What About Carlos?

Now that Mark Buehrle has gotten his new deal from the White Sox, Chicagoans can focus all of their energy on the other free agent to be pitcher in town, Carlos Zambrano.

Buehrle's new contract is bad news for the Cubs. Now that they've seen the White Sox get a deal done with Buehrle thanks to more than a little fan pressure, Cubs fans are probably getting some ideas.

Zambrano would already have a new contract with the Cubs for about $72 million had the Tribune Company not put the team up for sale. Now nobody's sure what's going on. Bud Selig is stepping in and putting an end to a Jacque Jones trade because he doesn't want the Cubs new owner to incur anymore debt, so it doesn't seem likely that the Cubs will work anything out with Z during the season.

Which means Carlos will be hitting the open market this offseason, and he will have a ton of money thrown at his feet. If Mark Buehrle could command something in the 5-year $85-$90 million range, what's Carlos going to be worth? How much will be added to his salary now that Buehrle is off the market?

As they sit today, the Cubs are very close to contending with the Brewers for best team in the NL Central for the next few years. Losing Zambrano to free agency during the offseason would be a huge setback.

With every start Carlos makes without a new deal from the Cubs, it gets more likely that that's exactly what's going to happen.