Jayson Stark of ESPN surveyed two longtime baseball executives to see how movable Carlos Zambrano of the Chicago Cubs and Carlos Beltran of the New York Mets are.  Here’s what they said:

ZAMBRANO
EXEC NO. 1 — “The only way is if they eat most of it, because he’s just not the same guy they gave the big money to. I still think he’s a starter, but he’s just a back-of-the-rotation guy. He’s no $18 million starter. He doesn’t have any pitch now that’s an above-average pitch. So I’d take maybe $3-4 million, but that’s all.”

EXEC NO. 2 — “Nobody is going to take that. I don’t care if they ate all but $1 million. Then you’re still paying a million bucks for a middle man, because that’s all this guy is now. What’s most amazing to me is how he can start the game throwing 87-88 [mph]. And then, all of a sudden, he’ll throw three pitches at 94, and then go right back to throwing 87-88. So either he’s reaching back for 94 or he’s not reaching forward enough the rest of the game.”

BELTRAN
EXEC NO. 1 — “I’d be damned if I’d ever give that guy a long-term deal. But I’d take him for one year, for that final run for a [new] contract. They may have to move him to an American League team — let him play some and DH some. But a guy like that, in his final year, I think they can move. They pay $8 million and I go $10 million? I think they could move him if it was something like that.”

EXEC NO. 2 — “Trading Carlos Beltran is impossible. Impossible. Maybe if they eat $16½ million, but you’d have to really eat it down to have any shot, just because this guy hasn’t played. And the other thing is, every time he comes back and does play, the team seems to go right down the tubes.”