AJ Burnett for Carlos Zambrano... Would you make this trade?

Whenever Yankee fans hear the name "AJ" some get angry, others get nervous, some like myself get nauseous. It's been no secret that AJ Burnett has been awful the past two seasons. Fans are growing tired of the organization making excuses for him and would really like to see him go. AJ has also been involved in some odd moments for the yanks the past two years; a mysterious, unexplained black eye that he admitted wasn't baseball related, a boy-band esque bleach blonde haircut in august and cursing at manager Joe Girardi after being removed from a game.

The Cubs meanwhile are dealing with an overpaid headcase of their own... Right handed pitcher Carlos Zambrano. He has had some odd behaviors himself. A fist fight with former Cubs catcher Michael Barrett which resulted in Barrett going to the hospital, an eruption on teammate Derrek Lee for not diving for a baseball, and now announcing his retirement to the team after being ejected in a game against the Atlanta Braves in mid August. "Big Z" had supposevly a change of heart saying "I want to be a Cubbie forever". There's no way the Cubs can let this guy back into their clubhouse. He had one too many outbusts and there should be a point where enough is enough. Which brings me to my point...

Could both pitchers benefit from a change of scenery?

Burnett, at age 34 is owed $33 million for the next two years.

Zambrano, age 31 is owned $18.5 million next season. He has a $19.25 million option for 2013 but that's only if he finishes 2012 healthy and is either in the top 2 in the cy young voting in 2011 or top four in the 2012 cy young. He's not having a Cy Young season this year... and I doubt he will in 2012.

Both teams will have to be willing to eat up their remaining contracts for this deal to work.

Sure, Zambrano could still continue on with his rants in New York and become a cancer to the clubhouse. But I think guys like Sabathia, Jeter, Granderson, Girardi, and A-Rod could help him keep his cool. Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild also has a close relationship with Zambrano during his tenure as pitching coach with the Cubs.

Also, Zambrano is three years younger than Burnett and arguably has more raw talent than him.

If the deal works, Zambrano becomes that number two starter to compliment CC Sabathia that the Yankees desired. Something they hoped Burnett to be but hasn't been. If not, Zambrano becomes yet another overpaid pitcher in New York and he only has one year left on his contract. Wouldn't you rather take one year of Zambrano with two years of Burnett? Burnett on the other hand can rediscover himself in the National League. Although the Cubs are another big market team expectations won't be as high on him as they were on New York. Although AJ still has very good stuff.. it has evaporated a little bit and has to learn how to become a complete pitcher. It's possible he might find that task easier in the NL central than the scary AL Easy.

This is obviously a we'll take your problem and we'll give you ours. However I think this trade can workout for both sides. Opinions?