Cubs sign Wood

[Balsa]

Great loyalty on Wood's part, here's hoping he gets it back together.

[WrigleyField 22]

heh, I read and responded to this post before seeing Aramis signed.

 

I was wondering why there wasn't bickering that this deal held up negotiations for Aramis and damned us all to eternal hell.

[USSoccer]

Great deal for all involved. WTG Wood and Cobs.

[cjbucks]

Wow! This is probably the best day for the Cubs since Opening Day this year.

 

It barely eclipses 'goodbye dusty day' just because Aramis was so crucial.

 

Doesn't anyone remember the day Macias was dfa'd or the day Neifi got traded?? Those were good days.............

 

On the trib site the have a poll on whether you like the the wood signing the Aram signing, both or neither. 6% of the morans voted that they liked neither :?

[Brian]

Wow! This is probably the best day for the Cubs since Opening Day this year.

 

It barely eclipses 'goodbye dusty day' just because Aramis was so crucial.

 

Doesn't anyone remember the day Macias was dfa'd or the day Neifi got traded?? Those were good days.............

 

On the trib site the have a poll on whether you like the the wood signing the Aram signing, both or neither. 6% of the morans voted that they liked neither :?

 

macias was before opening day though.

 

I'd rate it

Aramis resigns

Dusty gone

Neifi traded

[soccer10k]

Wow! This is probably the best day for the Cubs since Opening Day this year.

 

It barely eclipses 'goodbye dusty day' just because Aramis was so crucial.

 

Doesn't anyone remember the day Macias was dfa'd or the day Neifi got traded?? Those were good days.............

 

On the trib site the have a poll on whether you like the the wood signing the Aram signing, both or neither. 6% of the morans voted that they liked neither :?

 

April 9, 2006.

 

Oh, and I love the deal.

[Sammy Sofa]

Wow, this is exactly the kind of deal I was hoping could be had with Wood...what a price! Same with the Miller signing...man, combine those with the Aramis deal and Hendry has suddenly gone from my most hated person to...well, not as hated in just a few short hours. Just so long as he doesn't think his biggest deals are already done with, he's definitely looking a lot better already.

[Rob]

Wow, this is exactly the kind of deal I was hoping could be had with Wood...what a price! Same with the Miller signing...man, combine those with the Aramis deal and Hendry has suddenly gone from my most hated person to...well, not as hated in just a few short hours. Just so long as he doesn't think his biggest deals are already done with, he's definitely looking a lot better already.

 

Hendy has done very well with the Miller, Wood, and Aramis signings. There is no debate to that. I'm starting to think as well of him as I did going into mid 2004... though I do realize that 3 re-signings done well doesn't make this a good team by any means.

[Wilson A2000]

Do the Cubs know if Wood pursued any other offers? Were there any other offers?

[A New Era]

Well we did hear "his friends" saying he would probably go for another team and might look for $5 mil or more. So much for "that" rumor. .

[Soul]

It's a nice deal, nice price.....one year so nothing set in stone.

[CuseCubFan69]

Wood is my favorite pitcher, and has been since '98. I'm very happy he's going to stick around. I also have ever-growing respect for him for coming back when some team surely would've offered him more money to start and appealing to his ego or whatever. He's as true a Cub as I've seen.

 

I always thought he would jump at the chance to go to Texas but I was wrong. He is a true Cub, you're right.

[NCCubFan]

Hendy has done very well with the Miller, Wood, and Aramis signings. There is no debate to that. I'm starting to think as well of him as I did going into mid 2004... though I do realize that 3 re-signings done well doesn't make this a good team by any means.

Exactly. Signing the players keeps from making a terrible team even worse, but they still need to get alot better. Hendry has, in my opinion, earned a temporary stay of execution, but he still needs to do A LOT more.

[CubsWin]

Hendy has done very well with the Miller, Wood, and Aramis signings. There is no debate to that. I'm starting to think as well of him as I did going into mid 2004... though I do realize that 3 re-signings done well doesn't make this a good team by any means.

Exactly. Signing the players keeps from making a terrible team even worse, but they still need to get alot better. Hendry has, in my opinion, earned a temporary stay of execution, but he still needs to do A LOT more.

This is a little off topic, but what result would be acceptable at the end of the '07 season?

 

For me, assuming the team stays moderately healthy and doesn't lose any of their best players for vast majorities of the season, Hendry needs to get the Cubs into the playoffs to have any level of redemption.

[Andy]

Hendy has done very well with the Miller, Wood, and Aramis signings. There is no debate to that. I'm starting to think as well of him as I did going into mid 2004... though I do realize that 3 re-signings done well doesn't make this a good team by any means.

Exactly. Signing the players keeps from making a terrible team even worse, but they still need to get alot better. Hendry has, in my opinion, earned a temporary stay of execution, but he still needs to do A LOT more.

This is a little off topic, but what result would be acceptable at the end of the '07 season?

 

For me, assuming the team stays moderately healthy and doesn't lose any of their best players for vast majorities of the season, Hendry needs to get the Cubs into the playoffs to have any level of redemption.

Problem is, the Cubs always lose some of their best players for vast majorities of the season. I think if the team's healthy, 2nd place, at least, is a must. The NL Central totally blows right now, which is why a division title is not out of the question with some luck and Hendry pushing the right buttons.

[CubsWin]

Hendy has done very well with the Miller, Wood, and Aramis signings. There is no debate to that. I'm starting to think as well of him as I did going into mid 2004... though I do realize that 3 re-signings done well doesn't make this a good team by any means.

Exactly. Signing the players keeps from making a terrible team even worse, but they still need to get alot better. Hendry has, in my opinion, earned a temporary stay of execution, but he still needs to do A LOT more.

This is a little off topic, but what result would be acceptable at the end of the '07 season?

 

For me, assuming the team stays moderately healthy and doesn't lose any of their best players for vast majorities of the season, Hendry needs to get the Cubs into the playoffs to have any level of redemption.

Problem is, the Cubs always lose some of their best players for vast majorities of the season. I think if the team's healthy, 2nd place, at least, is a must. The NL Central totally blows right now, which is why a division title is not out of the question with some luck and Hendry pushing the right buttons.

Come on, not always.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I know the plan is for Wood to be a reliever, but if he's pitching healthy and the Cubs end up needing a starter (due either to injury or poor performance), does anyone think Wood might return to starting?

[mg420]

I know the plan is for Wood to be a reliever, but if he's pitching healthy and the Cubs end up needing a starter (due either to injury or poor performance), does anyone think Wood might return to starting?

 

i dont see why they would risk it. if he can be effective as a reliever, they are risking alot putting him back in the rotation where he proved he cannot stay healthy. besdies if he can be as dominate as he was in his short stint this year, they can get something for either howry or dempster.

[CubsWin]

I know the plan is for Wood to be a reliever, but if he's pitching healthy and the Cubs end up needing a starter (due either to injury or poor performance), does anyone think Wood might return to starting?

 

i dont see why they would risk it. if he can be effective as a reliever, they are risking alot putting him back in the rotation where he proved he cannot stay healthy. besdies if he can be as dominate as he was in his short stint this year, they can get something for either howry or dempster.

Then again, he is signed to just a one year contract so if he got injured again, it wouldn't hurt the team financially. Wood would have to want to do it, too.

 

I say if he wants to and the Cubs need him to, it would be a good idea unless he has been being the team's closer or something.

 

I don't think he has proven he can't stay healthy at all as a starter. Just not for more than a year and a half or so. If all the Cubs needs is a few months from him, why not try it. It very well might be the difference between getting into the post season and not.

 

Now if the Cubs sign two more dependable starters, they very likely will not have a need to use Woody as a starter in any circumstance with Miller already under contract and the wealth of young, near-ready arms in their system.

[JeffH]

Just use him out of the bullpen in a carefully controlled fashion.

 

You might be able to make him into a top closer.

 

It would be nice if the Cubs did something smart for a change.

[VanceJergins]

I know the plan is for Wood to be a reliever, but if he's pitching healthy and the Cubs end up needing a starter (due either to injury or poor performance), does anyone think Wood might return to starting?

 

I was just thinking about that. I doubt they would risk it early on, but if we're contending towards the end of the year and one of our starters goes down, having Wood on the team could be huge.

 

I was also thinking about how much talent we're going to have with our pitchers. I dont know how much quality we'll get, but we have pitchers that have put up these types of numbers:

 

Prior: 18-6 2.43

Zambrano: 16-8 2.75

Wood: 14-11 3.20

Miller: 15-4 3.28

and think if we add Zito: 23-5 2.75

 

I'm going to pretend that they'll all put up those numbers next year, nobody tell me otherwise.

[baseball7897]

I know the plan is for Wood to be a reliever, but if he's pitching healthy and the Cubs end up needing a starter (due either to injury or poor performance), does anyone think Wood might return to starting?

 

I was just thinking about that. I doubt they would risk it early on, but if we're contending towards the end of the year and one of our starters goes down, having Wood on the team could be huge.

 

I was also thinking about how much talent we're going to have with our pitchers. I dont know how much quality we'll get, but we have pitchers that have put up these types of numbers:

 

Prior: 18-6 2.43

Zambrano: 16-8 2.75

Wood: 14-11 3.20

Miller: 15-4 3.28

and think if we add Zito: 23-5 2.75

 

I'm going to pretend that they'll all put up those numbers next year, nobody tell me otherwise.

 

Prior is going to be the biggest key to any World Series hope next year.

[VanceJergins]

I know the plan is for Wood to be a reliever, but if he's pitching healthy and the Cubs end up needing a starter (due either to injury or poor performance), does anyone think Wood might return to starting?

 

I was just thinking about that. I doubt they would risk it early on, but if we're contending towards the end of the year and one of our starters goes down, having Wood on the team could be huge.

 

I was also thinking about how much talent we're going to have with our pitchers. I dont know how much quality we'll get, but we have pitchers that have put up these types of numbers:

 

Prior: 18-6 2.43

Zambrano: 16-8 2.75

Wood: 14-11 3.20

Miller: 15-4 3.28

and think if we add Zito: 23-5 2.75

 

I'm going to pretend that they'll all put up those numbers next year, nobody tell me otherwise.

 

Prior is going to be the biggest key to any World Series hope next year.

 

I think it could be done without him having a huge year, but if Hendry goes about planning this team as if Prior is a non-factor, then he has a year like he's capable of, we would be in very good shape. And I really feel like eventually Prior's going to turn it around and have a very good career.....I just hope it starts soon.

[JGalt73]

The Cubs also sneaked one of the winter's speculative plays off the market in Kerry Wood, who agreed to a relief-oriented deal that guarantees him just $1.75 million in 2007. A number of clubs were looking at Wood as a possible relief ace or closer if his rehab from a torn rotator cuff is successful, and he may have left a little money on the table by choosing not to play the market. If Wood is healthy, Ryan Dempster's job security drops by 75 percent.

[NCCubFan]

This is a little off topic, but what result would be acceptable at the end of the '07 season?

 

For me, assuming the team stays moderately healthy and doesn't lose any of their best players for vast majorities of the season, Hendry needs to get the Cubs into the playoffs to have any level of redemption.

I'd say getting back to the playoffs, or at least having a record good enough to get into the playoffs most years. And I don't think I'd excuse Hendry even if there are injuries; he's used that excuse once too often. Part of his job is to build a team capable of winning despite injuries.