Maybe "unexpected" is the wrong choice of word, as the deal has been a long-rumored one over the past few months. It is still another clear step in newly appointed Theo Epstein's march to remake the make-up of his Cubs franchise.

Dave Kaplan of Comcast news reports that the deals specifics should be finalized in the next 24-48 hours. Although there is some finality to the pieces involved.

Jon Heyman, ESPN sports news,  Twitter.com that the Cubs will be receiving starting pitcher Chris Volstad, along with an undisclosed salary relief for Zambrano's contract estimated at 20 million dollars.

But, this might be a deal that flies under the excitement radar.  Chicago Cubs President, Theo Epstein will have moved the club's biggest problem on and off the field. It is a move that gives the Cubs back player talent at a lesser cost while saving the team from paying Zambrano's estimated 20 million dollar deal in 2012.

Though, there are plenty of fond memories of Carlos as a Cub. His tenure not in doubt, having pitched for a decade on the north side; five, of which, were successful seasons. Yet, fans should remember his disastrous personality and inability to pitch like an Ace for the past five seasons, all the while being paid like the #1 starter he never become.

He has been so wildly up-and-down that his team never knew what to expect out of him on a yearly basis, and this fact truly hurt the consistency of the ballclub while handcuffing them financially. Mixing in the occasional gem of a pitching performance with numerous blow-ups and blow-outs, he truly was an indefinable enigma of a starter.

He hurt the Cubs plenty just as much as he helped the Cubs plenty. More recently, the negatives started to pile up much too high. His time on the franchise is over, and the Marlins think there is enough in his tank to ride him out in their push for the playoffs. They won't be giving up a lot to get him, but Z remains a powder keg, and the risk remains precariously high.

The Marlins already have a bona-fide Ace in Josh Johnson, and they already have added a serviceable mid-rotation starter in Mark Buerhle. If Florida wants to slot Zambrano in the lower-half of the rotation and hope for the best, the team could do a lot worse. They just need to temper expectations, and realize that although he carries moderate upside, his risk is as dramatic as it gets.

So we will all be finding out how this will all shake in the next 48 hours.

Read more Chicago Cubs news on BleacherReport.com

According to the Associated Press, the Cubs and Rockies have orchestrated a move that sends versatile third baseman Ian Stewart and 26-year-old reliever Casey Weathers to Chicago for outfielder Tyler Colvin and infielder DJ LeMahieu.

There have been enough rumors bouncing around the mill over the last week or so about the Cubs' apparent interest in Ian Stewart that this move will come as no shock to many. The only thing that might give pause is the addition of DJ LeMahieu in this package, although many don't see him as ready for prime-time in any serious role in the majors at the moment.

Just in this past week alone, I had written about the Cubs' interest in Stewart, on top of the fact that Colvin had no role with Epstein and the new crew calling the shots. The assumptions on Colvin becoming superfluous to the team became hard fact when David DeJesus was signed, and now the Cubs will wave goodbye to the over-hyped Colvin, who just never showed the ability to work on the liability that was his plate discipline.

For Stewart, replacing Aramis Ramirez will be no small task when it comes to production. In the field, although Ian is a middle-of-the-road defender, he is noticeable steps ahead of the atrocity that has become Ramirez's defensive effort and skill-set. So an uptick of infield defense is a nice, guaranteed bonus.

What Stewart also brings is legitimate power upside. He hit 18 home runs in less than 400 at-bats in 2010, and the 2009 season saw him belt 25 homers in only 425 at-bats. Luckily for the Cubs, he isn't a Rockie that struggles outside of Colorado. The split differences for him in this case are minimal, and Wrigley should be a nice middle ground where he can get a fresh start on a team building towards an expensive contender in the not-too-distant future.

Colvin goes to Colorado with the hope that he can battle for a starting role. Players like Tyler Colvin just don't tend to work out in full-time roles though. He succeeded extremely early on in his Cubs career when pitchers didn't quite realize yet that if you throw him breaking balls, he will literally swing at them regardless of their relation to his body, the plate, or the baseball diamond at large. He has power potential much like Stewart though, and could easily hit 20 home runs if he ever retained a full-time spot for enough time.

Yet another one of his flaws is that he needs to play an offensively minded corner outfield spot, where production is a necessity right off the bat. His subpar defensive skills only force him to start hitting immediately, or else it's just tough to tolerate him in the lineup at all.

LeMahieu was a bit of a surprising addition to this whole little scenario. Coming up in the minors as a second and third baseman, he does not really have power that translates well to the hot corner. Disappointingly, DJ also lacks any semblance of ability to take a walk, and the combination of those two flaws makes him a scary proposition facing Major League pitching. Some Cubs fans may miss him, but the majority will forget very quickly that he ever had his microscopic stay as a Cub. 

Casey Weathers is a serious non-factor in this trade. He's a reliever, nearing 27, who can't get outs in Double-A ball. While he was a former closer prospect, he may never get time outside of the minors, and he really didn't add any discernible value to this whole deal.

Basically, if Stewart can come to Chicago and remind the baseball world why he was a very highly touted prospect and can hit 20-plus home runs while showing his patience at the plate and holding his own in the field, the Cubs brass couldn't be more content with this transaction.

Both Colvin and Stewart had worn their welcomes out on their original teams. The classic change of scenery could be just what they both need. It's a move that benefits both teams. Better to leave the judgment of the true winner for one year from now.

Cubs fans again may not feel euphoria from business- and talent-savvy deals like this Stewart trade or the DeJesus signing, but the Cubs are buying low on the right talent.

Buying low never usually causes dancing in the streets. I think Theo Epstein and Co. should at least be doing a small jig of sorts, though, as continued moves like this are exactly what the franchise needs to get back into shape. One step at a time.

Read more Chicago Cubs news on BleacherReport.com

What exactly is this "package" that Colorado is asking for to acquire the 26-year-old infielder? It starts and ends with Blake DeWitt, someone Cubs fans wouldn't bat an eye at releasing outright.

If the Rockies only ask for DeWitt in a trade that would send Stewart to Chicago, Theo Epstein has made another savvy, buy-low move in acquiring him.

To make a long, poor story of a season short, Stewart was bad last year, albeit in extremely limited time that was filled with injuries and trips back and forth from the Minors to the Majors.

But as recently as 2010 he had just under 400 at-bats, hit 18 home runs and posed a pretty respectable .786 OPS.

The best part is that the Rockie actually hit better away from home in 2010, as opposed to the horrors that fall upon most hitters who leave Coors field.

Over his career playing outside of Colorado slightly pulls his numbers down, but his split is so subtle that it resembles the average player's decline when they aren't playing at home. It is a negligible shift, in other words.

Stewart hit 25 home runs in 425 at-bats in 2009 as well, so his home run projection as a starter nestles nicely at 20.

That is the type of power the Cubs could desperately use in the middle-to-lower half of the line up.

It would begin to create a team of useful offensive players all around the lineup, a strategy employed by the 2008 Cubs team that led the MLB in wins.

Stewart plays slightly below average defense, which is a step-up from Aramis Ramirez's performance last year. So in that area he's either a small upgrade or a wash at worst.

Sure, much like David DeJesus, Stewart is not a "sexy" acquisition. But these are the types of moves that allow the franchise to add useful talent at the lowest risk.

The biggest thing to consider is that Blake DeWitt offers the Cubs nearly no value. He is a utility infielder who does virtually nothing well at the dish, and adds only mediocre defensive skills.

Stewart gives the team hope, DeWitt gives the team nausea.

Ian Stewart has a chance to hit 25 home runs, and be a useful and powerful lefty in the Cubs' lineup. If he works out, the Cubs could use him as a starter for two to four years.

If the trade doesn't work out, the Cubs would have lost Blake DeWitt—and that's it.

It's a move with only benefits, and with all of the positives that come with signing DeJesus, I'm beginning to see the sensibility of Theo Epstein and company.

Read more Chicago Cubs news on BleacherReport.com

They want to upgrade defense.

They want to upgrade on-base skills.

They want to add consistent left-handed hitters.

They want guys who can hit when it matters.

For DeJesus, you can check every single thing off of that list. Sure, he'll be 32 this upcoming season, but his 2-year contract is a beautiful buy-low move with nearly no risk involved. He's exactly the type of player who handles himself in a way that young guys like Brett Jackson should be emulating. If he does well, they can deal him to re-stock the farm system, and if he flounders he becomes the ideal fourth outfielder.

What this also means is that Tyler Colvin has no place on the team.

He plays poor defense. He is one of the worst on-base guys in the majors. He's wildly inconsistent and has the skill set of someone who should and has been clearly over-matched in high-leverage situations.

He's the anti-DeJesus. Colvin isn't the Anti-Christ, but he certainly has no business being considered a starter.

Rumors have already been circulating that he would be the compensation for acquiring Theo Epstein or Jed Hoyer. It wouldn't be a bad thing to have him dealt in a separate package to bolster the value a little either.

Tyler Colvin's hype was a fantasy created by Chicago media outlets after a hot Spring Training performance and a month and a half of strong play in the majors. Sure, his hot start in the majors was in part-time duty, and when he gained consistent playing time his major flaws were shown, but the fans remained excited about his promise. 

The 2011 season definitely ended the over-the-top support of Colvin in a hurry. In over 600 plate appearances now, he is a career .215 hitter with a mind-blowing .275 on-base percentage. His above average power can't come close to making up for his liability in virtually every other category of baseball play.

He doesn't even work as a bench player, as someone with his skill set just doesn't work in a part-time role. The Cubs presently have Tony Campana, the consummate fourth/fifth outfielder. They also most likely intend to bring back Reed Johnson to a low-level deal.

Brett Jackson deserves playing time in 2012 and beyond, so even if Soriano is moved in a fortuitous deal in the upcoming weeks, Colvin should never be considered for the role. 

This isn't so much a sad story as it was a predictable one. Major League hype for a Minor League talent. It just doesn't work out.

Read more Chicago Cubs news on BleacherReport.com

DeJesus has been an above-average fielder his entire career, adding legitimate value to a position  where the Cubs could sorely use it. 

Coming off a dreadful 2011 season, where he couldn't produce or stay healthy, DeJesus is looking to rebound to the nicer seasons of 2008-2010. Over those three years, he hit .300 with a .365 on-base percentage and averaged an OPS above .800. 

If he simply stays healthy and produces like he did those three seasons, he'll be an above-average right fielder who adds value to his current team and becomes a very useful trading chip at the deadline.

This move must, realistically, spell the definite end of Marlon Byrd, who's also coming off an embarrassing season. Byrd is 34 years old, and the time for trading him has, without a doubt, finally come.

DeJesus has lost any semblance of base-stealing speed, but he's still a very useful top-of-the-order hitter who makes contact and gets on base with the best of them. He can be an ideal role model for Brett Jackson to look up to and try to emulate.

He's very non-impact, and he's not exciting, but it's refreshing to see Epstein's first signing is a sensible one. However, I'm sure that certain Cubs fans won't get extremely excited about a sensible-spending Theo, even if the moves are the right ones.

Read more Chicago Cubs news on BleacherReport.com

I won't be putting Mike Quade on the list, though his detriments to the team are clearly visible.

Yet the rest of this list just makes you a little uneasy about the direction of this team, especially if it isn't handled by a newly-installed General Manager with a barrel of wisdom to spare.

These positions are all things that championship-caliber teams usually excel in, but this franchise needs to fix them all. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for the near-future, but handled correctly it could be fixed on a manageable schedule.

Knowing the Cubs, I'll be watching with one eye closed. Until then, here's how the problems shake out.

Begin Slideshow

Consistently called a fourth-outfielder talent throughout his minor league career, Tyler Colvin was a first-round reach for the Chicago Cubs. An inconsistent defender in center field, he moved to the corner outfield position upon reaching the Majors. In his rookie season, he did better than expected, and posted an OPS just a hair over .800, while hitting 20 home runs.

The more analytical fan would notice the steep drop-off in the second half of his playing time, and saw how he was scarily outmatched once pitcher's knew how to beat him. His problems that plagued him his entire baseball career were screaming out loud every time he came to the plate. He can't work the count, is very impatient and cannot make contact to save his life.

If he were a capable center fielder, Colvin might have real value. Yet since he has nestled into an offensively-minded corner outfield position, or heaven forbid first base, his bat will leave a lot to be desired. His problems at the plate also ignore his defensive struggles, and non-existent value on the basepaths.

All in all, Colvin has shown to look a lot more like Jake Fox (recently designated for assignment...by the Orioles) than fans would like the admit.

Any potential is limited by his major offensive flaws, and how the Cubs media built him up to being a possible star was a joke of itself. Colvin is not a star-level talent, even after a clearly unsustainable hot month or two in his rookie season. He is who he is, and it ain't special. As of today, in over 80 plate appearances, the 25-year-old is hitting a nifty .091 on the season. If the Mendoza line is .200, what do you call batting under .100? Get back to me on that.

This team will have some serious holes to fill next season, with openings in such important positions like right field, first base and third base, team management will have to be crafty with their spending. Some fans want former first-round pick Josh Vitters called up to take the reigns at third. That is, until 10 seconds of research is done on his minor league career. This is a guy hitting .265 with a .300 on-base percentage with no power and horrendous defense at double-A.

Yup, that's the future alright.

Speaking of players who aren't special or exciting, or very good at all, we come to Darwin Barney. For the uninitiated, Barney is a second baseman/shortstop with a .317 on-base percentage, seven doubles all season and a .688 OPS. Why am I mentioning such a lackluster player?

Oh, because a portion of Cub fans and Cubs media have made it seem like he's not only an important part of the Cubs future, but a potential Rookie of the Year and eventual all-star (Quade's words, not mine). I understand the duty of a manager to build his players up, but the Cubs media have again set a standard to which Barney can never live up to.

Scouts pegged him as a potential utility infielder with no patience and absolutely zero extra-base power. He also will never touch double-digit stolen bases, and is a non-factor on the bases. In the field, he has been average this season, with his share of problems as well as quality plays, but far away from anything special.

After a very mediocre minor league career, Barney got off to a quick start in the Majors this season. Yet the savvy fan looked to his skill-set and his lucky batting average on balls in play, and expected a harsh drop-off. Now that has happened, and in all honesty has only begun. The guy only walks in 3 percent of his at-bats, a rate that puts him in the bottom five in ALL OF MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL!

This is coming from a guy fans want at the top of the order. Do you see how ridiculous that is? I hope so, because I feel like I must have missed my sanity pills this morning.

All in all, Barney is an average fielding second baseman who sucks against righty pitching, and honestly is pretty bad at everything offensively except contact, which is going to waning as pitchers know exactly how to beat him.

He'll finish the season with an OPS under .650, and I bet Cubs fans still want him back as a starter, because apparently they have a serious thing for losing. I hate how fans clamor for a winning franchise, yet also want the team to hang onto perennial nobodies.

Rebuilding can be just a detrimental as it can be helpful, and it all clearly depends on the type of players used in the process. Clearly, guys like Colvin and Barney are not who the Cubs need to change their losing ways. Too bad Cubs management keeps trying to appease the North-side fandom instead of being steadfast and putting together a winning situation.

And the hits keep on coming. Except with runners on base. Then they really don't.

Read more Chicago Cubs news on BleacherReport.com

He was never starting full-time to begin with, as Jeff Baker was the plan when lefties were on the mound. Now though, DeWitt has played at such a lackluster level that it forced manager Quade's hand in the removal process.

The 25-year-old wound up hitting .186 in 48 at-bats. Paired with his lackluster Major League career thus far, an he has found himself relegated to the bench role of backing up third and second base.

DeWitt was a first-round pick for LA, yet in close to 1,000 Major League at-bats has shown virtually none of that upside.

Darwin Barney looks to have gained the majority of starts at second base, predominantly because of his strong spring training numbers. Barney is also 25-years-old and has spent most of his minor league career as a shortstop.

Reputably known as a quality defender, Barney has been less-than-impressive with his entire offensive game outside of his contact ability.

The right-handed infielder doesn't get on base well; he also doesn't really have the ability to get consistent extra-base hits and is a complete non-factor on the bases.

In two seasons at AAA, Barney owns a paltry .324 on-base percentage and a .685 OPS. The PCL, the team's AAA league, happens to be a very offensively conducive place, where players like Ronny Cedeno and Micah Hoffpauir hit similar to Joey Votto.

The drop-off from that league should be pretty noticeable and a drop-off of any size from Barney's AAA numbers would be really ugly.

His defense at second base should be a marked improvement over Baker, especially from DeWitt. If he's going to be batting eighth, you can tolerate his lack of production with his defensive additions, for a time.

Basically, Barney projects to be a LOT like former Cubs Andres Blanco and Cesar Izturis: A defensive specialist with lacking offensive production.

At least while Darwin is young and being paid the league minimum, he has some real value.

Yet once again, the Cubs have found another temporary stop-gap in the task of finally fixing the second base situation. Jeff Baker will rack up the numbers when he's facing lefties, but Barney will have quite the task on his hands.

It's the right move to take DeWitt's starting job from him, but the team should hardly feel like they've solved the crisis at second base for any length of time past this season.

Read more Chicago Cubs news on BleacherReport.com

Nothing good comes from it. Few players in modern sports ever live up to the hype that the media circus can create. Out of these unjust expectations, disappointment looms large.

Cubs fans know a lot about the hype process. All of the "This is the Year!" signs cast aside on the streets of Wrigleyville will vouch for this.

I'm writing this article to simply clear up the most prevalent myths pertaining to this upcoming Cubs season. These are things that have spread across the Internet or reside with the comic stylings of what they "report" on Comcast Sportsnet. (If you can watch more than 15 minutes of their coverage without cringing, more power to you).

These are three misconceptions I thought deserved to be cleared up before the season begins.

Begin Slideshow

It's a little more than Pena was projected to get and a little more than the Cubs were expected to have, so the deal is a little confusing on both counts.

With the deal finalized, the Cubs fill a large void at first base.

Though some fans will look quickly to Pena's admittedly very frightening .196 batting average in 2010, either way, Pena was a quite productive offensive guy as recently as 2008 and 2009. He was also a legitimate MVP-candidate in 2007, although that doesn't realistically look replicable.

His down 2010 was fueled by a few things. Particularly, his batting average on balls in play was uncharacteristically low and should rebound simply because he can't be that unlucky again.

In 2008, he hit 31 home runs with an .871 OPS. In 2009, he hit 39 home runs with an .893 OPS. Both are rock-solid for a middle-of-the-order bopper.

With Carlos joining the NL, and playing 81 games in the home run-friendly confines of Wrigley Field, look for him to hit 30 to 35 home runs while leading the Cubs in walks and runs batted in in 2011. It may not be enough to earn a playoff spot for his team, but Pena's possible upside is not to be ignored.

His defense, albeit overrated by almost everyone, is average at worst.

Much like his offensive game, it does have serious upside. Being reasonable, you shouldn't expect it to be awe-inspiring, but he will most certainly get the job done.

Either way, the Cubs have their big man to replace Derrek Lee's defensive presence. Young Starlin Castro can be content in having Pena, at least.

All in all, the Cubs could have very easily missed out on any of the first base options and gone into 2011 with extremely limited hope.

At least now they have a legitimate presence in the lineup and on the field. Cubs fans just need to hope he plays up to his abilities.

Read more Chicago Cubs news on BleacherReport.com