Decision time now for Zambrano

Thursday, May 10, 2007 | Feedback | Print Entry

Carlos Zambrano loves Chicago. He loves the Cubs. He loves pitching in the National League, hitting in the NL. For him, it's personal. He's ready to sign a five-year contract of $85 million to $90 million, which, while it won't be confused with change found underneath couch cushions, is probably significantly less than he could get on the open market, by tens of millions of dollars.

For the Cubs, it's business. And their business is about to be sold. So while the general framework for the Zambrano deal was agreed to many weeks ago, in the hours leading up to Opening Day, the Cubs haven't yet finished the contract. It may be that they will never finish the contract.  
 

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  • Buster Olney Buster Olney

    Buster Olney is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. He began covering baseball in 1989, as the Nashville Banner's beat reporter assigned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. Later, he covered the San Diego Padres (1993-94), the Baltimore Orioles ('95-96), the New York Mets ('97) and the Yankees ('98-2001). Olney joined ESPN The Magazine in 2003, after six years at The New York Times, and he's the author of the Times' best-seller "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty," a book about the Paul O'Neill-Tino Martinez Yankees dynasty of 1996-01.

    He grew up in central Vermont collecting baseball cards and listening to Red Sox, Expos, Phillies and Pirates radio broadcasts, and was a rabid fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He graduated from Vanderbilt University the same year as hoops legend Will Perdue, and ranks among the all-time leading scorers in pickup basketball at Memorial Gym. He claims to have witnessed the Commodores' winning football season in 1982 (although anthropologists have not yet confirmed this).

    Olney also contributes to ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPNEWS, "SportsCenter" and "Baseball Tonight."

    Follow Buster on Twitter: @Buster_ESPN

    Ask Buster a question: Buster's Mailbag

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