Carlos Zambrano Reiterates Plan to Retire After Current Deal Runs Out

Filed under: CubsSince returning to the Cubs starting rotation following his stint on the restricted list, Carlos Zambrano has been pitching like the guy that earned a $91.5 million contract extension in 2007. In eight starts Zambrano has gone 6-0 with a 1.41 ERA and helped the Cubs finish their first sweep over the St. Louis Cardinals in St. Louis since 1988 on Wednesday night.

In other words, he's pitching as well as he ever has, so why in the world is he talking about retirement again?

For the second time this season Zambrano talked about playing out his current contract that runs through 2012, with a vesting option for 2013, and then calling it a career. Zambrano previously brought up the idea following his 100th career victory on June 5.

"Because I told you the other day, or last year, or this year, whatever, that this will be my last contract," Zambrano told the Chicago Tribune. "So I don't think I will be playing any more. ... Life is short. Believe me. And sometimes you miss things with your family and very important people like my daughters. Sometimes you miss things in life because of baseball that you shouldn't miss, and I don't want to (miss) any moment for my daughter, any moment for anything that happens, especially in my family. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

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