Grievance coming on Zambrano action
The players association will file a grievance Monday challenging the Cubs’ placing Carlos Zambrano on the disqualified list. Expect the association to argue that the punishment does not fit the “crime,” so to speak.
Zambrano’s agent, Barry Praver did not wish to comment Sunday on the proceedings because they are ongoing. However, he said that Zambrano did not go back to Turner Field Friday night after leaving the team to return his equipment to the Cubs clubhouse, as has been reported. Praver said Zambrano instructed an associate to return the equipment and ask an attendant that it be placed in Zambrano’s locker. I'm told that happened about 11:15-11:30 that night.
Word out of Atlanta is that Casey Coleman will start Wednesday afternoon’s game at Houston. That would be Zambrano’s spot in the rotation. Coleman pitched Friday night for Class AAA Iowa. Coleman is 5-2 at Iowa with a 3.65 ERA and a WHIP of 1.23.
A couple quick minor-league notes: Brian LaHair, who likely will be a September call-up, hit his 31st homer yesterday for Iowa. Ryan Flaherty hit his second, extending a hit streak to eight games. Class AA Tennessee Trey McNutt took the loss as the Smokies fell 3-0 to Jacksonville. McNutt worked 6 innings, giving up 6 hits and 3 runs. He walked three and stuck out six.
I expect a busy Monday and Tuesday with Monday night’s deadline for signing drafted players. I hope to talk with scouting director Tim Wilken later in the week.
Looks like Jim Hendry is about to eat another sh*t sandwich. The legal experts opining on this matter say there is little chance a 30 day suspension can hold. So what do the Cubs do then? Answer is they welcome Zambrano back like they always welcome Zambrano back after he's been naughty.
Hendry has no credibility. Zero, none, nada. He's fostered a country club atmosphere that keeps on coming back to bite, and bite hard.
Your predictions always thrill me because I feel the opposite of what you say is most likely going to happen.
So here are the Cubs, but most importantly, Jim Hendry in a similar situation with a player that he can't have on his team and that NOBODY will take on without the Cubs paying a very large portion of his contract OR taking on another turd deal.
How many lives is Hendry going to continue to get? It's crazy. Not only did he overpay the Zambrano market value, but he gave away a no trade clause on top of it.
Zambrano is what he's been since day 1. An immature, self centered boy in a giant man's body. Oh sure, he'll flash signs of brillance. however, you can name countless times where he's shown up teammates, gotten ejected, blown his lid on the mound and leads in games, all costing the Cubs so many times over the years that management and teammates have had ENOUGH.
This guy has NEVER been a leader, and when you are winning you can look past a guy who's only in it for himself. However, when you are losing, it's tough to look at a guy who has made countless apologies and statements, attending an "anger management" class and give him any benefit of the doubt.
Happy trails to Zambrano, and more importantly, I hope Tom Ricketts is getting TIRED of continually paying money to make Hendry's countless problems go away....Hendry is quickly the Cubs version of Bob Pulford......
Don't bet on Ricketts being proactive like Rocky Wirtz. He'll continue to enable Jim Hendry to make the baseball decisions for this PATHETIC club. How anyone in their right mind support this crap they're trying to spew on us is beyond me. Standby this October for "Polishing the Turd" day which is when Ricketts will retain Hendry and say his club is heading in the right direction. I'm sure a few on this blog will buy into this YET again and believe it too.
These are the same people who hate hockey and are jealous of the Blackhawks success.
Get used it because the boys on Madison actually have a formula for success unlike Tommy Boy and his flailing Cubbies.
Now if they can just get the first two picks signed then that would be nice.
Zych:
http://twitter.com/#!/jimcallisBA
#Cubs sign 4th-rder Tony Zych for $400k. Louisville RHP has big arm (94-97 to 99), possible closer if he refines his slider. #mlbdraft
Maples
http://www.bleachernation.com/2011/08/15/report-dillon-maples-has-indeed...
Confirming our rumor from yesterday, Perfect Game USA’s Kendall Rogers (who has first reported a number of draft signings this year) is reporting that Chicago Cubs’ 14th round pick Dillon Maples did not show up for UNC football practice today, has taken a physical with the Cubs, and is signing for “huge” money.
It was expected to take a “huge” sum to sign high school All-American pitcher Maples, who was committed to play baseball and football at UNC this year.
Maples was as first round talent, who slipped because teams felt he would not forgo his commitment to UNC for any amount of money. Well, soon we’ll find out just what his price was
Kudos to the Cubs for stepping up on Maples, and others in what is quickly becoming a tremendous draft.
Not meaning to be a downer here, but how can this possibly be classified as a "tremendous draft" when done of the draftees have even played a game in the minor league system as of yet?
the Cubs of being cheap in the draft anymore. Have they signed anybody at or below slot?
This gives all the likely scenarios......
2) Zambrano cleaned out his locker after he was thrown out of the game. Therefore the Players' Association will likely emphasize that Zambrano did not miss a game, and since he could not renter a game in which he was ejected, he at no time refused to render his services -- which is required for placement on the Disqualified List. In fact, within two hours of Zambrano leaving the clubhouse, his agent, Barry Praver (who earns a commission on salary payments to Zambrano and thus has a major stake in Zambrano playing), emphatically stated that Zambrano was not retiring.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/michael_mccann/08/15/carlo...
Just a stupid, and need I say EMOTIONAL, overreaction by Hendry and the Cubs to Z's awful outing.
All I can say is it's a good thing Zambrano didn't tell Cubs staff he felt so bad he wanted to die 'cause Q-ball would have called Atlanta police for a SWAT team.
If Zambrano said he 'wanted to die' and then performed an action that seemed to validate that comment, then yes, Quade should've called the Atlanta Police.
I think the larger point is that the Cubs Organization once again overreacted to something. Whether it be signing Soriano for too many years, trying to get that LH bat in the lineup with Milton Bradley or moving Zambrano to the bullpen last season.....they've shown quite the propensity for overreacting. Their poker face is non-existent.
What they should have done is waited to see if Zambrano showed up the next day. He probably would have and at that point they could have worked with the union/agent/player to suspend him for conduct detrimental to the team in a rational fashion. Instead, as many have said before, we've seen spin on spin on spin based on a lot of phone calls and speculation which is interesting because most of the Cubs beat writers were still back here in Chicago and not covering the Cubs at a time when actual news was being made. There was a way to handle this correctly and the Cubs management has not done so.
Good analogy, If Hendry is playing poker deal me in. By handling it the wrong way, they made it well known that they don't intend on welcoming Zambrano back which means any and every team that might have considered taking a chance on him at the right price, will now be able to wait until he's released and sign him on the cheap. The Cubs put themselves in a terrible situation.
Clearly you are either the greatest athlete of all time or have never played a round of golf.
Not the greatest athlete of all time, just started trying to play golf last year. One day I might break 100.
via twitter:
SI_JonHeyman Jon Heyman
alfonso soriano has cleared waivers. #cubs willing to pay a major, major chunk of $50M-plus left. hes really a dh now
Can't see any of the teams currently in contention jumping on Sori right now. The best chance may be to hope he finishes somewhat strong and getting a team like the A's (known to take a risk on a guy who could regain form) to take him at a steep discount.
At this point the money is pretty much a sunk cost for the Cubs. If they were to move him before the start of next season I'm not sure who they would put in LF in 2011. His offensive numbers have been better than a few teams in the NL and his defense has been on par with what the Reds have gotten out of their army of LFs. If the plan is to move him just to sign another stopgap until a real solution can be found then I'd rather just have him out there - no reason to pay two different guys to play LF on a bad ballclub.
where Zambrano is? And has anybody from the team or his agent heard from him? Are the step taken by the Players Union and his agent being done with his blessing, or in the absence of any word from Zambrano?
We need to get a few things straight. First of all Z was in contact with the Cubs on Friday. He didn't leave town, he went back to his hotel room. Later that night he sent his gear back to the Braves ballpark. The Cubs have taken his gear bag with them to Houston.
Without ever talking to Zambrano, and in complete contradiction to his statement that he would do whatever Z wanted, Hendry put him on the DQ list despite being informed that Z did NOT want to retire. The Cubs also put out propaganda that they couldn't get in touch with Z and that he had left the team. But the fact is, after the game Marlon Bryd said he'd call Z up and talk to him. He did. No problem.
Because Hendry DQ'ed Z, Zambrano cannot come anywhere near the Cubs. This wasn't Z's idea. It was brainiac Hendry's.
A RATIONAL GM would have just waited to see if Z showed up for the next game before assuming Z actually quit on the team.
But no, we don't have a rational GM. We have a loser.
So you are defending Zambrano? Really?
A man who has made a yearly habit of stating in spring training about "how he's changed" only to implode yearly at some point.
It's a joke. The Cubs pulled out the last bullet last summer when they sent him to anger management in hopes that professional help MIGHT actually work.....A little over a year later, he throws at one of the classiest players in the game, why? Because HE was getting shelled. Then he storms out of the clubhouse, with gear in hand, like a 3 yr old.
So what, if he sent his gear back. This guy has shown a pattern yearly, of being mentally unstable. He's not a clubhouse leader. 2 veterans verbally trashed him in Dempster and Soriano, and others stated how this was "nothing new".
No for once Hendry did the right thing and and DQ'd him. About time they stopped giving in, and being made an embarassment by the most immature professional athlete to play in Chicago in the past 3 decades.
So keep on making all the apologies you want, but I'll bet money Zambrano has pitched his last game for the Cubs....
er, not really
I'm talking about Hendry DQ'ing a player before he's committed a DQ'able offense. And I explained what those are yesterday.
Z was already out of the ball game when he left. He did not fail to provide his services to the Cubs which is what he's contractually obligated to do.
If Hendry wanted to save $3 - $21 million he needed to wait to see if Z showed up the next day. But he didn't give him a chance to do that.
As for Z, and his .607 winning percentage on a losing team, being the "most immature professional athlete to play in Chicago in the past 3 decades," apparently you weren't paying attention when Milton Bradley was wearing a Cub uniform.
But you are still defending him by deferring back to his .607 winning percentage. Who cares....How many times has he cried about changing his ways? Or his great prediction before 2007 that he was going to go 27-6, and the Cubs would win the WS. Or when he showed up the fans in 2008 because he was getting booed. Or when he's blown a 4-5 run lead and then blamed the umps? Or when he's shown up a teammate on the field, or the dugout? Punched out a teammate in the clubhouse? Should we continue?????
Sure, he's shown brief flashes, but his arm is shot and he's a shell of the pitcher he once was. No he's an overpaid, whiny, inmature clown, who should embarass anyone and everyone who follows this team. This team allows him to pitch for them again, and then should be ripped EVERY day for it until he's gone. Nice back-bone, Cubs.
The quick career of Milton Bradley does not compare to Zambrano. If you want to compare it, then maybe Bradley should have be given numerous chances by this idiot GM, who SOUGHT out Bradley in the first place, because he's given Zambrano more chances then the Redwings gave Probert back in the 90s.
So tired of the excuses so many on this board make. This team sucks. They are the worst fundamental team in baseball, by leading MLB in errors. They have a lame duck manager. A lazy veteran at 3rd who is showing Castro and Barney that if you only concentrate on half the game, you can still get paid. A moron of a GM, who just wont' go away, be fired, or actually put together his "going to get good, and stay good" formula.
This team is now the laughingstock of baseball. Cubs are begging teams to take a goof like zambrano or soriano off their hands by playing LARGE chunks of their salaries, and YET nobody will even nibble.....
How does that give any fan, any confidence that this team is going to recover and be competitive anytime soon, when they have incompotent management?
>> If Hendry wanted to save $3 - $21 million he needed to wait to see if Z showed up the next day. But he didn't give him a chance to do that. <<
Costly miscalculation by Ricketts.....
Maybe he just learned that he REALLY DOES need a baseball guy to watch a baseball guy to watch a baseball guy.....
Post of the week, my friend. Hey, do you think Ricketts is in over his head? I do.
I don't think he's in over his head per se, but I think he miscalculated his fan base.
I think he actually does have a plan to build from within, judging from the money he's tossing at draftees, and in doing so I also think he's committed to taking the heat in the meantime.
As fans, I don't think our patience lines up well with his.... but in the bigger picture, if it works out he'll end up a hero.
That's quite a gamble he's involved in.
In retrospect, I think he knew this year and maybe next would be garbage.... as did/do most of us.
Last seen sitting in the ATL airport by himself....
...before the game ends strikes me as about a 3-day, no-pay suspension. Nowhere close to 30.
I think it was Phil Rogers who made the good point that the Cubs should have taken no action for a day and waited to see if Z showed up for Saturday night's game. If not, he would have been in deeper doo-doo.
The whole thing is already spinning out of control into another crazy Cubbie soap opera. I read in one place that Wells moved his stuff into Z's locker. I read in another that he had a locker right next to Z's but moved nothing. Does that sort of thing actually matter?!!!?
Also, what's the amount of the buyout on Z in '13? I'm guessing 3.5 or 4 mil, but I don't know. I read that's undisclosed information.
3 mil in question over the next month.
The Cubs are definitely on the hook for the rest:
Last 2 weeks, '11, about 1.4 mil.
'12: 18 mil.
'13: Buyout sum. ?
...did the samething with Sosa back in 04 (putting out info against him) and all it did was crater his trade value.
The samething will happen with Z. This offseason, it is likely, the Cubs will need to pick up about 12-15 mil of Soriano's deal to trade him and another 10 mil or so to deal Zambrano. Having 20-25 mil on the books for players you don't even have on the roster, has to be giving Ricketts pleasant thoughts.
If this doesn't push Ricketts to get rid of Hendry, I don't know what will.
How long can Hendry ride on the excuse that McDonough made him do it?
Until it stops being true?
...until Ricketts stops buying it.
Here is the story with Zambrano. It is not a player option or a team option. It is a player vesting option.... which means he must meet the criteria, and then he is granted an option.
from Cots
Zambrano receives 2013 player option if 1) he is first or second in 2011 Cy Young vote or if he finishes in top 4 in 2012 Cy Young vote and 2) he is healthy at end of 2012
There is no chance either happens
Quade did not handle this well. From everything I can tell he is the one who leaked what happened to the media when he should have picked up the phone, called Hendry and said nothing other than "I don't know where Carlos is. Jim will have an update when we learn more."
Quade is reminding me of junior people I work with that go into freak-out mode over a small issue. The first thing we teach them is to report the issue to their manager who will decide the best way to communicate the issue to the client. The Cubs would do well to institute a similar policy with Quade before he runs to the media with a rumor that Zambrano has retired.
>> The whole thing is already spinning out of control into another crazy Cubbie soap opera. <<
No doubt they jumped the gun on this one unless there's more to the story than we know.
Seems kinda odd and wreckless to take a clubhouse attendant's word on something as shocking as a player suddenly saying he's retiring in mid season when injury isn't a factor.
Something just ain't right with this picture.
This is playing out just like the Sosa finale....
Player leaves....
Cubs trash him....
Player says he never did what he was accused of....
Cubs send out word to the press to do the same...
They trash him.....
Teammates start doing the same....
Public is swayed and pile on.
Crisis "management"
Maybe it is playing out just like the Sosa finale is because both players were selfish losers more interested in themselves than the team. Seems as if everyone is glad he is gone.
Career 125-81 .607 WPCT (Cubs WPCT .490)
As for Sammy, Sosa WAS the Cubs. He carried them as far as one man could.
How quick they forget.
Finally, some sanity is brought into the conversation. Z is 44 games over .500 and Sosa hit over 500 hrs and 1500 ribbies in a cubs uni but apparently these are the "problems". Simply amazing.
Can someone tell me with a clear conscious why Ricketts hasn't fired Jim Hendry yet?
How many more embarassments must this organization go thru for Tommy Boy to finally pull the trigger? Fire that numbskull now and stop letting him make baseball decisions for your club.
He's under contract through next year.
A couple of theories:
1) Hendry's been a long-time, loyal and obedient employee with the Cubs. Ricketts may value that and is using Hendry as an example to those that may be considered to replace him at some point as the Cubs being an attractive and stable place to work. Could be that he doesn't want to embarass Hendry by firing him in mid-season in conjunction with the above reason.
2) Maybe Ricketts/Kenney are unwilling to commit to the demands/requests/autonomy of those he may have approached to replace Hendry and these candidates aren't interested.
It is what it is and no point stressing over something none of us have any influence over. This will play itself out like all the other Cub circuses in the Cubs' own bizaar way of doing things.
...it's either of your two options.
I just think Ricketts is in so far over his head, he is frozen as to what to do. He reminds me of a hitter who is fooled by a pitch with 2 strikes and gets rung up, completely frozen. IMO, Ricketts has already taken two called third strikes (the first being when he allowed Hendry to stay when he took over and the second being allowing him to stay after year one).
Will he take another called third strike after this season is over, or will he take the bat off his shoulder?
They are an embarassment to the city of Chicago.
So long as the City of Chicago continues to flock to Wrigley, I'm sure they aren't embarassed or feel accountable to anyone but themselves.
Bruce -- Today is the deadline for signing draft picks and the Cubs have a bunch of them. Why is mlb holding back so many approvals (for all teams)? This whole system seems to be a joke and hurts the youngsters who want to get a start on their careers.
Will there be a flury of activity today? And will mlb ever change this policy?
You're right. This is a terrible way of doing things. Kids are losing valuable time when they could be playing baseball. I don't expect it to change until the next collective-bargaining agreement, if then. As we've talked here before, it's silly for a multibillion dollar industry to be playing games over a few thousand here and a few thousand there.
I do expect a flurry of action today, a lot involving the Cubs.
Where I see the effects of this whole "slotting' thing is at the lower level teams, like I watch. The Hawks played this season and almost none of the drafteees from this June came to play. As you said, it stunts the growth of someone who should be getting into the grind of playing more baseball than most of them ever have in the past. Evaluation is then left to the scouting report you had when you drafted a player, and not what he did in his first pro SS. And as a ticket holder to those games, we don't get to see as much of a competitive team either. I am not sure what point Selig is making with this slotting deal, but if they are going to foist this on teams who are trying to build with drafts, then the day had better be near where there is a more stringent cap at the MLB level.
Lilly has cleared waivers & is in the first year of a 3 yr. $ 33 million deal. Do the math - Lilly is owed about the same as Zambrano - just over two more years instead of one for Z. Offer Dodgers $ 10 million & Z for Lilly straight up.
So Lily can throw his glove to the ground after giving up a homer like he did on the main stage of the playoffs? Lily's best days are definitely behind him.
Jason Marquis - recently acquired by Arizona from the Nationals went down in his start on Sunday with a fractured fibula & is most likely done for the rest of the year. Jim Hendry & Zambranos agent should be calling the D-backs now to cut a deal - they are still battling S.F. in the Western division for a chance at the playoffs.
Arizona doesn't really have the money to spend on Zambrano. Even if we ate the entire deal, with a fairly young locker room, I'm not sold they'd want to add Zambrano.
I'd wait till the off-season, when clubs have a better idea what they have and where they're going, and then talk. Sit Zambrano for the remainder of this season. It's going to be a my problem for your problem deal, but it would be best to wait. Besides, when Guillen goes to Florida, Hendry can call over and sell Loria on getting Zambrano.