Buzz: Carlos Zambrano is Eminently Available
Jon Heyman of SI.com believes RHP Carlos Zambrano is ‘eminently available,’ as the Yankees definitely talked to the Cubs about him before acquiring Javier Vazquez from the Braves.
…in other words, he is very available…
Zambrano, who has a full no-trade clause, will earn roughly $18 million each of the next three seasons, and has a vesting player-option for 2012.
…and that’s the issue: it’s not if he’s available, or even ‘eminently available,’ it’s whether or not he’ll waive his no-trade clause, and word from Chicago is that zambrano has no interest in pitching for anyone other than the Cubs… and so, like i said a few weeks ago, in his case, like it essentially was with Johan Santana and Roy Halladay, the question is: a) does he want to leave Chicago, so much so that he’d waive his no-trade clause, and b) will he waive it to come to the Mets…
The 28–year-old Zambrano was just 9–7 in 28 starts this season for the Cubs, but with a 3.77 ERA in 169 innings, during which he struck out 152 batters.
Zambrano has not ended a season with an ERA over 4.00 since his rookie year in 2001.
