This has all come together in a hurry. Wednesday afternoon, Carlos Zambrano was not a topic. Wednesday evening, Carlos Zambrano was reportedly close to being traded to the Miami Marlins. And now later Wednesday evening, Carlos Zambrano has all but been traded to the Miami Marlins. Bruce Levine:
Carlos Zambrano Trade Between Marlins, Cubs Effectively Complete
Cubs and marlins agree on trade that sends p Carlos Zambrano in exchange for Chris volstad .cubs pay 15 of 18 million .
There are the details. In 2012, the Marlins will replace Volstad with Zambrano for $3 million minus Volstad’s salary. The Cubs, meanwhile, will replace Zambrano with Volstad for $15 million plus Volstad’s salary. So the Cubs aren’t really getting any significant salary relief, here. But they are getting Zambrano relief, plus control of Volstad for three years.
The trade isn’t official yet, as Ken Rosenthal reports that there are still medical exams to complete, and commissioner approval to obtain. But it looks like it’s just a matter of time. Unless Zambrano’s body is really messed up or Volstad has legs for arms and arms for legs, this is going to go through.
As I've mentioned, I like this for the Cubs, because I'm somewhat fond of Volstad, and don't think he's much worse than Zambrano. The Marlins are hoping that Zambrano finds his happy place under Ozzie Guillen and pitches closer to his potential. It's not a completely ridiculous risk, but it's a risk, and, well, congratulations to the Marlins on becoming the most interesting organization in baseball. Jeff Conine might've been Mr. Marlin before, but the Marlins as represented by Conine have little in common with the Marlins of today.
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