Carlos Zambrano's first priority is to stay with the Cubs, Jim Hendry said Tuesday, and the general manager does not expect the pitcher to leave after this season if he doesn't get a mega deal done by Opening Day. Hendry said Zambrano's agent called Tuesday to clarify statements by the pitcher, which aired on WGN-TV on Monday night. On the eve of camp, Zambrano said in the interview that he wanted a chunk of the money the team has been spending this offseason or he was walking. "I'm ready to sign, and I would do my job anyway with the Cubs this year," Zambrano said in the interview. "Whatever happens, I don't want to know [anything] about a contract during the season. I want to sign with the Cubs before the season starts. If they don't sign me, sorry, but I must go. That's what Carlos Zambrano thinks." Zambrano is arbitration eligible, and he will be a free agent after the 2007 season. At the Cubs Convention in January, Zambrano said he wanted a new deal before Opening Day. "Big Z" is asking for $15.5 million, while the Cubs countered at $11.025 million. He made $6 million in 2006. Hendry said he had talked with Zambrano's agent, Barry Praver, on Tuesday. "He's always expressed to me that they'd like to get something done by Opening Day," Hendry said. "If we don't, then their preference is to table the discussions until postseason. "Carlos has always made it real clear to myself and his representative that staying with the Cubs is his first priority. It's been a policy of ours not to negotiate with our free-agent players during the season, the exception being Derrek Lee's [contract], which took about five or six days past Opening Day. Ryan Dempster also renewed before the season ended in '05 before he became a free agent. "I'm not really concerned about the stories going around today, because my dialogue with Carlos and his representatives is that his intent has been to stay here first."