Carlos Zambrano

This article was originally published at The Daily Cub.  Visit TheDailyCub.com for game recaps and opinions about the Chicago Cubs

When asked what his team needed to do to turn it around after a fifth-straight loss to the Pirates, Chicago Cubs skipper Lou Piniella had this to say:

"If we start doing the things that we're capable of doing, I won't have to answer these questions all the time."

But the question remains, can this team turn it around in time to make any noise in the post-season picture?

The quest to find this answer began today with a 4-3 comeback win over the Bucs.

Look, Carlos Zambrano makes a hell of a lot of money. If he is going to provide any return on that investment, it has to be as a starting pitcher, not a reliever.

You don't pay relievers $18 million per season. Plus, he isn't doing a good job in that role anyway.

If the Cubs had listened to my advice two years ago and again last year, they would have traded Big Z when they had the chance.

When I wrote the articles, many Cubs fans said no way you trade Zambrano. And even the ones who thought it made sense wanted a king's ransom in return.

Like Carlos Zambrano, big-time pitchers Justin Verlander, Jake Peavy, and Josh Beckett are off to awful starts. They are not alone. Names like Jon Lester, Aaron Harang, Javier Vazquez, Chad Billingsley, and Jeremy Bonderman join them on this list of the top ten worst pitchers in 2010.

Virtually all of these pitchers have two things in common. They were expected to be aces, stoppers, shutdown grinders, strike-one dealers. They are all disappointing.

Let’s take a look at how bad they all really are, see if they’re improving, and ask ourselves:

Is this just an April shower?

To quote one of my favorite episodes from Seinfeld:

"He's reliable. He's considerate. He's like your exact opposite."
"So he's Bizarro Jerry."
"Bizarro Jerry?"
"Yeah, like Bizarro Superman, Superman's exact opposite, who lives in the backwards Bizarro world. Up is down, down is up, he says hello when he leaves, goodbye when he arrives."
"Shouldn't he say badbye? Isn't that the opposite of goodbye?"
"No, it's still goodbye."
"Does he live underwater?"
"No."
"Is he black?"

Please tell me this is April Fools Day.

Look, the Cubs have done a lot of dumb things in their history, but moving Carlos Zambrano to the bullpen may be the craziest thing they have done since the "College of Coaches."

For those of you not up to date on Cubs history, the College of Coaches was the brainchild (or brain-dead decision) of then-owner P.K. Wrigley back in 1961, and consisted of rotating eight coaches as managers.

Listed below are points and counterpoints debating whether the Cubs demoting Carlos Zambrano is a good idea.

As most of you have read, Carlos Zambrano has reportedly been moved to the bullpen for the Chicago Cubs.

How one comes to the conclusion that Zambrano is the weakest link of a starting rotation featuring Carlos Silva and Tom Gorzelanny is a question no baseball follower can answer.

Zambrano has made six straight Opening Day starts for the Chicago Cubs and has been the proclaimed ace of this staff for the same amount of years, but the one negative tattooed on his positive stuff is his mental capacity to accept even the tiniest of irritations.

In one of the more bizarre moves you'll read about, the Cubs announced today that Opening Day starter Carlos Zambrano will be moved to the bullpen.

Zambrano, 1-2 with a 7.45 ERA so far in 2010, figures to be the primary set-up man for closer Carlos Marmol.

The Cubs' bullpen has been atrocious this season, and there is no question that a move had to be made. 

You can't fault manager Lou Piniella for trying to shake things up, but taking away a three-time all-star from your starting rotation is not the answer.