A team is taking a chance on talented right-hander Carlos Zambrano despite several high-profile tirades that the pitcher had while as a member of the Chicago Cubs.
The Miami Marlines announced on Thursday that they officially acquired Zambrano in a trade with the Cubs. The Marlins put together a package of pitcher Chris Volstad and cash for Zambrano who has always had impressive stuff but has let his emotions get the best of him at times.
The Marlins have been one of the busiest teams in baseball during the offseason and with a new stadium, and new jerseys, they seem eager to change the atmosphere around the club. The acquisition of Zambrano is a big change, but the team believes newly hired manager Ozzie Guillen will be up to the task to steer Zambrano in a positive direction.
“Ozzie has a long and close relationship with Carlos,” president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest said, according to the Associated Press. “We went with Ozzie on this one. The bottom line was Ozzie just really, really felt confident about this deal.”
Nobody knows how it will work out, but everyone should agree that this will be interesting. Guillen is not afraid to speak his mind when something is bothering him. Meanwhile, Zambrano has attended anger management sessions in the past to try to help with his emotions.
During a game last August, Zambrano was ejected after giving up five home runs to the Atlanta Braves and then he cleared out his locker and told clubhouse personnel that he was going to retire.
“Every player that I talked to articulated to me that Carlos had really violated their trust,” new Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said, according to the AP. “When you’re talking about physical altercations with teammates repeatedly, when you’re talking about physically walking out on the team, it’s very hard to then have that player come back into the clubhouse and be trusted.”
The Cubs will still pay the majority of the $18 million that’s owed to Zambrano this year as part of the deal.
The 30-year-old Zambrano is a three-time All Star with a career record of 125-81 and a 3.60 ERA.
