Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein met face-to-face with Carlos Zambrano on Monday and said the starter will get a chance to return to the team in 2012. It was the first meeting between the two since Epstein was hired on Oct. 21. "We met today at his request," Epstein said. "It went well. He expressed a strong desire to be a Cub (again) and an even stronger desire to have a strong 2012 season. He's in great shape. He's working out twice a day, pitching down in Venezuela. I told him that we'd let him earn his right back to being a Cub. "We said he'd have to work hard and that we aren't welcoming him back unconditionally. We said he'd have to earn his way back."