Carlos Zambrano

While Cubs GM Jim Hendry continues to insist that Carlos Zambrano isn't available, rumors to the contrary continue to surface.

The New York Post seems to think that Zambrano is readily available.

Sherman wrote today in the New York Post that "two AL officials say the Cubs are definitely dangling Zambrano," while acknowledging Zambrano's unwillingness to approve a trade.

Is He on the Block—Or Not?

There is a rumor going around that Carlos Zambrano, Chicago Cubs ace, is headed out of the Windy City via a trade.

May I add that my ambiguously worded article regarding the Mets' offseason intentions may have added some legs to that rumor.

The facts are—there are no facts. Which is why if you re-read my piece you will see that the trade of Zambrano to the Mets for Luis Castillo is "a possibility," not a solid lead.

Whispers wandered around the web earlier this week that the New York Yankees had called the Chicago Cubs to inquire about the availability of the Cubs' ace, Carlos Zambrano. A lot has been written already about that potential marriage, so I won't waste a lot of space on it other than to mention it as a foundation for the discussion I'm about to begin.

Who hates the Yankees? Okay, everyone outside of New York. But the hatred is especially deep in Boston, where the rival Red Sox watched the Bronx Bombers spend a billion dollars to buy a World Series championship in 2009.

The recent reports suggesting that the Bronx Bombers were interested in at least exploring a trade with the Cubs for Big Z has left me wondering, once again, just what the hell Jim Hendry is thinking.

True, Zambrano has a full no-trade clause and hasn't expressed any willingness to relinquish it, but for Hendry to not even entertain the idea, if true, is stupid.

As December dawns, Major League Baseball holds its collective breath. Next week at the Winter Meetings, rumors will fly, and both players and money will change hands. Trades will come to completion, and free-agent negotiations will advance rapidly.

So, we've arrived in 2004. The Chicago Cubs have just undergone the worst choke in the history of the NLCS. Stunned, Cubs fans could only watch in horror as Josh Beckett and A.J. Burnett dominated the mighty New York Yankees in the World Series.

You'll forgive us if we didn't enjoy the Jan Brady-like feeling running through our veins during that entire series and subsequent off-season.

The Marlins have two rings, and the Cubs continue to play foil for teams we fans thought our teams were better than.

Carlos Zambrano recently received his third Silver Slugger award, and second straight, as the best hitting pitcher in the National League. Zambrano actually dropped off considerably in his offensive production in 2009, seeing his OPS drop from .892 to .689.

But that .689 is nearly double the league average pitcher; National League hurlers compiled a miserable .355 OPS in 2009.

It's the middle of November, so there's a ton of speculation flying around the web about baseball players moving addresses before the 2010 season.

For teams like the disappointing Chicago Cubs, the final out of the World Series means the beginning of a new hope. But, this winter, that hope needs to be tempered with a strong dose of reality.

The rumors are out there. The free agent lists are nearly complete; only uncertainty over player and club option years remains. The trade market is beginning to rediscover itself, for the first time in six weeks or so.

And now, armed with all of that knowledge, we have an opportunity to begin the task of concretely formulating the best plan of action for the Chicago Cubs over the course of the upcoming off-season. It will be an imprecise science; it will also likely not come to fruition, whatever we may propose, because Jim Hendry's mind does not work in the same way as the average fan's...

First of all, here's a link that will help us establish a proper frame of reference. The sheet attached is from Cot's Baseball Contracts, a valuable source for contract information for baseball players. It breaks down the 2010 financial obligations of the Chicago Cubs.

According to this breakdown, the Cubs are already obligated to $119 million in 2010, a number that's down from the nearly $135 million it reached this past season.