[外電] 大Z落腳邁阿密

[skycrawler (吾乃過客絕非歸人)]

http://tinyurl.com/6w3bfps


Marlins land Big Z from Cubs for Volstad
Miami to pay only $2.5 million of $18 million owed to righty in '12
By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com | 01/05/12 3:10 PM EST


MIAMI -- Carlos Zambrano and Ozzie Guillen have been close friends for years.
The two are about to find out if they will be a good fit together in Miami.

The Marlins are confident they will be. So much so that on Thursday, the team
rounded out its rotation by acquiring the volatile Zambrano, plus cash, from
the Cubs for former first-round Draft pick Chris Volstad. For Miami, the
trade is essentially a low-risk, high-reward move, because the club gets a
veteran who has proven he can pitch at the top of the rotation.

Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest made it clear that
Guillen played a major role in the club taking a chance on Zambrano.

"We were very aware of the things that had gone on," Beinfest said.
"Obviously, we weren't in Chicago. We weren't there with all the
circumstances surrounding it, but we had very good information as to what had
happened.

"We went into this with our eyes open. What has happened has happened. Carlos
has some history of outward behavior, both on and off the field, that could
be termed questionable. A lot of it comes from competitive fire. We think
that's also a positive. We think a lot of those concerns were eased by his
relationship with Ozzie."

From a financial standpoint, the deal basically is a wash. Volstad is
projected to make about $2.5 million in his first year of arbitration. The
Marlins, meanwhile, will be on the hook for $2.5 million of the $18 million
Zambrano is set to make this year, with the Cubs paying the rest.

Miami also officially announced the signing of utility man Greg Dobbs to a
two-year contract. Dobbs reached agreement on a deal worth $3 million on
Tuesday. To make room on their 40-man roster for Dobbs, the Marlins
designated right-hander Elih Villanueva for assignment.

Upgrading their rotation has been the top offseason priority, and the
Marlins' starting five is set. At least for now, Zambrano likely will be
slated as Miami's fifth starter, behind Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Anibal
Sanchez and Ricky Nolasco.

"We feel pretty confident that these are the five guys," Beinfest said. "You
never want to say never to anything. You never know what might come your way,
but we like these five starters. Some of them, obviously, have been here. I
think with the additions of Buehrle and Zambrano, we have a new look. I think
they will all push each other. A healthy J.J. will change the staff
immediately. We feel good about these guys."

The Marlins have been exploring the market for a frontline starter. They made
a pitch for Gio Gonzalez, who was eventually traded from the A's to the
Nationals before Christmas.

The asking price on the trade front was high, as teams were seeking either
Mike Stanton or Logan Morrison as part of any deal. By landing Zambrano,
Miami didn't have to move any of its top prospects.

In his prime, Zambrano was an upper-tier starter. The right-hander also has
had his troubles keeping his emotions in check. This is where the Marlins
will be counting on Guillen, their new manager, to make a difference.

"Ozzie feels very confident in him," Beinfest said. "He's confident he can
help him be successful, and in turn have him help this ballclub win. A lot of
the concerns were eased by Ozzie being here."

Zambrano and Guillen have done commercials together in their native
Venezuela, and they've attended the same charity events in Chicago. To unite
with Guillen, Zambrano waived his no-trade clause to leave the Cubs.

Zambrano is the Marlins' latest high-profile offseason acquisition. In
December, Miami signed All-Star free agents Heath Bell, Jose Reyes and
Buehrle.

Zambrano is also the one with the most baggage. The unpredictable
right-hander is coming off a 9-7 season that ended abruptly. On Aug. 12 at
Atlanta, Zambrano was tagged for five home runs, and he was ejected for
throwing inside to Chipper Jones. He left Turner Field early and, at the
time, told teammates he was retiring. He later changed his mind.

The Cubs placed him on the disqualified list, and he did not pitch again.

In the offseason, Zambrano made five starts for Caribes in the Venezuelan
Winter League, and he last pitched Dec. 27, giving up one run in 4 1/3
innings.

Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein met with Zambrano in
November to outline steps the pitcher needed to take to "earn his way back to
being a Cub." A return to the Cubs never reached that point because, at the
urging of Guillen, the Marlins pursued Zambrano.

Guillen is convinced that Zambrano can bounce back. At the Winter Meetings in
Dallas, Guillen told reporters that Zambrano would win 14 to 16 games in
2012. At the time, Guillen also clarified a report that surfaced a few months
ago out of Venezuela that claimed the Marlins manager talked with Zambrano
about going to Miami, which potentially could have been tampering.

"We talk as friends, we talk about what happened in the past, yes," Guillen
said in Dallas. "We talk about how much better it's going to be, yes. We talk
about what kind of pitcher he can be, yes. But talking about the Marlins, I
never did."

Guillen now will be focused on getting Zambrano to pitch at the level he did
in the past, and not be a distraction.

The Marlins also feel Zambrano has the ability to again achieve the status of
a top-of-the-rotation pitcher.

"I don't think we would have made the move without it," Beinfest said. "We
gave up a young pitcher [in Volstad]. I think we all have been baffled by
some of Chris' inconsistencies, the long ball, etc. This is a young pitcher
who throws strikes and has Major League experience. If we didn't feel like
there wasn't upside in Carlos and he could help us win, then I don't think we
would be talking about this trade right now."

Zambrano has a 125-81 record and a 3.61 ERA in 319 career games. His 125 wins
rank 15th all time in Cubs history, and his 1,542 strikeouts are second. The
right-hander also has thrown a no-hitter, and he has playoff experience.

With the bat, Zambrano can also make a difference. He has 23 career homers,
the most by any pitcher in Cubs history, and the most since Cardinals Hall of
Famer Bob Gibson had 24 when he retired in 1975.

Parting with Volstad means the Marlins are breaking ties with one of their
homegrown talents. A native of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Volstad grew up near
the club's Spring Training complex in Jupiter. The 6-foot-8 right-hander was
the first of five first-round Draft picks the Marlins had in 2005.

Volstad certainly had his ups and downs in four seasons. As a rookie in 2008,
he had a promising campaign, going 6-4 with a 2.88 ERA in 84 1/3 innings. But
in '11, he had his struggles, going 5-13 with a 4.89 ERA in 29 starts.

The righty has remained durable, logging at least 29 big league starts over
the past three years, including a career-high 30 in 2010, when he was 12-9
with a 4.58 ERA. A sinkerball pitcher, Volstad has a tendency to leave
pitches up, and that has made him vulnerable to yielding the long ball. He
gave up 23 home runs in 165 2/3 innings a year ago, and 29 in 159 innings in
2009.

Although he was a fixture in the rotation the past few years, Volstad went
through rough spells that resulted in him being optioned to Triple-A New
Orleans in each of the past three seasons.

With the Marlins moving into their new ballpark, they've made an aggressive
push on the free-agent and trade fronts. The organization is working to
reconstruct this team into a playoff contender, and it feels it has the
pieces to compete in the National League East.

"Our expectations are high," Beinfest said. "We want to play in October. We
think we have the type of ballclub to do it. You can talk all you want in
December and January, but you still need to go out and do it. I think the
pieces that we've add have transformed this team in a lot of ways. We've
added to a young core.

"We feel really good about these additions. But let's face it, this division
is extremely difficult. It may be the toughest division in baseball. That's
debatable. There are a lot of good teams we have to compete with. Hopefully,
they're saying the same things about us. We've had high expectations for a
long time. Moving into this new ballpark, we want to have a good club. I
think we've at least tried to take steps in that direction."

============================================================================


大魚只需付2.5M

Ozzie + 大Z + 小亨利  休息區真熱鬧


--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 140.115.213.211
※ 編輯: skycrawler      來自: 140.115.213.211      (01/06 13:51)
推 artage:再把國民的Werth(Edge)弄來就更有趣了~
推 aceshimizu:熱火?
推 HondaCBBig1:開季之後要多準備一些飲料桶了~XD
推 weed222:未看先猜內部會不團結XDDD
推 tanaka0826:馬林魚的開特力桶將派五名保全保護
推 jaky11:休息室要另闢拳擊場嗎??
推 rudjpm:正對休息室的票價大漲
→ solarcells:那把遊騎兵的老闆也挖來好了
推 luxmore:好可怕的軍備競賽....
推 sylviehsiang:AJP表示:我想轉隊了...
推 hinenak:再加個老方，以後一場比賽就可以賣兩種門票了。
推 zaipinl:theo開始變魔術!!
推 Sanco:哇~~在休息室上方可以架個擂台  輸的時候球員上去大亂鬥
→ Parazicecum:挖好不習慣馬林魚變成邁阿密 乍看之下以為進NBA版
推 waiani:現在你要稱呼他們是熱火隊也沒錯 主場客隊:對面是安怎.....
→ dale7969:火哥不會攻擊自己隊友 2個隊友打起來 火哥:我要幫誰....
推 A508529:打著打著LBJ居然混在其中
推 monkeyken:開特力 要做鐵的了
推 xo1100:跟別隊幹架一定很精采
→ xo1100:再來個Farnsworth好了
推 CHAN761205:開特利表示:
推 externaload:小熊吃15m?? wow....
推 max02105:  開特利表示:   我好怕QQ
→ piercepaul:大Z不是退休了
推 dale7969:大Z + 小亨利 + 放肆火 + 拳王COCO + 摩根 組一隊吧XD
→ alanchung:Richie Sexson還在大聯盟嗎 拉他加入可以增強「戰」力
推 GP03D:好便宜呀才2.5M
推 yeng1217:差Crisp了 真可惜
推 Jigokuhen:Richie Sexson退休了
→ airplanes:要不要考慮簽Manny 組抓狂管訓班
推 luckystrike5:二壘缺忍者哈特力 大Z牽制故意K他
→ luckystrike5:小亨利揍Reyes
推 Balboa:休息室只能有一個浩南
推 htcheng:為什麼小熊要自己付15M把主力投手送走？這樣投手不是有坑?
推 hikaruton:好像去年投不好而且有管理問題@@?
推 AWainwright:就投不好然後嚷嚷說要退休小熊拿他沒辦法
推 lulanjia:大Z不是退休..阿 這棒球版Orz
推 aikensh:馬林魚不怕休息是比場上熱鬧嗎..
推 ago246813579:把bell跟巨人換大鬍子好了 開特力應該會崩潰
推 feather7589:推 rudjpm:正對休息室的票價大漲 XDDD
推 seashel:如果有放肆火加進去
推 tanaka0826:馬林魚的牛棚和休息室的球員都衝出來了!!!
→ tanaka0826:欸?怎麼自己打起來了
推 simple721:趕快請振總去當主帥  明年戰績一定破百勝
推 Allenichiro:A.J. Pierzynski、Brian Wilson表示:
→ ImpactBlue:小熊壯士斷腕 花錢消災 亟欲提振士氣
推 metalguy:開特例表示:
推 rex1224:開特力要多買幾桶了....
推 filla:差LBJ Kobe要不要一起
推 ocha:http://ppt.cc/8hiQ 我期待十年的場面要出現了啊！！
推 ocha:http://ppt.cc/aj3u 畫質好一點
推 oldyes:Jo-Jo Reyes：打我幹嘛
推 sarspieya521:馬林魚競技場
→ sc321:繼美東三強之後 國東也進入三國鼎立的時代
推 leehao:樓上連結還不錯笑XDD
推 artage:www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtAI9ytToGg&feature=related
→ artage:不小心看到這個~~
→ geneaven:找Jeff Kent復出就更棒了
推 mistko:\面具Kane/
推 jayin07:好懷念，有當時和UT打對台的Kane、剛跟Christian結束兄弟
→ jayin07:劇情的Jayson Werth、專門清場的強悍保鑣APA....、
→ jayin07:不要命似飛來飛去的Hardy Boyz...
→ jayin07:當時和Team 3D打的hardcore match超好看......
推 JerryGreen:開特力的公司表示:ya~我賣超好的!
推 Eric1989528:那個年代的TLC比賽真的超棒的
推 ShadowMask:WWF win XD