As Steve reported in the notes and musings from game 1 of the Red Sox doubleheader, Carlos Zambrano is getting paid and paid handsomely.
Zambrano, 26, signed a 5-year, $91.5 million dollar contract extension today with the Chicago Cubs. The contract extension also includes $19.25 player option for the 6th year. It also includes a $5 million dollar signing bonus and a no trade clause for the first 5 years. The deal also makes him the highest paid Cub in history passing Alfonso Soriano’s big contract.
“Not everything is about money, you know,” Zambrano said. “I know if I got to free agency there were a lot of things that would come to me and offer me. I feel comfortable here. I feel good here and my family feels good here.”
“I feel happy right now, feel comfortable right now but it’s not enough,” Zambrano said at a news conference. “I have a mission to complete and I have a way to go with my teammates to lead this team. … It’s not enough when you retire and don’t have the ring.
Big Z had 5-year, $80 million dollar deal all set to go before the season but with the Cubs being put on the block to be sold, the deal never got done. Throughout the whole process, Zambrano had expressed a desire to stay with the Cubbies.
If he had hit the free agent market in the offseason, the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox and other teams with mad $$$$ were expected to compete for his services. It was thought that on the open market he might get more than Barry Zito’s 7-year, $126 million dollars. Now those teams will have to look elsewhere.
Hopefully Big Z is very careful about returning to his native Venezuela as we have seen what happens to MLB players (Ugueth Urbina) who have come from Venezuela. I am not talking about the murder conviction but rather the abduction of his mother.
