Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune is fed up with Cubs’ starter Carlos Zambrano and thinks the club should drop kick Big Z to the curb.

Get Carlos Zambrano out of here, even if the Cubs have to give him away. He’s not the guy you want as the ace of a curse-busting team, and at this point, it’s wishful thinking that he’ll ever mature into that guy.

Proving that I did not attend Kellogg, Wharton or even the Acme School of Business, I offer this proposition for Jim Hendry: First thing Monday morning, put Zambrano on waivers. If anyone claims him and the $62.75 million left on his contract, which runs through 2012, immediately trade him for whatever is being offered, from a bag of balls to a 32-year-old minor-leaguer.

Because Hendry gave Zambrano a full no-trade clause in a 2007 contract extension, Zambrano can choose: Either go where he’s being dealt, waving goodbye to Wrigley Field, or block the trade and deal with the knowledge that you’re playing for a team that believes it can live without you.

There are many reasons that a Cubs’ team with more than $140 million invested in payroll is in fourth place in the National League Central, and one of them is a front-runner, not a difference-maker.

The Cubs are 0-5 in Zambrano’s starts in the playoffs, being outscored 31-15. We’ll dismiss the 2003 NL Championship Series as old news and blame Piniella for lifting him when he was in a 1-1 game against Brandon Webb in the 2007 playoff opener, but his pitching had as much to do with the ugly Game 2 loss to Los Angeles last year as did the four infield errors.

Hendry had a chance to let Zambrano walk as a free agent after 2007, the season in which he beat up catcher Michael Barrett during a game at Wrigley, but injuries to Mark Prior and Kerry Wood gave Zambrano a hammer.

Too bad the one he now swings makes funny noises, like the one Moe favored when whacking Larry and Curly.

This seems to me like Rogers is either a) frustrated about the Cubs’ recent woes and decided to write an anger-piece or b) is just trying to get a rise out of readers right now because he’s tired of writing about how bad the Cubs’ offense is.

Either way, this article is absolutely absurd. Zambrano might lose his mind a couple times a start, but he’s still a damn good pitcher. You don’t put your ace on waivers and take “a bag of balls” or a “32-year old minor-leaguer.” The Cubs are trying to win (stop laughing – they are), not give away quality players like used toys at a garage sale.

This is an article that probably sounded good in Rogers’ head, but it just didn’t play well on paper.

After earning his 100th career victory on Friday in a win over the Reds, Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano was asked by reporters if he has visions of winning 300 games a la Randy Johnson. Instead of giving a clichéd response of, “We’ll see” or “I don’t think about that stuff,” Big Z dropped a bombshell that he’s walking away from baseball once his contract expires in five years.

“For 300, me? No, I’ll be out of here in five years,” said Zambrano, who is three years younger than Johnson was when the Big Unit won his 100th.

After his response drew laughter, Zambrano added, ”No, believe me. After this contract I’m done. … I’m serious. Because I don’t want to play anymore.”

Zambrano will be 32 when his five-year, $91.5 million contract expires after the 2012 season — 33, assuming a sixth-year, vesting option is reached.

After accepting a $100 bet from a beat writer that he was serious, Zambrano elaborated:

”I want to help this team and do everything possible to win with this team. After five years, or four years, or whatever it is, that’s it. I just don’t want to play. I want to stay at home and see my daughter grow up and be with my family more.

”You know how many Mother’s Days I haven’t spent with my mother? Twelve. You know how many things I lose in my life [because of the baseball schedule]?

”It’s good to be here, also it’s good to be in baseball. But in five years I will retire, and I won’t have to see you again.”

While his comments might come off as a little shocking to some, what Zambrano said shouldn’t be taken out of context. Sure the, “I don’t want to play anymore” might be a little unnerving for Cubs fans, you take everything he said into account and look at the big picture.

Zambrano is essentially saying that there is more to life than just baseball and once he fulfills his comment to the Cubs, then he’s walking away. He wants to enjoy other aspects of his life that he’s had to push to the side in the past because of the demands of baseball. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that and I think his comments are kind of endearing in a way.

Zambrano is a competitor – he’s not going to just take a paycheck over the next five years until his contract expires and then walk away. He wants to win and while he’s still playing, he’s going to do everything possible to help the Cubs succeed. But like he said, once his contract is up, it’s up and he’s done. And while he comments were a little out of the norm, I don’t find anything controversial with what Big Z said.