Word is that Carlos Zambrano is on his way to join the Miami Marlins. He's not quite on his way yet, but he will be soon, at least according to reports. Both Ken Rosenthal and Jon Heyman have reported that the Marlins and Cubs are close to a trade.

One detail that's come out is that the Marlins are expected to give up Chris Volstad. Another detail comes from Heyman:

cubs will obvs pay the bulk of zambrano's $18M salary in the zambrano-volstad trade. #marlins

In this context, "obvs" = "obviously", and I don't know which is sadder: that a professional journalist had to write that, or that all of us readers understand that. The year 2012 is off to a discouraging start.

So for the 2012 season, the Marlins will pay a little for the difference between Zambrano and Volstad. In 2013 and 2014, they will be without Volstad. They could try to sign Zambrano to an extension after the year, but that's probably not one of those things you should hurry into.

As currently understood, I still like this for the Cubs. They'll shed a little salary, and they'll be rid of Zambrano's distractions. They'll add a decent pitcher under control for three years. I like this less for the Marlins, given that I don't think Zambrano is that much better than Volstad at all. But the Marlins are banking on upside, and maybe Zambrano will flourish in a new environment under Ozzie Guillen. I don't know. Carlos Zambrano is predictably unpredictable, and now I hate myself for writing that. What a pointless thing to write.

Zambrano. Marlins. Apparently soon. Zambrano may not offer much more talent than Volstad, but he'd sure as hell make things more interesting.