By Matt Snyder After an outing in which he allowed five home runs as part of eight earned runs in 4 1/3 inning -- before getting himself ejected seemingly on purpose -- mercurial Cubs starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano has cleaned out his locker, left the clubhouse and told some people he's retiring from baseball (per multiple reporters, including Chicago-Sun Times).
This is not the first time Zambrano has mentioned retirement, but in the past it always seemed like a bit of a joke or his response to questions from reporters. This time around, he left the locker room before anyone even noticed. He reportedly told a Cubs' trainer that he was "retired" and just left with all his belongings (Chicago Tribune via Twitter).
Given that Zambrano is prone to emotional overreactions, it's hard to tell if he's serious or not. Of course, all the reporters in the locker room said manager Mike Quade was incredibly angry and that Zambrano's status is "unclear" even if he tries to return to the Cubs. There is a precedent in place, as general manager Jim Hendry suspended disgruntled outfielder Milton Bradley for the last several weeks of the 2009 season before trading him in the offseason.
"We will respect his wishes and honor them and move forward," Hendry told Paul Sullivan of the Tribune, when asked about the retirement.
Zambrano, 30, is a three-time All Star and finished fifth in Cy Young voting three times for the Cubs as well. He's 125-80 with a 3.25 ERA in his 11-year career, which has been spent entirely with the Cubs. He has regressed in the past several years, however, save for a few spurts where it appeared he was back to his old self.
Zambrano does have one year and $19 million left on his contract, which also includes a vesting option for 2013. Should he file retirement papers, he'd forfeit it.
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