Carlos Zambrano Still Thinking Retirement

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano is always in the spotlight no matter whether it is negative news or positive news. Since returning to the rotation in early August,  Zambrano is a perfect 6-0 with an ERA of less than two. After his latest victory over the St Louis Cardinals, Zambrano decided to shed some light on his future in the MLB.

"“I told you the other day, this will be my last contract,” Zambrano said. “This will be my last contract. I won’t be playing anymore. I don’t want to play anymore. Life is short. Sometimes you miss things with your family, like very important people, like my daughter. Sometimes you miss things in life because of baseball that you shouldn’t miss. I want to be there any moment for my daughter and my family. Baseball takes a lot of time away from us.” ESPN CHICAGO"

This is not the first time that Carlos Zambrano has toyed with the idea of retiring. If you remember, last year he told reporters that he would retire after this season if he did not perform well.  As it turns out, Zambrano has a strong chance of reaching double digit victories has he is already 9-6 with an ERA of 3.75.  After a disappointing start to the season, Zambrano is actually on pace to finish the season on a really strong note.

Which leads me into whether or not the Chicago Cubs should trade him this off-season. To be honest, I think the Cubs should hold onto Zambrano heading into next season. The Chicago Cubs rotation in 2011 is already going to be a big question mark for next year considering that Ryan Dempster is the only starter they have that they can truly depend on. Looking at other potential starters for the 2011 season they include Randy Wells, Carlos Silva, and either Jeff Samardzija or Casey Coleman. All three of whom are not proven commodities in the MLB.  You can also make an argument that the Cubs will either move Silva to the bullpen or trade before the 2011 season. Which means they would potentially have two open spots in their rotation.

The Cubs don’t necessarily need Zambrano to be the ace of the team, they just need him to be a quality #2 starter in the Cubs rotation. If Zambrano can have success in that role, that could be a key factor in Cubs turnaround in 2011.