Like a smooth politician, Theo Epstein went on a listening tour after he took this job to find out what went wrong. The overwhelming response from players and staffers: Carlos Zambrano had to go.
The Cubs reached a point of no return on Aug. 12 last season, when Zambrano left Turner Field during the middle of a game and headed to the teams luxury hotel in downtown Atlanta.
The official end of an era came Thursday, with the Cubs trading Zambrano and roughly 15.5 million to the Miami Marlins for Chris Volstad, a 25-year-old right-hander for the back end of their rotation.
Zambrano waived his no-trade clause to play for old friend Ozzie Guillen, who might be the only manager in baseball not afraid of this experiment blowing up in his face.
I'm not big on labels (or) reputations dictating how I treat people or how I think about people, Epstein said. This was one where it was really consistent. Every player that I talked to articulated to me that Carlos had really violated their trust.
When you're talking about physical altercations with teammates repeatedly(and) physically walking out on the teamits very hard to then have that player come back in the clubhouse and be trusted.
Do I believe in second chances? Yes. Do I believe in third chances? Yes, in some cases even fourth chances. But I think you have to be realistic about it (when) youre trying to establish a certain sense of unity (and purpose) in the clubhouse. (You) have to have accountability.
MLB
Zambrano voided a potential vesting option for 2013, which would have been triggered with an unlikely top-four finish this season in the Cy Young vote.
For the final bill, the Marlins will subtract whatever Volstad earns through arbitrationa projected 2.5 millionfrom the 18 million owed to Zambrano in 2012. The Cubs will pay the difference.
Zambrano and the players union also settled their grievance over the approximately 3 million he didnt get in the final weeks of last season. That temper tantrum will essentially cost Zambrano six days pay (600,000), though he recoups 2.4 million.
The night Zambrano told people he felt like he was stealing money and ready for retirement, Epstein was still running the Red Sox, a team that would wake up the next morning in first place, two games up on the hated Yankees and 29 games over .500.
An epic collapsethe Boston media produced sensational stories about players drinking beer and eating fried chicken in the clubhouse during gameshelped push Epstein to the North Side.
The president of baseball operations publicly allowed for the possibility of Zambrano earning his way back onto the team. Back in November, Epstein and Zambrano were part of a group that had lunch at the Goose Island brewpub in Wrigleyville, where the pitcher made it known that his first choice was to stay in Chicago.
Epstein said the Cubs would explore trade possibilities. Zambrano and Guillen stayed in touch throughout the offseason. It was no secret that South Beach would be a very soft landing spot.
The people whove been around the situation over the years have heard before that theres going to be change, Epstein said. Theyve heard before that theres going to be a new attitude and they've been burnedphysical altercations, deserting the team. (There) was a breakdown of trust.
It made it clear in my mind this wasnt just a sort of mob mentality. There wasnt unfair momentum to run this guy out of town. This was a very legitimate situation. It would have been difficult for him to re-establish himself (and) earn the trust of his teammates back(and) for us to establish the kind of culture that we want in the clubhouse.
The notebooks are going to fill up fast in Little Havana, where the Marlins need to sell tickets to the state-of-the-art ballpark theyll unveil.
Zambrano can show the beat writers the correct way to break a bat over your knee, where you should hold your hands. The key, he said one morning last year inside the Wrigley Field dugout, is where you hold your hands and making sure to focus on one spot in the middle.
If you go too far one way or another, Zambrano explained, youll wind up on the disabled list. That was Big Z, swinging from one extreme to another, laugh-out-loud funny to vein-popping angry.
Will Zambrano snap? Even Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest didnt seem to be completely sold.
We went with Ozzie on this one, Beinfest told Miami reporters. We think the change of scenery will be beneficial to (Zambrano). Is everything going to be perfect and is it going to be incident-free? I think it would be hard to say that given the guys history, but Ozzie is very confident he can help him.
Stay tuned. But Epstein made sure he wasnt going to be the one getting calls from reporters late at night, asking for comment on what Zambrano did this time.