Saturday, February 11, 2006

Cubs ink Zambrano -- 1 year $6.5 million

You have to hand it to Andy MacPhail and Jim Hendry. Once again the Cubs have made it through the offseason without allowing any of their players to go through the ugly salary arbitration process. Today the Cubs signed their final arbitration eligible figure, this was a big one folks. Carlos Zambrano and the Cubs agreed to a one year $6.5 million deal.

$6.5 million ain't a bad raise for Z, he made $3.76 million in 2005. The arbitration numbers that were exchanged were $7.2 million by Zambrano and $6 million offered by the Cubs.

Zambrano goes into 2006 as the anchor of the Cubs pitching staff. Many envision that Mark Prior and Carlos Zambrano will be the pitching foundation that championship clubs are built around in the years to come. I hope they are. I'm glad to see the Cubs get these deals done without allowing the ill feelings that can come from an arbitration case taking place. Kudos to Jim Hendry and Andy MacPhail.

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