Zambrano Talks Retirement

Volatile Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano is talking retirement, even though he’s only 28:

"On a night when Carlos Zambrano should’ve been toasting his 100th career win, the Cubs right-hander announced he will retire at the end of his current contract.In his first start after serving a six-game suspension, Zambrano gave up two hits over 6 2/3 scoreless innings and belted his 18th career home run to notch his 100th victory and power the Cubs to a 2-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds Friday.Randy Johnson won his 300th game on Thursday for the San Francisco Giants. Zambrano just turned 28 on Monday, and could reach the goal. But he dismissed it.“Three hundred? Me?” Zambrano said. “No, I’ll be out of here in five years.”How does he know?“After this contract, I’m done,” said Zambrano, who is signed through 2012 with a vesting option for 2013. “I’m serious. I don’t want to play. I want to help this team, I want to do everything possible to win with this team, but after five years or four years, or whatever I have left on my contract, I just don’t want to play.“I want to stay home and see my daughters grow up and hang out with my family more,” he said. “Do you know how many Mother’s Days I spend with my mother? Do you know how many things I’ve lost in my life?”"

Sounds like the proclamation of a guy who’s in the middle of a tumultuous time in his life and is longing for a change.  In other words, something we shouldn’t take all that seriously.  Not that I’m questioning Z’s sincerity – I’m sure he believes every word of what he said, even that piffle about wanting to spend Mother’s Day with his mother.  But, as many wise folks have pointed out, people change.  In five years, who knows where Z will be in his head.  Who knows if he will even still have a head. The bottom line is, five years is a long time, and making announcements about what you plan to do a half-decade down the road is more than a bit silly.