Hendry will try again as Z contract talks fail
The sides are expected to resume talks today as the Cubs enter the final 24 hours before what would be their first arbitration hearing since 1993 (Mark Grace).
Zambrano, 16-7 with a 3.41 ERA last year, seeks $15.5 million. The team is offering $11.025 million. The right-hander made $6.5 million in 2006.
Complicating negotiations is the fact the Cubs view this case as one of the minority of cases in which the midpoint is not a reasonable settlement point. Further complicating the issue is the team's desire to resume negotiations on a possible five-year deal once the arbitration process is resolved.
Zambrano is eligible for free agency after this season.
All three of Zambrano's agents -- Barry Praver, Scott Shapiro and Tommy Miranda -- are scheduled to be in Arizona for Tuesday's hearing.
ORGAN GROANER: Where there's a Will, there's usually an idea -- especially if the Will in question is Will Ohman. The latest idea from the left-handed reliever and part-time radio personality is providing the 2007 Cubs with a loud, metal-rock soundtrack.
''I'm all for Gary Pressy and the organ, but we're putting together a winner here, and I'd like to see the Friendly Confines become a little more unfriendly,'' said Ohman, who first broached the subject Sunday during a Chicago radio interview. ''I'd just like to see some hype. I want to see Ryan Dempster come in the ballgame [for a save in the ninth inning] and hear 'Thunderstruck' being played so you can hear it over on Halsted.
''You never want to change the atmosphere at Wrigley, but it is a little bit of a new era, so let's embrace the old and the new.''
For Ohman, that means pumping up the volume throughout the game at usually placid Wrigley and getting the fans hyped up enough to put a charge in the players.
''That energy from the fans transfers to us,'' he said. ''You can feel it. You can feel it when people are excited.''
SIGN OF THE CHANGING TIMES: Almost every position player on the spring training roster was in camp by Sunday, with only third baseman Aramis Ramirez missing from the projected starting lineup. The reporting date for the full squad is today, with workouts not officially scheduled to start until Tuesday.
''It's unbelievable isn't it?'' manager Lou Piniella said. ''In all the years that I've been managing or even playing, I haven't seen so many players here so quick. It's sort of different. But it's really good to see -- and they're coming in in pretty good shape, too.
''I think it has to do with the fact that they saw that this organization went out and really did some nice things over the winter, and they're enthused.''
Veteran Cesar Izturis, the Gold Glove shortstop acquired from the Dodgers for Greg Maddux last summer, noticed the same thing when he arrived Sunday.
''That's a good sign,'' he said. ''We want to win.''