Zambrano to get help for anger issues

The Carlos Zambrano situation has moved from punishment to treatment.

Cubs general manager Jim Hendry announced Monday that Zambrano will be moved from the suspended list to the restricted list Tuesday.

Beginning Wednesday in New York, Zambrano will be evaluated by two doctors agreed on by Major League Baseball and the players association for issues presumably dealing with anger management.

Zambrano was suspended without pay after Friday's game at U.S. Cellular Field, where he engaged in a dugout tantrum after giving up 4 runs in the first inning and being taken out of the game against the White Sox.

The 29-year-old right-hander will be paid while on the restricted list, and he will not rejoin the team until July 15 at the earliest. That is the first game back after the all-star break.

The Cubs will be able to bring their roster to 25 men again beginning Tuesday, and they will recall Jeff Stevens from Class AAA Iowa.

Hendry said the decision to get treatment for Zambrano was a cooperative one among the Cubs, MLB, the players association and Zambrano and his agent, Barry Praver.

"He will have to follow the treatment for his issues and be evaluated properly," Hendry said. "If the program is acted upon properly in accordance to what the doctors signify he needs to work on and improve on and follow their directives, Carlos would not be reinstated until any time after the all-star break.

"It's an unfortunate situation. His actions were certainly inappropriate. As I said on Friday, those actions toward his teammates and staff will not be tolerated. That's why we tried to work to a conclusion as efficiently as we could."

Hendry said he spoke with Zambrano on Monday.

"I spoke to him this afternoon," he said. "We had a nice conversation. He certainly understands the situation. He and his representative obviously signed off on it.

"We've obviously had a lot of transgressions in the past with Carlos. I think we all agreed that it's probably time that he went and got help and then maybe address the apologies later this time instead of right afterward.

"Hopefully he goes and gets the help he needs and can rectify some of his actions with his teammates and be able to move forward after the break."

Hendry met with the Cubs players in the clubhouse before he addressed the media. Manager Lou Piniella said over the weekend Zambrano will have to apologize to his teammates before he can play again.

When Zambrano does come back, it will be as a relief pitcher and not as a starter.

"We moved on," said left fielder Alfonso Soriano, who added he tried again Sunday night to call Zambrano but that Zambrano's phone was off.

"We've got a lot of things to do and not think about what happened Friday. We're friends. I've got to talk to him and see everything about what he did.

"Right now, we're not paying attention to him. We've got a lot of things to do and a lot of things to think about and not think about Zambrano.

"I think that he needs to apologize. What he did, it's not good for the team and not good for everybody because he did it in front of the cameras, in front of a lot of people. I think he needs to explain what he did on Friday."

Zambrano will not travel with the team during his treatment. Presumably, the Cubs will put some plan in place to keep him physically active during his anger treatment.

"He's welcome to have contact," Hendry said. "I've known Carlos 15 years. I'm sure there will be some dialogue with he and I along the way. He will not meet formally or travel with the team in any way until after the break.

"We certainly want to give him the opportunity to address his problems and improve and hopefully to the situation where he can work things out with his teammates and the staff and address the deficiencies that he's had."

Zambrano has had several episodes in the past, including fighting with catcher Michael Barrett in the dugout and in the clubhouse during a game during the 2007 season. He was suspended last year for a confrontation with an umpire.

Last Friday he apparently was upset that teammates didn't dive for balls during his rough first inning, during which he also gave up a home run.

"The goals of both sides were the same: Let's get him some help," Hendry said. "Hopefully he can get help with some of the issues that have popped up a lot more the last couple of years than they did earlier in his career. Let's see if we can get him back on track.

"Obviously, he's the key component in all of it. My sense is after a few days of the incident, he was quite remorseful. I'm hopeful he'll be more than willing to do something about it."