Carlos Zambrano retiring? If only it was that easy.
According to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Cubs have placed Zambrano on the disqualified list. This includes 30 days without pay and no contact with the team.
While Zambrano cleaned out his locker and reportedly told some of his teammates that he was thinking about retirement following last night’s ejection, Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune reports that his agent Barry Praver told Cubs GM Jim Hendry that he is “not in the retirement mode.”
Right on cue, Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com hears from a source that the players’ union plans to file a grievance against the Cubs for their decision to place Big Z on the disqualified list without pay.
If the Cubs are lucky, this will end with some sort of settlement where both sides will sit down and Zambrano will get a sizable chunk of the approximately $24 million left on his contract and be sent on his merry way. Not holding my breath on that, though.
UPDATE: Buster Olney of ESPN.com reports that the Cubs were told within two hours after Friday’s game that Zambrano “definitely” wasn’t retiring. He also made “private, emotional remarks” to the club staff and returned his belongings to his locker.