Chicago Cubs move Carlos Zambrano to bullpen

In a surprising move today, the Chicago Cubs moved "staff ace" Carlos Zambrano to the bullpen, to apparently serve as the 8th inning setup man. This is the same Carlos Zambrano that made his sixth opening day start for the Cubs just over two weeks ago, a franchise record. His demotion is to make room for Ted Lilly, who is slated to make his first start of the year this Saturday in Milwaukee.

Zambrano has struggled this year, but so has most of the Cubs team. The pitching has received no support and the team sports a 5-9 record, only half a game better than the last place Houston Astros in the NL Central. And to make matters worse, the Astros took two of three from the Cubs over the weekend. So while it may not be fair to single out Zambrano, the Cubs do have a point.

Their bullpen is 1-6 with four blown saves and an ERA over 6. An 8th inning setup guy to get to Carlos Marmol is essential. Zambrano is really the only guy from the rotation they can turn to. Lilly has arguably been their best pitcher the last four years, Dempster has had a strong start to this season as have Carlos Silva and Tom Gorezelanny, who probably wouldn't improve this bullpen anyways. Randy Wells could not be an option, but he has showed he's a promising starter for the Cubs.

Zambrano has a power arm and bad stats while in the rotation. He is the perfect "solution" to the disaster that is the Cubs bullpen. Zambrano is 1-2 in four starts with a 7.45 ERA and 1.86 WHIP. So while Zambrano might deserve to be in the bullpen, he has a proven track record and is one of the highest paid players on the team. He is making 18.75 million this season and has more than $71 million left on a six year contract extension he signed in 2007. The Cubs can't really get any value for him at this point, but they need to do something to get a spark in him or make him valuable to the team, something he hasn't been this year.

But I wouldn't hit the panic button yet. He could succeed in the bullpen, acting as a stopgap in the 8th inning before the Cubs can acquire another reliever. Maybe he would return to the rotation with more motivation and earn his astronomical paycheck. Carlos Silva and Tom Gorzelanny can't possibly hold up through the entire season. I mean Silva has only given up one run in two starts. Zambrano is still only 28 and has a 106-70 career record with a 3.56 ERA.

Cubs fans should be worried, but they should've been worried already. This team needs a lot of help and not just in the bullpen.