Sources have confirmed to me tonight that the Cubs have completed a deal that sends right handed starter Carlos Zambrano and 15 million to the Miami Marlins in exchange for Chris Volstad. The proposed trade was first reported by Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.
Zambrano has been a problem for the Cubs for much of the time since he signed a 91.5 million contract extension during the 2007 season and he has never lived up to the expectations that the organization had for him when they paid him to be the team's No. 1 starter.
Several players have confirmed to me that Zambrano would have to change dramatically to be welcomed back on the team because of the number of incidents that he has had during his Cubs career, many of which alienated his teammates. As one Cubs veteran told me recently, "if this was a one time thing we would welcome him back and do all we could to make it work. However, this is the fifth or sixth time he has had an incident and at some point you have to cut ties and move on."
The deal makes a strong statement that Epstein and Co. will not tolerate any nonsense as they go about rebuilding not only the on field product but as they remake the entire Cubs clubhouse culture.
Epstein appeared with me on WGN Radio today and had this to say about Zambrano: The Carlos Zambrano of 2011 and years previous cant fit into the culture that we have here, Epstein said. Change needs to happen and change will happen. Either hell change and buy in and fit into this cultureand I understand there are a lot of skeptics around about that, and I understand that, and frankly, Im skeptical as well.
One thing that jumped out at me in talking with Epstein on the radio earlier today was that he seemed to be more hard lined about Zambrano than he has been in the past when asked about him since being named the Cubs president of baseball operations. That could be because when he sat down to do the radio show he knew Big Z was about to be a Miami Marlin. Sources tell me that a resolution should come down in the next 24-48 hours one way or the other.