Roger Clemens potentially screws the Cubs too

No. 1 with a Rocket?...Interesting take from John Heyman regarding the potential fate of Carlos Zambrano on SI.com yesterday. According to him, the signing of Roger Clemens may have pushed HaGWilT to head of not only the free agent pitcher class but also the trading block:

Back in early April, Zambrano was close to signing a five-year extension with the Cubs for somewhere between $80-85 million. But then the Tribune Co. was sold to Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell, throwing Zambrano's all-but-done deal into limbo. Word is now that while Cubs general manager Jim Hendry would still love to lock up Zambrano, the matter is out of Hendry's hands.

After thinking he'd commit to his beloved Cubbies until into his 30s, word is that Zambrano's mindset is now such that he is preparing himself for a rather lucrative free agency. And that is the wise course because it looks as if free agency looms as a very real possibility for him.

From there, Heyman goes on to explain how Zambrano could be traded citing a rocky start to the Pinella-Big Z relationship. I'm not buying that, not with the Cubs streaking right now and winning in good ways (as opposed to three years of bad wins, and not many of them.) But the idea that the best thing to happen to the Cubs in my lifetime (the Tribune Co. releasing their loserly talons) could directly result in the worst thing in the past four years happening (Zambrano walking for free.)

I know that Carlos has his mental moments. Mercurial, I believe, is the term for his bouts of wildness and undue emotion. But that's precisely why he can't leave. It's not the 13-16 wins or the perennial 3.00 ERA or the strikeouts. Zambrano, at least superficially but I believe it runs deeper than that, cares about the Cubs. I feel like he hurts almost as much as I do when they lose and that's priceless.

Sure he only ranks #28 on SI's list of 50 players you'd want to build a team around. He's still the only Cub on the list. After the perceived cornerstones of Prior and Wood were mercilessly chipped away, all we had left was Zambrano and now he might walk. Forgive us if we become a little illogical at the mere mention of it. That's what Cubs fans do best.

Maybe Z isn't the savviest pitcher to build your rotation around, he's still got amazing stuff when he's on and, more importantly, he's one of us.

Just call us the Zambratistas. Viva Senor Carlos!