Later on Wednesday, word emerged that the Miami Marlins were close to swinging a trade for Carlos Zambrano. Nothing was official, but a deal was close, and Jon Heyman has provided confirmation. According to Heyman, a trade could be announced on Thursday.

For further details, we turn to Enrique Rojas. Enrique Rojas?

Los Miami Marlins y los Chicago Cubs están envueltos en negociaciones para intercambiar al lanzador venezolano Carlos Zambrano por el derecho norteamericano Chris Volstad, dijo una fuente ligada a las negociaciones.

In case you can't read Spanish, here's what that basically says: the Marlins and the Cubs are talking about exchanging Zambrano for Chris Volstad. This is the first we've heard of the return.

There's no word on any financial details, if there are any financial details. The Marlins might be volunteering to pick up Zambrano's entire $18 million 2012 salary. They also might not. Volstad is eligible for arbitration for the first time, and has three more years of team control.

I have to say, just looking at it as Zambrano-for-Volstad, I like this a lot for the Cubs. Not only do they shed salary. Not only do they shed a headache. They barely shed any talent, if they shed talent at all. Over the last three years, Volstad's strikeout-to-walk ratio has been slightly higher than Zambrano's, and the ERA gap overstates the difference in ability. Even if Volstad is a little worse than Zambrano, he's more reliable, and he's under control for a while. He'd be a good get.

But we'll see, because until matters are official, we can't pretend to know all the details. Expect further word soon.