"Carlos Zambrano lost the trust of his teammates after his final meltdown in Atlanta last August, leading baseball president Theo Epstein to bite the bullet and eat most of his $18 million salary in a trade with Miami.

"With respect to subsidizing some of Carlos' contract, I think the concept of a sunk cost was something Tom (Ricketts) and I discussed at our very initial meeting," Epstein said. "Tom showed a keen understanding of what that means. For better or worse, if you're stuck paying $18 million for one year of Carlos Zambrano, and there is not a team willing to take him with any dollar relief whatsoever, then you have to decide were we better off with one year of Carlos at the $18 million paid, or are we better off paying the $18 million and getting a 25-year-old pitcher with three control years?""