The way Larry Beinfest sees it, Carlos Zambrano’s history of outbursts are a product of his insatiable – some might say, overly fervent – appetite to win. And if the feisty Zambrano wins for the Marlins, well, the head of baseball operations for the Marlins says trading for him will be worth the risk.

“It may happen that he has a blowup or two,” Beinfest conceded Thursday after swapping pitchers with the Cubs, sending Chris Volstad to Chicago for Zambrano. “We don’t know. Given the history, there is a chance that will happen.”

But after new manager Ozzie Guillen convinced the front office he could rein in Zambrano, his friend and fellow countryman from Venezuela, the Marlins figured it was worth a shot.

Said Beinfest of the short-fused pitcher: “There’s plenty of guys who break bats and throw coolers and scream at umpires. I’m not condoning that in any way. But it does happen in the game, and it happens with some very good players that are just demonstrative with their competitiveness.”

The Marlins have rounded out their starting rotation with the volatile Zambrano, who can be very good when he’s not taking out his anger on umpires, Gatorade dispensers and teammates. Zambrano recorded 125 wins in his 11 seasons with the Cubs, and he – along with Anibal Sanchez and fellow newcomer Mark Buehrle – make the Marlins only the third team in major league history with a rotation featuring three members who have thrown a no-hitter.

Zambrano so wanted out of Chicago, where he burned out his welcome, that he waived his no-trade clause to join the Marlins and Guillen in Miami. The Cubs so wanted rid of Zambrano that they agreed to pick up all but about $2.5 million of next season’s $18 million salary owed to him, and also returned $2.4 million in docked pay to settle a grievance stemming from his suspension last August from another of his blowups.

As part of the deal, Zambrano also waived his $19.25 million option for 2013 that would have vested had he finished in the top four in the Cy Young Award voting. The Marlins will pay him a $100,000 bonus, though, if he wins Comeback Player of the Year.

With the 30-year-old Zambrano, the Marlins are resting their hopes on a re-energized pitcher and a manager – Guillen -- who promises to keep the pitcher’s combative streak in check.

“Ozzie was a major force in this trade,” Beinfest said. “He knows him very well. He has a long history with him. We are very aware of some of the issues surrounding Carlos. We’re a lot more confident with Ozzie here as manager.”

After Zambrano had a run-in with Cubs teammate Derrek Lee in a 2010 interleague game at U.S. Cellular Field, one in which coaches had to intercede in order to separate the two players, Zambrano and the opposing White Sox manager – Guillen – went out to dinner the same night.

“Going back to Ozzie – and I hate to put it all on him – he just feels really comfortable that the kid is going to do well here,” Beinfest said. “Ozzie feels very confident in him. He’s confident he can help him.”

Beinfest said he is not concerned over Zambrano’s declining fastball velocity and performance dip in recent years. He said Marlins scouts in Venezuela watch Zambrano in winter ball and liked what they saw.

“The numbers were down a little bit,” Beinfest said of Zambrano’s velocity. “A year ago, we were kind of having the same conversations about Javy Vazquez. Everybody said Javy’s stuff was down. For the first couple of months, that was correct. And then we saw what he could do in the second half when he was energized in Miami. We’d like to see the same thing happen to Carlos.”

• The Marlins announced the signing of utility player Greg Dobbs to a two-year deal. To clear space for Dobbs on the 40-man roster, minor-league pitcher Elih Villanueva was designated for assignment. … The Marlins signed right-handed pitcher Chad Guadin to a minor-league deal. The well-traveled Gaudin has appeared in 265 games (74 starts) over nine seasons with seven major league teams.