The team announced Friday it will resume paying the right-hander's salary after his 30-day suspension ends Sept. 11, but he won't return to the team because there would be "insufficient preparation time" for him to pitch again this season.
Zambrano's latest run-in with the team started Aug. 12 when he gave up five homers against the Braves, then was ejected for throwing at Chipper Jones. He cleaned out his locker and left the park before the game was over, telling clubhouse personnel that he was retiring.
Jim Hendry, then the Cubs' general manager, put Zambrano on the disqualified list, resulting in the suspension without pay and keeping him away from all team activities.
The players' union filed a grievance, which the Cubs said Friday has not been resolved. The team said that Major League Baseball, the union and the Cubs will process the grievance during the offseason.
"It was a disappointing situation and we'll let things take their course now," manager Mike Quade said Friday before a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field.
"That's it, let's see where the grievance situation goes. They've made decisions and that's where we're at now."
All of this began back on August 12 when, after surrendering a career-high 5 home runs to the Atlanta Braves, Zambrano was ejected for throwing up and in twice to Chipper Jones. The volatile starter erupted after leaving the field, cleaning out his locker and telling teammates he was going to retire.
Two days later, the Cubs placed Zambrano on the 30 day disqualified list. Chicago said that, after consulting with Major League Baseball, the move was the harshest penalty they could offer without actually cutting Zambrano. The disciplinary action meant that Zambrano had to be away from the team for 30 days without pay.
As he usually does after his tirades, Zambrano came out days later to apologize. He said that Chicago was where he wanted to be and that the whole event was just the result of him being frustrated.
But the Cubs organization didn’t see it that way. Several of his teammates said they were fed up with Zambrano. Alfonso Soriano called Zambrano mentally weak, and Ryan Dempster said he didn’t expect Big Z to ever pitch for the Cubs again.
The front office also seems to have drawn the line with Zambrano and his antics. A week after the Zambrano blow up, Cubs owner Tom Ricketts was asked if he expected the temperamental right-hander to pitch again for the club. Ricketts thought about it for a second and then replied that he would “have a hard time imagining that”.
This response led to speculation that Zambrano could be done in the Windy City. While the Cubs have confirmed that he’s finished for the season, manager Mike Quade did at least mention that Zambrano has something left to offer.
Zambrano has one year and $18 million remaining on the megadeal he signed before the 2008 season. This and his reduced production in 2011 have caused teams to shy away from Zambrano when the Cubs dangled him on the trade market this deadline.
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