In a surprising move Wednesday, Lou Piniella announced that Carlos Zambrano was moving to the Cubs bullpen and would be available Friday when the Cubs take on the Brewers in Milwaukee. This is move caught a lot of people off guard as you just don’t see a team move their so called “ace” to the bullpen after just three starts in a season.

“I talked to Carlos [Zambrano] today and told him we really needed him in the bullpen, and that we felt he could do a nice job for us,” Piniella said. “He said he’d do what’s best for the team. I’m very appreciative. He talked about maturing [this year]. This proves it to me.”

“Lou called me into the office today and asked me if I wanted to go to the bullpen and help this team in the seventh and eighth innings,” Zambrano said. “I said, ‘Whatever you want me to do, I’m here for this team and I’m here to help this team. If you want me to go to the bullpen, I’ll go. If you want to keep me in the rotation, I will.’”

They say the move is temporary but who knows how long that means. It could be for a few games or it could be for six weeks. It all depends on how well Z can throw the ball as the setup man and if the starters can continue to throw the ball good and go deep in games. Carlos Silva did just that Wednesday night and the Cubs offense came out of no where to beat the Mets 9-3.

So right now the Cubs has a setup man that has not pitched in the bullpen since 2002 and is also earning $18 million dollars this year. I just hope this move doesn’t mess with Zambrano’s head any more. Can this guy stay calm and enter the game with a couple of runners on base and one or two outs and get out of the jam? For some reason I don’t know if he can get his control issues under control that quick. It could turn out ugly…