Adam Kellogg has a wonderful article up at 312sports.com looking at the transition that took place around Wrigley Field during the late 90's.
Rumors have continued to swirl around Carlos Zambrano being dealt to other teams. The latest is another rumor out of New York that the Mets are interested in the Cubs “ace”. Without trying to lend any credence to the rumors out there, it might make sense to look into the potential trade market for Zambrano.
As to why the Cubs should move him – check the blog entry from Monday.
Any potential destination for Z has to be able to take on the salary. It does the Cubs little good to trade Zambrano if they’re not clearing his salary from the payroll. That immediately limits the teams down to the big payroll teams. Here’s a quick review on the status of the pitching staffs for each of those teams:
I used to like Ryan Theriot.
As a player, he was never going to be an exceptional guy. His range and arm limited him at shortstop to being an average (at best) defender. At the plate, his lack of power meant that he'd never be a standout performer there. But he was one of those guys that had a knack for getting the most from his skills. As a young player in MLB, he provided great value for his salary level - getting league average or near-league average performance for the minimum salary. The Cubs have had precious few of those guys around lately, so Ryan was very important to the team.
He also seemed like a decent enough guy - at least what we could see in front of the cameras. We'd see him joke around with teammates and spending time with his family before or after games. And as someone that hustled and "played hard", he has been an easy guy for fans to relate to and appreciate.
So why am I dead set on the fact that he should be traded at this point?
