Kerry Wood re-signs with Cubs

[fiver]

None of us know the contract clauses regarding the bonuses yet, but I get the feeling I'm the only one here who suspects that the terms won't demand a particularly impressive season. I strongly suspect that the terms, in a nutshell, will require that Kerry

 

A) serves as closer

 

B) stays healthy

 

C) doesn't suck

 

 

I think we could get this from Marmol.

 

I don't believe this has been discussed yet but the terms of the bonuses were mentioned in the AP article. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3128280

 

Wood, the 1998 NL Rookie of the Year, can make an additional $3.45 million in performance bonuses based largely on games finished from 20 to 55

 

If he finishes 55 games, I am willing to bet that he has performed at a level higher than Dempster did this past season. That's a fairly large incentive, and I'm hoping the Cubs only allow him to realize it if he is significantly better than mediocre.

 

Dempster finished 58 games last year and 64 the year before.

 

Yes, but would the Cubs have kept Dempster in that role if there were incentives in his contract that were similiar to incentives allowed in Woody's new contract? Per Cot's, Dempster can reach much smaller incentives (total of 2.5 million over 3 years), but they are based upon performance, winning a Cy Young Award, and winning the Rolaid's relief reward....not games finished. Are the Cubs going to allow Wood to close games all season if he's a mediocre closer?

[Bruno7481]

Not sure if it has been mentioned yet, but I really like the potential for the back end of the bullpen. In whatever order, I fell pretty confident in Howry-Marmol-Wood combination.

[Derwood]

Excellent news!

 

Kerry is a true Chicago Cub.

 

and Scott Brosius is a true Yankee! :lol:

[rocket]

i guess i'm cool with a 1 year deal.

[SaorsaDaonnan]

Wood's miracle recovery was as surprising as it was sudden, and there is a real risk here that

he will break down again soon, perhaps catastrophically and without warning. Nevertheless,

the danger might be more significant in emotional terms than in baseball terms; from a talent/

roster configuration/payroll standpoint, he's definitely worth the risk. It's a surprisingly good deal.

 

Thus ends the rational portion of the post. Surprisingly visceral reactions follow. 8-[

 

\:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/

 

 

=D> =D>

[snoodmonger]

This has probably been said already, but this should put to bed all that "He owes us" stuff. That's twice (I believe) that he's given us a loyalty when he probably could've made more elsewhere.

[wastra]

I'm happy to hear this. It's rare for a player to show loyalty to a team in today's MLB.

 

I like the contract, too. It isn't insulting in any way to Kerry because it is assuming that when healthy, he's great closer material since he has a nice base salary, and will get paid more for staying healthy, not being effective. for the Cubs, you can N-E-V-E-R have too much bullpen and pitching depth, so I don't have any problem with having Wood closing and letting Marmol set up again for another year or more. It's been far too long since I've felt like the Cubs could lock down a 1-2 run lead for the 8th and 9th.

 

Mormol-to-Wood is a nice sounding back of the pen to me. Far better than Anybody-in-the-world-to-Dempster.

[nilodnayr]

This has probably been said already, but this should put to bed all that "He owes us" stuff. That's twice (I believe) that he's given us a loyalty when he probably could've made more elsewhere.

 

Well according to the report of the deals offered this time, ours was the best. So, no.

[dew1679666265]

Marmol is wasted as the closer if he even sniffs how well he pitched this past season.

 

Exactly. This deal puts Woody in the closer role and allows the two likely better relievers - Howry and Marmol - to fill in the most important portions of the game. Had we not re-signed Wood and put Marmol or Howry in the closer role, we would have, at best, a young pitcher coming in critical portions of the game. I'm much more comfortable seeing Howry or Marmol enter in the 7th with the bases loaded and a one-run lead.

 

Excellent deal. It's a lot of money, but it's just one year and if he's healthy he'll make it worth it.

[nilodnayr]

Marmol is wasted as the closer if he even sniffs how well he pitched this past season.

 

Exactly. This deal puts Woody in the closer role and allows the two likely better relievers - Howry and Marmol - to fill in the most important portions of the game. Had we not re-signed Wood and put Marmol or Howry in the closer role, we would have, at best, a young pitcher coming in critical portions of the game. I'm much more comfortable seeing Howry or Marmol enter in the 7th with the bases loaded and a one-run lead.

 

Excellent deal. It's a lot of money, but it's just one year and if he's healthy he'll make it worth it.

Wuertz?

[BigbadB]

Yay! One more year of Wood in the bullpen and then stretch him out to be a starter again in 2009. I'm guessing Wood probably agreed to a 1 year deal with some promises of getting an opportunity to start again after this year.

 

This is great news.

[nick23]

This has probably been said already, but this should put to bed all that "He owes us" stuff. That's twice (I believe) that he's given us a loyalty when he probably could've made more elsewhere.

 

Well according to the report of the deals offered this time, ours was the best. So, no.

Exactly. I'm really not understanding all of this "he gave us a discount stuff". From all the reports I've seen we offered the best deal. I'm glad he resigned with us but I'm failing to see the big hometown discount.

[Soul]

This has probably been said already, but this should put to bed all that "He owes us" stuff. That's twice (I believe) that he's given us a loyalty when he probably could've made more elsewhere.

 

Well according to the report of the deals offered this time, ours was the best. So, no.

Exactly. I'm really not understanding all of this "he gave us a discount stuff". From all the reports I've seen we offered the best deal. I'm glad he resigned with us but I'm failing to see the big hometown discount.

 

He did come back without too much hand-wringing, so I'll give him full props for that.

[nilodnayr]

This has probably been said already, but this should put to bed all that "He owes us" stuff. That's twice (I believe) that he's given us a loyalty when he probably could've made more elsewhere.

 

Well according to the report of the deals offered this time, ours was the best. So, no.

Exactly. I'm really not understanding all of this "he gave us a discount stuff". From all the reports I've seen we offered the best deal. I'm glad he resigned with us but I'm failing to see the big hometown discount.

 

He did come back without too much hand-wringing, so I'll give him full props for that.

 

I'd credit the cubs with that, not him. Afterall, they are the ones that offered him a 1 year deal for potentially more money than the 2 year deals he had on the table.

[KingCubsFan]

This has probably been said already, but this should put to bed all that "He owes us" stuff. That's twice (I believe) that he's given us a loyalty when he probably could've made more elsewhere.

 

Well according to the report of the deals offered this time, ours was the best. So, no.

Exactly. I'm really not understanding all of this "he gave us a discount stuff". From all the reports I've seen we offered the best deal. I'm glad he resigned with us but I'm failing to see the big hometown discount.

 

He did come back without too much hand-wringing, so I'll give him full props for that.

 

I'd credit the cubs with that, not him. Afterall, they are the ones that offered him a 1 year deal for potentially more money than the 2 year deals he had on the table.

Any indication on what the incentives were for the other deals?

[nilodnayr]

This has probably been said already, but this should put to bed all that "He owes us" stuff. That's twice (I believe) that he's given us a loyalty when he probably could've made more elsewhere.

 

Well according to the report of the deals offered this time, ours was the best. So, no.

Exactly. I'm really not understanding all of this "he gave us a discount stuff". From all the reports I've seen we offered the best deal. I'm glad he resigned with us but I'm failing to see the big hometown discount.

 

He did come back without too much hand-wringing, so I'll give him full props for that.

 

I'd credit the cubs with that, not him. Afterall, they are the ones that offered him a 1 year deal for potentially more money than the 2 year deals he had on the table.

Any indication on what the incentives were for the other deals?

 

Don't think so, and we'll probably never know. But, even if you ignore the incentives, a 1 yr 4M deal is more attractive to him than a 2 yr 6M deal. He's made over 45M in his lifetime, he can take the risk/reward of not having a guaranteed second year.

 

And frankly, when you give a guy that amount of scratch in incentives to close games, along with it comes a promise that he has the closers job to lose.

[snoodmonger]

This has probably been said already, but this should put to bed all that "He owes us" stuff. That's twice (I believe) that he's given us a loyalty when he probably could've made more elsewhere.

 

Well according to the report of the deals offered this time, ours was the best. So, no.

Exactly. I'm really not understanding all of this "he gave us a discount stuff". From all the reports I've seen we offered the best deal. I'm glad he resigned with us but I'm failing to see the big hometown discount.

 

He did come back without too much hand-wringing, so I'll give him full props for that.

 

I'd credit the cubs with that, not him. Afterall, they are the ones that offered him a 1 year deal for potentially more money than the 2 year deals he had on the table.

Any indication on what the incentives were for the other deals?

 

Don't think so, and we'll probably never know. But, even if you ignore the incentives, a 1 yr 4M deal is more attractive to him than a 2 yr 6M deal. He's made over 45M in his lifetime, he can take the risk/reward of not having a guaranteed second year.

 

And frankly, when you give a guy that amount of scratch in incentives to close games, along with it comes a promise that he has the closers job to lose.

 

I dunno, for a guy with a history of arm troubles, it seems like 2 years at more guaranteed money is the "better" deal, especially if there were incentive clauses in the 2 year deal. But I see your point--for as much money as he has already--taking the risk that he'll stay healthy and earn those incentives isn't that big of a deal.

[Irrelevant Dude]

Marmol is wasted as the closer if he even sniffs how well he pitched this past season.

 

Exactly. This deal puts Woody in the closer role and allows the two likely better relievers - Howry and Marmol - to fill in the most important portions of the game. Had we not re-signed Wood and put Marmol or Howry in the closer role, we would have, at best, a young pitcher coming in critical portions of the game. I'm much more comfortable seeing Howry or Marmol enter in the 7th with the bases loaded and a one-run lead.

 

Excellent deal. It's a lot of money, but it's just one year and if he's healthy he'll make it worth it.

Wuertz?

Slider, slider, slider, slider, slider, slider...

[Larry Horse]

So no one has a problem with Wood closing even though he has no previous experience closing and is prone to being wild?

[GoCubsGo1679625768]

So no one has a problem with Wood closing even though he has no previous experience closing and is prone to being wild?

meh, we made the playoffs last year with Dempster closing even though he was prone to being terrible.

[nilodnayr]

This has probably been said already, but this should put to bed all that "He owes us" stuff. That's twice (I believe) that he's given us a loyalty when he probably could've made more elsewhere.

 

Well according to the report of the deals offered this time, ours was the best. So, no.

Exactly. I'm really not understanding all of this "he gave us a discount stuff". From all the reports I've seen we offered the best deal. I'm glad he resigned with us but I'm failing to see the big hometown discount.

 

He did come back without too much hand-wringing, so I'll give him full props for that.

 

I'd credit the cubs with that, not him. Afterall, they are the ones that offered him a 1 year deal for potentially more money than the 2 year deals he had on the table.

Any indication on what the incentives were for the other deals?

 

Don't think so, and we'll probably never know. But, even if you ignore the incentives, a 1 yr 4M deal is more attractive to him than a 2 yr 6M deal. He's made over 45M in his lifetime, he can take the risk/reward of not having a guaranteed second year.

 

And frankly, when you give a guy that amount of scratch in incentives to close games, along with it comes a promise that he has the closers job to lose.

 

I dunno, for a guy with a history of arm troubles, it seems like 2 years at more guaranteed money is the "better" deal, especially if there were incentive clauses in the 2 year deal. But I see your point--for as much money as he has already--taking the risk that he'll stay healthy and earn those incentives isn't that big of a deal.

 

Most basebally players think they are going to be healthy and awesome. Taking a 1 year 4M deal over a 2 year 6M deal means that he thinks he can do better than 1 year 2M for 2009. If hes healthy he'll most likely be fairly dominant and will get a big deal either as a closer or a starter. Lets say for 10M. So in Kerry's mind, if there is a greater than 20% chance that he stays healthy, its a smart move to take the 1 year deal. (10M *20%=2M). Also, if he has one healthy year, then he can cash in on it next offseason with our deal. If he takes the 2 year deal, then he'll have to be healthy for 2 years to be able to cash in on it. Add in the fact that he has enough money to live on for the rest of his life insanely comfortably and it would make absolutely no sense to take any deal but ours.

[dew1679666265]

Marmol is wasted as the closer if he even sniffs how well he pitched this past season.

 

Exactly. This deal puts Woody in the closer role and allows the two likely better relievers - Howry and Marmol - to fill in the most important portions of the game. Had we not re-signed Wood and put Marmol or Howry in the closer role, we would have, at best, a young pitcher coming in critical portions of the game. I'm much more comfortable seeing Howry or Marmol enter in the 7th with the bases loaded and a one-run lead.

 

Excellent deal. It's a lot of money, but it's just one year and if he's healthy he'll make it worth it.

Wuertz?

 

Had we not re-signed Woody, I might have actually been in favor of Wuertz moving into the closer role. Like Kerry, I'm a little uncomfortable putting a guy with just a 2:1 K:BB ratio in critical positions with little room for error. But, I think he could be very good in the role of coming in with nobody on. Woody's just a better version of Wuertz, thus I have no problem with the one-year deal.

[mdwilla]

Wuertz- Howry-Marmol-Woody

This is a dominat 6-9 and gives Lou a lot of options at the back end of the bullpen.