16
2009
From Ace To Z: Should The Mets Get Zambrano?
An article by 
According to Steve Rosenbloom’s blog for the Chicago Tribune, the Cubs are looking into trading starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano during the off-season. Zambrano has been tired of all the criticism being thrown at him and has been quoted as saying,
“Maybe if I go to a different city next year, if I get traded, I can do what I want.”
More than likely, if the Cubs do find a team to trade Zambrano to, it would be a National League team, because Zambrano would have to waive his full no-trade clause and it is doubtful he would want to play in the American League since the DH rule would not allow him to hit. Zambrano is one of the best hitting pitchers in baseball, with a .236 career average to go along with 20 HR and 22 doubles in eight full seasons in the major leagues. The 20 career home runs make him the active leader for pitchers.
As for his pitching, he can be very Jekyll and Hyde-like. His career record is 104-67 and he has never had an ERA over 3.95 for any full season. However, when things don’t go right for Carlos, he can lose his control and I’m not just talking about balls and strikes.
To say the least, if things don’t go his way, it can be like trying to put out a fire with gasoline. He can be very volatile, confrontational and erratic. When he’s focused and on his game, he can be dominant (see last year’s no-hitter against Houston). When he doesn’t get a call from an umpire, he can be lit up in a hurry.
Another thing a possible suitor has to contend with is his salary. He is one of the highest paid pitchers in baseball and still has quite a few years left in his contract:
- 2010: $17.85 million
- 2011: $17.85 million
- 2012: $18 million
- 2013: $19.25 million vesting option (could be player option)
That’s quite a chunk of change to pay for a pitcher that can blow up at the drop of a hat. However, if the Cubs would be willing to pay part of his salary, it would make a deal for Zambrano more appealing to other teams.
The Mets clearly need pitching. Zambrano is only 28 and might be made available this off-season. Should the Mets make a play for him? Is the potential for a meltdown (or two) too much of a risk for the Mets to take? Do they even have enough to offer the Cubs, assuming they don’t have to pay his entire contract?
Personally, I’m not sure the Mets should make a deal for Big Z if he is shopped around. Although the potential is there for Zambrano, he has yet to hone his skills and get his anger management problems under control. The Mets should try to find a cheaper option that can allow them to have money left over for other players that can help the team. However, the free agent pitching class this year isn’t very strong. The best option to acquire a quality starter might be via the trade route.
What do the readers think? Should the Mets take a chance on Zambrano? Remember, this isn’t Victor Zambrano we’re talking about. This is the Zambrano that actually has talent. Would he fit in with this team? Would he even waive his no-trade clause to come to a city that might criticize him even more if he doesn’t do as expected? Take it away, readers. The podium is all yours.
About the Author: Ed Leyro
Ed Leyro was hatched in the Bronx, but spent most of his youth in Queens at Shea Stadium. Apparently, all that time spent at Mets games paid off as Ed met his wife (The Coop) for the first time at Citi Field during its inaugural season. Guess the 2009 season was good for something after all. In addition to his work at Mets Merized Online, Ed also owns, operates and is head janitor at Studious Metsimus, where he shares blogging duties with Joey Beartran. For those not in the know, Joey is a teddy bear dressed in a Mets hoodie. Clearly, Studious Metsimus is not your typical Mets blog.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationals | 26 | 18 | .591 | - |
| Braves | 26 | 20 | .565 | 1.0 |
| Mets | 24 | 21 | .533 | 2.5 |
| Marlins | 24 | 21 | .533 | 2.5 |
| Phillies | 23 | 23 | .500 | 4.0 |
Last updated: 05/25/2012
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Disruptive personality/overall head-case + increasing injury risk + huge outstanding salary committment does not make up for his talent ….
Please, don’t even joke about bringing him here.
Nothing is more overrated in baseball than that stuff. Was Sheff a detriment to this team like everyone predicted? Hardly.
What if we could unload Olly P for him?
sure oliver perez for cubs ace…go watch softball…no way in hell bring that lunatic over to NY not a chance
To date, he’s the most attractive name I’ve heard. If he is readily available then Omar must make a play for either him or Lackey. Personally I’d lean towards big Z. I think his hitting isn’t something to be overlooked. A pitcher that doesn’t kill every rally with his (lack of) hitting is extremely valuable in the NL.
Any ideas for a package to obtain him? I’d start with Murph and 1 of Mejia, Holt, or Moviel.
If we actually wind up with this guy, please put him at 1B and let Murphy pitch. Just kidding, but I don’t want him around in any capacity.
We’ve had one too many Zambrano’s already. We already got stuck with the imitation one and now I don’t want the genuine one either. He’s too pricey for us cheapskates to start with. Why do we want a hothead around to create bad karma? He’s erratic anyway and is just as capable of giving you a lousy start as he is of giving you a solid performance. If we’re going to pick up a top line SP, let’s go with a real deal like Halladay or Lackey. Stay away from Zambrano! But knowing Omar, he will probably invest all the available $ in this one guy and make a big publicity splash that will last for all of 1 day. Put this one in the book as another failure in Omar’s long list of failures. After all, he’ll make a great companion for Ollie.
Along with real prospects, we’d have to unload salary to obtain Z and other pieces. The only way it could probably even be feasible is if Olly P was involved. I think everyone would unload Olly P + prospects for Big Z. You’d be acquiring him for like 6 mil. Doubtful that would ever happen, but I don’t see any other way.
If we can deliver Ollie to Chicago, I will drive him there by limo myself. We can then trade Zambrano for prospects and start all over again. I would do it to dump Ollie and then dump Z as well. At least we could get a bag of balls for Z; we can’t even get that for Ollie.
Zambrano could address the problem of a #2 pitcher (if he pitches strongly) but the problem is the contract. It’s a lot more than Ollie and for more years, and it’s John Lackey-type dollars. If we’re trading for him, we’d have to slash a lot of payroll for it to balance out, (unless we have him play 1B when he’s not pitching). For the money we’d end up paying him, we might be able to sign both Piniero and Marquis. Plus, let’s not forget that we may not even have that type of money to spend.
CAPSLOCK=DISABILITY ACCOMODATION
LET’S SEE IF I GOT THIS CORRECT, HE WANTS OUT OF CHIC DUE TO HARSH CRTICISM? WHY NOT GO FOR THE PERFECT TRIFECTA AND DEAL OMAR,JEFF WILPON,JERRY MANUEL FOR ZAMBRANO,BRADLEY & PINELLA THEN WE CAN BUILD ANOTHER STADIUM, NAME IT AFTER GIL BECAUSE CITI WILL IMPLODE! LMAO! PERHAPS WE CAN GET MLB TO UNDERWRITE A SWAP OF FRANCHISES & GET LORIA IN QUEENS TOO WITH MLB RUNNING FISH. NOW THERE’S A DREAM/NIGHMARE FOR ALL TO SEE!
The Mets should look somewhere else. Zambrano’s head case is going to mess the Mets up big time.
If I was the Mets, Id be reluctant go after Zambrano. If he cant deal with the media and criticism in Chicago, theres too much risk involved in him being a met.
That said, if you can send a package that includes Oliver Perez out of our rotation, Id pretty much be all for it
Ollie holt Murphy for big Z?
Trading Ollie’s erratics for Big Z’s volatile nature. No thanks.
Why not? Ollie has is worthless. He walks more than a batter per inning everytime. So he’s lucky if he makes it to the 5th inning. He got his money and now he doesn’t care. So tell me how a pitcher sucks everytime he’s out there vs a guy that Blows up 3-5 times a year is better?
He beat up his teammate in the hallway during a game.
And Ollie kills his teammates on the field everytime he takes the mound with his horrible pitching
CAPSLOCK=DISABILITY ACCOMODATION
PETE, HISTORY IS REPLETE WITH LHP WITH CONTROL ISSUES & GREAT STUFF THEY CAN’T CONTROL; BUT ONCE THEY DO, IT’S CERTAINLY WORTH THE WAIT. AL LIETER, SANDY KPOUFAX ARE 2 THAT QUICKLY COME TO MIND. WE’RE ALL FRUASTRATED BY OLLIE NOT BECAUSE HE DOESN’T HAVE ANY TALENT; BUT BECAUSE WE’VE SEEN “GOOD” OLLIE DOMINATE GOOD LINEUPS (ATL,NYY,PHL) & WANT TO SEE MORE OF IT. HISTORY ISN’T SO KIND TO ACTUAL ‘NUT’ CASES WITH SOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDERS. AS FANS, OUR PERROGATIVE IS THE JUDGING OF “THE NOW” A GM’S JOB IS TO JUDGE THE “COULD BECOMES” PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO THE KOUFAX CASE AS HIS DEBUT WASW 6/55 & HE DIDN’T PUT IT TOGETHER UNTIL ’62. DURING THOSE 6 DEVELOPMNT YRS THE GREAT HOF KOUFAX’S RECORD WAS 42-40 3.45 ERA, 1.46 WHIP RECORDING JUST 1 DOUBLE DIGIT W SEASON IN ’58 W/11-11 RECORD.
I’M NOT SAYING PEREZ CAN BE A HOF LIKE SANDY; BUT ONLY @ 26 IT’S TOO EARLY TO DECIDE.BTW KOUFAX WAS 26 IN 1961!
really trade our top pitching prospect holt for a headcase man you guys are wack he had an awful year this year and you want to pick him up ooh leave ollie dump him forget him getg big Z trade our young players away for the almighty big Z man you guys dont know baseball…
So he is a heascase. Big deal. Horrible year. Big deal. Look at francouor he changed locals and he got back on track. Holt hasn’t exactly lit up AA and for all you know he turns into Ryan leaf when and if he gets to the bigs. Bring in Z-Man get holliday and a wolf and whoa problem somewhat solved till mejia and co. is ready
PETE, YES, ALL OF THAT’S A VERY BIG DEAL. WHY DOES HE WANT OUT OF CGC? TOO HARSH CRITICISM? HAVE U READ A NY PAPER LATELY? LISTENED TO WFAN? WATCHED OUR OWN NETWORK SNY? HELL, CHICAGO PRESS HAS BEEN NICE TO HIM BY COMPARISON.HE’S NOT EVEN THE BEST SP AVAILABLE THIS OFFSEASON. LACKEY,MARQUIS,HALLADAY THEY’RE ALL BETTER & NOT CONSIDERED POTENTIAL LOONEY BIN RESIDENTS.
Bring Big Z and his personality over here NOW!
There is no question Zambrano has the talent to make the rotation significantly better, but with the problems already internally with the Mets there is no reason to bring in a potential problem.
If Zambrano cannot handle the criticism of Chicago, what makes you all think he will be able to handle New York?
Stop.Dont even go there.The Mets need Lackey or Halladay.If you want to trade?Trade for Halladay the guy is a solid pitcher and teammate.Or sign Lackey he is a free-agent.
Who needs Zambrano? We have Misch and Ollie and Parnell and Pelfrey and Redding and Niese and Nieve and… did I forget anyone? Not only would Zambrano be a an upgrade to the rotation, but his bat would be an upgrade to the lineup too.