Zambrano goes crazy after call goes Pirates way.

[Invader3K]

Instead of "starts" just suspend a guy for 1-2 weeks.

[pretendastronaut]

Starts don't affect the other 7 pitchers on a squad.

[hawing]

You know, the annoying part is going to be ESPN and the media talking about how the Cubs are 28-13 or whatever "since Zambrano's outburst" the rest of the season. Let's just hope they don't have a winning streak in them right now. Fortunately they're playing the Dodgers this weekend.

Yeah, that (besides the whole anger-management-fail thing) is what bugs me. Will the Cubs and cub nation consider the outburst a 'good' thing because they won on Wednesday? Will it be 'justified' if they now go on a tear?

I think I might rather have my team act maturely and lose than act like Z did yesterday and win. (If those were the only choices, that is.)

[Tbadder]

I love the Z-man. Whadda think, allow him to open-carry when he's on the mound? Now, there would be some real fireworks, not this little boy temper tantrum.

[jeffy]

Even the homer Cubs announcers thought Z was being an idiot. Now that's saying something.

Sort of, barely and they also could not just admit that the umpire got the call right. Only saying "He might've gotten his hand in there...", etc. I'm pretty sure our announcers would have said that "it looks like the ump got the call right", after looking at the replay.

 

That Gatorade machine is like a Timex http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif, it was still functional.

[lcbj68c]

Instead of "starts" just suspend a guy for 1-2 weeks.

So a pitcher loses 2 weeks of pay for the same conduct a position player loses 3 days of pay?

[Invader3K]

*shrug* How else do you make it fair then? Considering how pitchers generally get paid an overly commensurate amount for only pitching every fifth day anyway, I don't think it's that unfair.

[lcbj68c]

There is no easy answer, but consider if you committed the same disciplinary offense at work and got two weeks suspension because you are part-time and work 30 hours per week, yet the other guy who works a 40 hour shift and overtime on a regular basis only gets 3 days worth. Though it rarely happens, the argument could be that they wanted that pitcher available out of the pen or to pinch hit. How about this, if a pitcher gets hurt, you take away 3 days worth of pay, yet you can punish his playing time by only allowing starting pitchers to go 40/50/60 pitches in their next two starts?

[Bikeage77]

It should cost the pitcher 10 days which is equivalent to 2 starts. If the rule was "skip your next start" a manager could say the pitcher was gonna go on 2 days rest or whatever the next week. Sure no manager would do that in real life (except September/October), but it's a loophole nonetheless. To have your start pushed back one day, is it really sending a message to pitchers about their actions? Of course not.

[jeffy]

The other side of this is pitching is way more important than anything else. A starting pitcher is going to throw 80-120 pitches in a start, this is much more significant than a position player going to bat 4-5 times per game and fielding a few balls. From the team's perspective, isn't having to juggle the rotation more of a problem than a missing one position player for a couple days?

 

A three game suspension for a position player may also include a game where he would have been given a day off...or he won't get some other day off that he otherwise might have gotten.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

Funny stuff in the Chicago Tribune today, including a ranking of Z's top-5 blowups (yesterday got #2):

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-28-cubs-zambrano,0,222300.story

[Brewtacular]

The term that comes to mind is nutbag. While I don't know what the term means exactly I am pretty sure it applies to Zambrano.

[CheezWizHed]

If you are going to say the SP needs to miss two games (i.e. two starts), just doc him 2 days pay and not available for 10 games. Don't have to doc him 10 days pay...

[Nottso]

If you are going to say the SP needs to miss two games (i.e. two starts), just doc him 2 days pay and not available for 10 games. Don't have to doc him 10 days pay...

My guess is, that management would then say "The player was not available to us for 10 days, due to the player's own behavior. The team should not have to pay the player for 8 of those days."

 

Edit: If the pitcher in question is making 10 million per year, 8 games worth of pay is just short of half a million dollars.

[lcbj68c]

6 game suspension for Zambrano. Would force them to push his start back 2 days.

[fallingleaves]

I like Lou's comments on the event. The Cubs, always a soap opera.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=4763533

[danzig6767]

Zambrano ejecting the umpire was hilarious. I'm sure he will get a fine and possibly a suspension, but considering some of Z's previous outbursts that was pretty controlled.

I thought it was funny also

 

I know that i'll be in the extreme minority here, but i like Zambrano and that he plays with an edge and some personality. This whole mentality that so many baseball fans have that players should act like boring robots on the field so as to not "disrespect the game" is something i flat out reject. Guys like Manny, Zambrano, or Braun who play with a swagger, passion, and flair add fun to the game for me. All this constant whining about players looking at homers to long, untucking shirts, or supposedly celebrating the wrong way for old school believers to handle gets on my nerves. Only professional baseball seems to believe that it's players aren't allowed to play with any flair or else get a 95mph pitch thrown at them for the gall to show some personality.

[trwi7]

Yeah, I don't care if a player is cocky either. If a pitcher gets out of a bases loaded, no out jam in a close game should he just walk back to the dugout and show no emotion? Sorry, it doesn't work like that. If you get out of that jam with 40,000 fans screaming after you do, of course you're going to be excited and show some emotion.

[pretendastronaut]

I'm all for emotion and passion, but there's a large difference between that and the temper tantrum Zambrano threw in this instance.

[1992casey]

My guess is, that management would then say "The player was not available to us for 10 days, due to the player's own behavior. The team should not have to pay the player for 8 of those days."

 

Teams have been known to pay players during their suspensions when they disagree with the decision handed down by the commissioner's office. The team and player could very easily find themselves on the same side if it's something like a suspension for throwing at a hitter.

[RU Rah Rah]

I know that i'll be in the extreme minority here, but i like Zambrano and that he plays with an edge and some personality.

I don't know if I "like" him exactly, but I definitely don't despise him as much as is customary for BF.net folks.

[jeffy]

All this constant whining about players looking at homers to long, untucking shirts, or supposedly celebrating the wrong way for old school believers to handle gets on my nerves.

I agree with you there, but this is not what Zambrano did in this case. This is not about "celebrating the wrong way". He is just unable to control his anger. Do you like guys who throw balls around the field in their anger ala Milton Bradley and Zambrano? Guys who punch their teammates and smash up equipment with baseball bats? How about if Zabrano had hit his pitching coach with a bat on the back swing, while going after the Gatorade machine, would that be a cool way to "celebrate"?

[Ennder]

I think Zambrano is a complete tool and should have gotten a much stiffer penalty since he does this kind of thing every year. I'm fine with players showing emotion, watching HR, etc., but you can take it too far. The NBA and NFL have both gone too far with this type of thing and I don't really want baseball to follow.

[Invader3K]

No, I don't think that would have been cool, personally. But I get what danzig is talking about. Sometimes it's nice to see players showing some emotion and "flair" when they play, and I think that aspect of Zambrano is fine. What's not fine is when it becomes uncontrolled anger, which is basically what he showed there. At least that's my opinion.