Carlos Zambrano Reiterates Plan to Retire After Current Deal Runs Out

Since 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.

"Believe me, baseball takes a lot of time from us. So I think, depending on what happens in my career, I think this will be the last contract."

Well, "depending on what happens in my career" leaves a bit of wiggle room doesn't it? Maybe Zambrano plans on retiring if he pitches more like the Zambrano of the first half of this season. If he keeps performing like he has over his last eight starts then the odds are that somebody's going to offer him another lucrative contract, and that may be hard to turn down.

Of course, the other question here is whether or not Zambrano will be finishing out his contract in Chicago. It remains to be seen if his strong finish will cause the Cubs to bring him back next season or to try to trade him while his stock is high this winter.

You asked, and our GM Steve Phillips answered in this week's edition of "Ask the GM" on FanHouse TV. Click below to watch: