Report: Carlos Zambrano Could Become Target of Yankees

Anyone eager to see the Cubs of the mid-2000s back together again could find themselves heading to the Bronx next summer.

The Yankees just signed Mark Prior to a minor-league deal, Larry Rothschild is their new pitching coach, they are thought to be interested in re-signing Kerry Wood as a reliever and now comes a report that Carlos Zambrano is on their list of backup rotation options after losing out on Cliff Lee. Anyone know what happened to that Sammy Sosa fella?

Bill Madden of the New York Daily News writes that the team will "likely target" Zambrano in a trade. Big Z is coming off a rocky year with the Cubbies. He got pounded to the tune of a 5.66 ERA in a first half of the season that saw him yanked from the rotation, but rebounded with a terrific final 14 appearances after some time off for anger management classes.

He had a 1.58 ERA in the second half and went 8-0 for the Cubs in August, September and October. He's due to make $35.75 million over the next two years, so the Yankees make some sense if the Cubs want to get out from under that contract.

That's a big if, however, and it doesn't take into account Zambrano's no-trade clause. Zambrano won't be 30 until next June and he's been an awfully good pitcher for the Cubs over the years. His struggles with his emotions and attitude have dimmed some of those results, but there's no question that his departure would leave a big hole for the Cubs at the front of their rotation next season.

Per Madden, part of the interest stems from the fact that Rothschild helped oversee Zambrano's resounding return to form after the All-Star break. While their previous relationship would help explain why a team would take on such a big salary and a player with a history of emotional outbursts, what is missing is an explanation of why Rothschild's presence for the comeback takes precedence over his presence during the meltdown in any equation involving a trade for Zambrano.