As long as teams continue to act in their financial best interests without criticism, you will never hear me criticize a player acting in his financial best interest.  Especially a pitcher who was managed by Dusty Baker for 5 years.  Get it while the gettin's good.

I've advocated trading Z for quite some time now, and this posturing in the media clearly hasn't changed my point of view. Yes, he's a great pitcher, but his control issues tell me that he may never reach the next level (don't get me wrong, he definitely could). But I don't think pitchers should  EVER get contracts longer than 5 years (with the possible exception of Santana). There is simply too much possibility for major injury when pitching is concerned, which would potentially make Z's contract a bigger albatross than it already was.

Some put stock into PAPs (depending on what mood Bill James is in), and if they do hold any legitimacy, Dusty Baker has made Zambrano a perpetual league leader in  pitcher abuse. What IS indisputable is that Zambrano already has some back problems, and back problems at 25 only get worse. I would not at all be shocked to see him suffer from debilitating back pain by the age of 30-32 if this problem continues.

At any rate, Hendry has handcuffed our club by spending like Paris Hilton on a coke binge, with massive contracts to players that register as only  pretty good, but not oustanding (Soriano), mediocre (Lilly) and just plain bad (Marquis) who all makes this situation even more complex. Had the Cubs gone into rebuilding mode like teams that almost lose 100 games with no farm system SHOULD, we wouldn't have this problem, and could easily trade Z to the Yankees for prospects (starting with Hughes--although there is considerable argument whether they would even part with him for a rental player...I think they would). But instead, we've been positioned to compete this year (and in our weak division, we probably will), which has essentially put us in a "damned if we do, damned if we don't" position where we need to re-sign Zambrano or this season is a complete waste, and we don't really have the money to sign him now without mortgaging the future. I still think we should cut our losses and  trade him immediately (or even at the deadline), and the fact that he has a big ego only strengthens my conviction. His clear priority to bleed the Cubs for all of the gold in fort knox is sad since we're the organization that gave him his chance, and brought him up, but I don't hold it against him (you can't fault a player for trying to gain leverage), but his ego (and referring to himself in the third person) seems even more ridiculous when one realizes that he isn't even the best pitcher in the Nl Central (Carpenter, then Oswalt) let alone the entire NL.

If I may conclude this rambling post, I think we'd just be better of trading him now, as signing Zambrano to a seven year contract worth 130 million or more just isn't appealing.