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.

Week 2 Power Rankings, Rays surging

After two weeks I still feel confident in saying the American League East has two elite teams. Unfortunately for Red Sox Nation, Boston is not of those two teams. The Rays and Yankees will not only battle each other for a division title, but now power rankings supremacy as well.

1. Tampa Bay Rays (10-3): 7-0 on the road and just polished off a four-game sweep in Fenway. This team looks scary good.
2. New York Yankees (9-3): Once Mark Teixiera picks it up, watch out for the Yanks.
3. Philadelphia Phillies (8-4): They can hit, pitch and play defense. They also have this guy named Halladay on their team.
4. Minnesota Twins (9-4): You gotta love the new Target Field. The Twins lineup isn't too shabby either.
5. San Francisco Giants (8-4): Two weeks into the season and I can't think of any pitcher that will prevent Tim Lincecum from his third straight Cy Young.
6. St. Louis Cardinals (8-4): 20 innings of craziness just to lose. Tough game, but the Cardinals need Matt Holliday to return to form.
7. Florida Marlins (8-5): The end of Jorge Cantu's streak, but two straight wins against the Phillies make this Marlins a team a serious wild card contender.
8. Oakland A's (9-5): Oakland pitching has only allowed 47 runs in 14 games.
9. Colorado Rockies (6-6): Two blown saves for Franklin Morales, but the Rockies will have Huston Street when it really counts.
10. Detroit Tigers (7-5): This team can hit, but can they pitch?
11. Atlanta Braves (7-5): The NL East is just as competitive as the AL. Jason Heyward update: 3 homers and 15 RBIs. Wow.
12. Pittsburgh Pirates (7-5): They're either blown out or winning a close game. Don't know if they'll get this high again the power rankings.
13. Seattle Mariners (6-7): A nice four game winning streak has the team in the thick of it again.
14. Texas Rangers (5-7): All four teams in the AL West could be in it in the final weeks. Nelson Cruz is a beast.
15. Anaheim Angels (6-7): Balanced team top to bottom. Just worried there might not be enough starpower.
16. Toronto Blue Jays (7-6): Vernon Wells keeps raking. Six homers and 11 RBIs.
17. Cleveland Indians (6-6): This could be the best team in the league if they only play the White Sox all year (5-1).
18. Chicago Cubs (5-7): Disarray throughout this team, but Carlos Silva has pitched unbelievably for the Cubs in two starts.
19. Washington Nationals (6-6): Can anyone score on Livan Hernandez?
20. Boston Red Sox (4-9): This team is in trouble fast if Ortiz and Drew's bats don't wake up. Swept at Fenway in a four game set?
21. Milwaukee Brewers (5-7): I just don't see any pitchers you can count on day in and day out.
22. Los Angeles Dodgers (6-6): Manny Ramirez needs to build off that pinch hit home run.
23. San Diego Padres (6-6): I don't know how they did it, but the Padres are .500 through two weeks.
24. Chicago White Sox (4-9): Hard to believe a team with a rotation as good as their and a bullpen that's even better is this bad through two weeks.
25. Cincinnati Reds (5-8): I wanted to see a big start from this Reds team and it's just not happening.
26. Arizona Diamondbacks (5-7): Chris Young is off to a hot start with three homers and 15 RBIs.
27. New York Mets (4-8): Francisco Rodriguez estimated he threw more than 100 pitches in the bullpen warming up for about 10 innings straight in the Mets 2-1 victory.
28. Kansas City Royals (5-7): Scott Podsednik leads the AL hitting at an astounding .457 clip.
29. Houston Astros (3-9): Out of the cellar thanks to two wins against the Cubs over the weekend.
30. Baltimore Orioles (2-11): Hey, at least they have one win each week after knocking off Oakland on Sunday.