Mike Quade sounds off on Carlos Zambrano — .finally. But like everything else he has done in his tenure with the Cubs, I consider it too little too late. Quade finally got tough after Carlos Zambrano was gone. After Carlos had left the building, Quade puffed out his chest and got tough. He has had several times to reprimand Zambrano but showed no inclination to do it. Why now?
Well, Quade, like most people who are intimidated at their jobs, has taken an easy opportunity to say, hey I am tough on these players. I am not going to take it anymore. Quade is like the kid who gets picked on by a bully, but gets tough after the bully has left the area. The only other disciplinary issues he has taken care of has been with his youngsters Starlin Castro, Darwin Barney and Tyler Colvin, all of whom make less money than he does. They also are less likely to challenge him because they are not established in the major leagues yet.
I do not condone what Carlos Zambrano did but I think it is disingenuous for Quade to act as if he is now going to speak out against Carlos. That, somehow he will now bring order to this team of miscast-misfits.
Carlos is no saint at all and this should have been done sooner, probably by someone higher up than Quade. However, Quade inherited the gig because he was supposed to have been a no-nonsense type of manager, who had the energy and the desire to right this team that quit on their previous manager.
His energy not withstanding, he has shown no inclination to discipline this team at all. His last disciplinary action of a veteran, well it was Carlos Silva. Silva was already on the outs and was not one of Jim Hendry’s guys which made it easy for Quade to get tough and show some leadership.
Quade was intimidated from day one, but he is tough when you are already out the door.