Breaking News: Cubs Trade Carlos Zambrano to Miami

Updated 9pm CT with all the details
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweeted today that the Miami Marlins are close to acquiring Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano. Zambrano would probably be interested in waiving his no-trade clause to join his good friend Ozzie Guillen in Miami. Many media sources have confirmed that the Cubs have agreed in principal to send Zambrano to Miami for RHP Chris Volstad. The 25-year old had a down year in 2011, going 5-13 with a 4.89 ERA in 29 starts. Between $15 and $17 million are expected to be sent to the Marlins to help pay for the remainder of Z's contract.

Early Offseason Rumors and Notes

The offseason is just underway and the rumor mill has wasted no time in getting started. It will be an interesting offseason with many questions surrounding the Chicago Cubs. Here's the latest!

• Carrie Muskat reports that Ozzie Guillen wants to bring Carlos Zambrano to the Marlins. Mike Quade said that it would be tough for him if Z returns.



• The possibility of Theo Epstein leaving the Boston Red Sox to come to the Cubs has been discussed.



• According to the Sun Times, the window is open for Ryne Sandberg to return to the organization.



• Paul Sullivan reports that the Cubs are in a state of limbo waiting for the GM hire.



• Brad Snyder of the Cubs has elected to enter Triple-A free agency.



• Mike Quade is confident that he will return next season.



• Just after the end of the season, the Cubs removed Justin Berg and Brian Schlitter from the 40-man roster and reinstated Carlos Zambrano.



• Yesterday I released my annual Cubs report cards... Bruce Levine has also graded the team.

That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted!

More on Zambrano

David Kaplan has been all over the Zambrano situation on his twitter account today. Here's the latest from Kap:

• Zambrano hopes to remain a Cub. He wanted to return to the team Saturday but could not because he was suspended.


• Carlos says that he did not try to hit Chipper Jones.


• He does not think that the punishment is fair.


• Zambrano did say that he was thinking about retiring but it was because he was frustrated. The comments were supposed to be private.


• He received text messages of support from Sammy Sosa, Marlon Byrd, Jason Giambi, Carlos Pena, Alfonso Soriano and Ozzie Guillen.


• Soriano and Zambrano are on good terms despite their confrontation.

Believe it or not, I actually side with Carlos Zambrano on this situation. I do not think that the 30 day suspension was in order. I know that they are sick of thing like this, but he did not do much wrong. He was ejected from the game so technically he did not walk out on his team. He cleaned out his locker but returned his things that night. Z told a clubhouse worker that he was thinking about retiring... does that violate a team rule? The only thing that I think he did that was truly wrong was throw at Jones. I'm not buying his claim this the pitches were not on purpose. I think a 3-5 day team suspension would have made more sense than a trip to the 30-day inactive list. What do you think? Please comment with your thoughts!

That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted on everything Cubs as always!

The Manager Search Roundup

Brenly Out of Mangerial Race

Cubs TV color man Bob Brenly has dropped out of the Cubs' managerial chase. He told Jim Hendry that he does not feel that the job is right for him at this time. The reports of Brenly's decision hit the media before today's game against the Cardinals. Bob plans to return to the booth next season.

Wakamatsu Interviewed

According to Bruce Levine, Don Wakamatsu has been added to the interview list for the open Cubs managerial position. He was fired by the Mariners on Aug. 9 in his second year in Seattle. He is MLB's first Japanese-American skipper.

Ryno Interviewed

Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg was interviewed for the position this week in Arizona. Hendry said he had a good day and a half with Ryno. The process is continued the way Jim said it would.

Ozzie on the North Side?

The Chicago Tribune has reported that if the White Sox cut ties with manager Ozzie Guillen this winter, he would list to the Cubs. Most feel that Ozzie is just talking in order to make headlines. He is in no way considered a candidate to became the Cubs manager in 2011 at this time. Guillen is still under contract with the Sox through the end of next season.

The Cubs Under Q

The Chicago Cubs are now 19-11 under Mike Quade entering the final seven games of the season. If the team has a strong final week, Mike's record will be well over .500. He has done everything he can to earn the full time gig and many feel that his stock has gone up. Jim Hendry told Bruce Levine on Saturday that Quade has created a good atmosphere, but he will not be judged based on his win-loss record.

The Cubs are not going to hurry the decision... but they would like to have a skipper in place by the organizational meetings in November.

It should be an interesting next month and a half! I'll keep you posted!