Tribune: Wood Signs Deal with Cleveland (p. 29)

[David]

Oh...

 

I also have a Rex Grossman jersey.

 

a Jordan 45 from when I was in 6th grade

 

a Grant Hill 96 olympics jersey

 

 

and, the only one besides Rose and maybe Harden (debatable) not loaded with bad karma, a Rodman 91 black jersey.

 

Oh, I also have a Sosa home authentic.

[David]

I got the Sosa for Christmas of 2002.

[Soul]

No Sosa jersey, but I've got a die-cast semi truck that has Sosa and "66" and "1998" on it.

[bukie]

My view is that if Wood is going to get a 3-year, 12 million a year deal to pitch somewhere, it's not worth topping/matching/coming close to that. If Wood is going to get a 2-year, 12-13 million a year deal to pitch somewhere, it's worth at least exploring options to keep him around.

 

If Wood is only getting a 1-year deal somewhere for even as much as, say, 14-15 million, there's no reason the Cubs couldn't at least make an attempt to sign him.

 

And either way, they'd better be offering arbitration.

[David]

My view is that if Wood is going to get a 3-year, 12 million a year deal to pitch somewhere, it's not worth topping/matching/coming close to that. If Wood is going to get a 2-year, 12-13 million a year deal to pitch somewhere, it's worth at least exploring options to keep him around.

 

If Wood is only getting a 1-year deal somewhere for even as much as, say, 14-15 million, there's no reason the Cubs couldn't at least make an attempt to sign him.

 

And either way, they'd better be offering arbitration.

 

No way do I think that's a good deal to make. Short term or not.

[bukie]

My view is that if Wood is going to get a 3-year, 12 million a year deal to pitch somewhere, it's not worth topping/matching/coming close to that. If Wood is going to get a 2-year, 12-13 million a year deal to pitch somewhere, it's worth at least exploring options to keep him around.

 

If Wood is only getting a 1-year deal somewhere for even as much as, say, 14-15 million, there's no reason the Cubs couldn't at least make an attempt to sign him.

 

And either way, they'd better be offering arbitration.

 

No way in hell do I think that's a good deal to make. Short term or not.

 

I think Wood likes the Cubs and the area enough that no matter what kind of 1-year offer he'd get from a club, he'd accept a more owner-reasonable 1 year deal to stay with the Cubs. I'd go as high as 8-10 million for one year to sign him.

[David]

Maybe, but I doubt he winds up having to settle for one year, anyway.

 

I'm sure some team is going to offer (maybe they already have) something in the vicinity of what he wants.

 

I don't think this would've turned out the way it did after their meeting unless Wood had a pretty good idea from talking to teams that he can do a quite a bit better than we're willing to do.

[apete6]

The more I think about it, the more angry I am. Not that they are letting him go given their situation, but the fact that we are in this financial situation in the first place. Hendry/ownership picked NOW to be cheap, after they have:

 

Signed Soriano to one of the worst contracts in sports

Payed 4/$48 for a defensive replacement outfielder

Overpayed for Jason Marquis

Signed Zambrano to a bit more than he deserved

 

Not to mention all of the minor deals that were bad in the past (Blanco last year, 3 years to Howry/Eyre, etc...). Granted, those have no bearing on next year, but still.

 

If we didn't have $10 million committed to Marquis next year and giant raises to Soriano coming, maybe we could have fit Woody in at 3/$30 million, but, no, we get to watch Marquis do the same as Sean Marshall, Soriano underachieve, and Kosuke corkscrew himself into the ground.

 

Will the Cubs be a good team next year? Ya, but it would have been a little bit nicer if Kerry Wood was involved. Long after those 3 clowns are gone, Woody will still give the Cubs fans fond memories.

 

Note: The above is void if Marquis, Fukudome, or Soriano directly lead to a World Series championship.

[David]

You're right, maybe we could have fit Wood in at 3/30 if our financial situation were different. But in some ways, I'm sure glad we can't, because giving closers big money is stupid, no matter how much we love him.

[17 Seconds]

Well none of those guys had injury concerns, so at least there's that

 

I just don't see how you can give 40 million or whatever it would take to Wood right now. It's bad enough to spend that much on a reliever, but a reliever who is a virtual lock to get injured? It's the right move letting him walk. If you put personal feelings aside you've gotta admit that.

 

Personally I'm not that upset. I'm glad. I love Wood but that's going to be a bad contract wherever he goes. We've been down that road before.

[17 Seconds]

I think this is just leading up to Kerry Wood calling Jim Hendry tomorrow and saying "1 year/5 million and you've got me for 2009", cementing his legacy in Chicago. Either that or.. not that

[Mephistopheles]

You're right, maybe we could have fit Wood in at 3/30 if our financial situation were different. But in some ways, I'm sure glad we can't, because giving closers big money is stupid, no matter how much we love him.

 

id rather lose with wood than win without him. and i know i am not in the minority.

[inari]

Wow. I'd much rather let Dempster walk. I'm sure I'm not the first person in here to say that, but Christ... how sad.

[17 Seconds]

You're right, maybe we could have fit Wood in at 3/30 if our financial situation were different. But in some ways, I'm sure glad we can't, because giving closers big money is stupid, no matter how much we love him.

 

id rather lose with wood than win without him. and i know i am not in the minority.

 

Sorry but that's kind of embarrassing

[erik316wttn]

Wow. I'd much rather let Dempster walk. I'm sure I'm not the first person in here to say that, but Christ... how sad.

 

I'd like to hear more of this story, to be honest. If the Cubs aren't even trying, then we need to storm Tribune Towers and take care of Hendry ourselves. If, however, he's going to be really expensive and prohibit addressing some of the bigger needs, I'm reluctantly ok with it. But I'd be more willing to overpay for Wood than I would be for just about anyone else, rational or not.

 

Demp can go wherever. Good luck to him.

[Illini Iceman]

You're right, maybe we could have fit Wood in at 3/30 if our financial situation were different. But in some ways, I'm sure glad we can't, because giving closers big money is stupid, no matter how much we love him.

 

id rather lose with wood than win without him. and i know i am not in the minority.

 

You are right, a lot of grade schoolers probably feel the same way.

[Mephistopheles]

great insult!

[Derwood]

i'd rather win with Ryan Braun, Albert Pujols and Rick Ankiel with Ozzie Guillen as manager than lose with Kerry Wood

[Mephistopheles]

i disagree but as long as youd rather lose with wood than win with ajp then we'll agree to disagree. otherwise youre done.

[Outshined_One]

If having a team of Neifi Perezes means winning the WS for the Cubs, I'd be down with it.

[SaorsaDaonnan]

You're right, maybe we could have fit Wood in at 3/30 if our financial situation were different. But in some ways, I'm sure glad we can't, because giving closers big money is stupid, no matter how much we love him.

 

id rather lose with wood than win without him. and i know i am not in the minority.

 

 

would resigning Wood have been a smart baseball move?

 

no.

 

would I have done it anyway?

 

yes.

 

would I have been justified in doing that?

 

hard to say

[Skyballer]

I almost want to cry, all those years, the 20 K's. This is just.....terrible.

[XZero771679666304]

You're right, maybe we could have fit Wood in at 3/30 if our financial situation were different. But in some ways, I'm sure glad we can't, because giving closers big money is stupid, no matter how much we love him.

 

id rather lose with wood than win without him. and i know i am not in the minority.

 

 

would resigning Wood have been a smart baseball move?

 

no.

 

would I have done it anyway?

 

yes.

 

would I have been justified in doing that?

 

hard to say

 

If I were the GM I would have re-signed Wood.

 

 

And I would have been a fool for doing it.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Hes still Kerry Wood. Hes still got killer stuff. Hes still incredibly injury prone.

[beowulf28]

Hendry:

 

"I think we all feel that Kerry is certainly deserving of a three- or four-year contract," Hendry said. "He’s done everything this organization has asked for the last 14 years, been a warrior the last couple of years. He's come back and health-wise stood the test of time, taken the ball every day we needed, and had no hang-ups, except for (missing one month with a blister injury).

"We’re just in a situation, as Kerry fully understands, that that length of deal, for the kind of salary he’d command right now, is not our first priority. We certainly have to finish our rotation, we have offensive situations to address, and by having the prominence that (Carlos) Marmol now brings to the table, it certainly doesn’t come before the other needs we have. We felt it was time Kerry goes out and does what’s best for him and his family, and gets a huge multi-year deal if possible."

 

And yet, we give Soriano 8 years?