(On The Table: The Shirt Off Mark Prior’s Back, unworn, vintage 2003)
Just days after Jim Hendry nicked Mark Prior’s salary, Carlos Zambrano might get what’s left, as The Caspar Wyoming Star Tribune reports (from their NY desk, apparently), with a $ 9 million pay hike request from the Money Is No Object 2007 Cubs. But since Zambrano has only a year on his contract, and the Cubs won’t be spending this kind of money for a long time, I can’t blame him. Arguably, Zambrano’s going 16-7 on the 2006 Cubs tops the 16 wins for the Diamondbacks that put Randy Johnson in Cy Young contention in 2004. And with Dusty gone, Zambrano has easily extended his pitching career by five years.