Zambrano

[jstraw]

Z's a maniac and he's not pitching well enough to look the other way anymore. What he did yesterday was infantile. Still, the tipping point in yesterday's meltdown was that he shit all over the mound then blasted his teammates. If he'd made one mistake pitch and given up that homer after his defense had given up three errors in the inning, I think his tirade would have been received differently.

I also think that with the frustration building over the last few years and the hopes tied to new ownership not providing much gratification, it's no surprise that suddenly, Z has become the lightning rod for a lot of frustration. It happened right at the breaking point for buy/sell...giving up on this season or not. There's a broader context for the reaction to his outburst. This explains, at least in part, why the actual events in the dugout are being spun in the worst possible tone, rather than the best face possible being put on it. I truly believe the descriptions of the incident exaggerate what happened. I don't have much sympathy for that. He brought it on himself.

I'm fine with Z being done with the Cubs, if it comes to that. I don't think he's thrown his last pitch as a Cub but that's just my gut. If he's dumped, I think it's much more constructive for it to be done clearly in the context of blowing this team up and rebuilding than in terms of dealing with the Z problem.

I have zero confidence in Hendry to handle it that way. He's already gone way out of his way to trash Z to his potential buyers. We've seen this before. On this score, Hendry is an idiot. He responds to passion with passion when he needs to be a GM, not just a boss.

Players who's presence I would not miss at all next season:

Soriano
Fukodome
Ramirez
Fontenot
Theriot
Lee
Lilly
Hill
Lilly
Zambrano
Gorzellany
Silva
Wells
Baker

I pray that both Hendry and Piniella are gone.

If we suck next year, let's please suck for new reasons.