere. and I was just pointing out it was budget neutral. That’s all. Perhaps I should have made that more clear. And, in retrospect, that was even a bad idea.
I hope to God above Bradely is never mentioned again as a possible Met.
why dont we ever buy LOW on players.
cubs already said they do not want bradley back.
given that he is a liability to the cubs
pairing him up with Zam will lower zams value.
we always seem to only like players when they are performing well.
everybody was down on holliday the first couple of months he was on the A’s
saying “good thing we didnt pay for this guy… blah blah”
and then he goes to the Cards and becomes an all star again and everybody wants him again.
we lost our chance to buy low on him.
And what exactly would Bradley bring to the Mets? Yeah, Bradley would “lower” Z’s price tag (talent wise); but then what? He is always injured and is always a problem. If the Cubs ate Bradley’s salary then why wouldn’t they just release him?
bradley will bring zambrano
and a potential power bat in the outfield
fills 2 holes
It will fill 45 games with drama.
The other 117 games it will fill a spot on the DL and the bank account of the newly hired team therapists to help everyone with the drama from the other 45.
For 162 games it will fill endless blog entries with “why did they do that?” threads and fill Lou Pinella’s heart with glee.
Full no trade usually means more years and more money should he grant the trade. At least that’s what you guys tell me. So I’m guessing that we wouldn’t be interested.
Yes Z would become our secong best pitcher.
Dude has gone from blue chip to penny stock. buyer beware.
if we are going to trade for a SP, I rather trade for halladay. give the the jays 3 prospects from (f-mart, niese holt, mejia) and another low prospect.
will erik bedard be healthy for ST?.if so I’ll give him a incentive laden deal.
santana
halladay
bedard
pelfrey
ollie
Anyone advocating the signing of Zambrano in NY hasn’t followed Z-man too close this year- He’s not had a good year at all. Nothing near an ace or #2. He admitted to being lazy and not training properly for a back problem.
We don’t need another head case on the Mets., esp one w/ a bad back as he gets older.
So is that how you get a job on this blog? I’m sick of bloggers on this site passing judgment on players of other teams when clearly their assessments show they only follow the Mets and barely follow the rest of the league.
Baron and Cerrone’s posts would’ve made sense 2 or 3 years ago, not now.
Agreed. Anyone who has watched, read about or followed baseball this year would know the Mets should stay as far away from Zambrano as possible.
The Mets need professional ballplayers. Not guys like him.
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