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

[JimSorgi]

I just jumped on the Fire Hendry Bandwagon. This is awful.

[SouthSideRyan]

Bottom line is that Wood could have allowed us to get the picks had he gone to hednry. Obviously he didn't. I'm not even criticizing Wood as much as I'm criticizing Hendry...you just get sooo defensive when anyone says something that even suggests something even remotely bad about Wood.

 

You're asking Kerry Wood to go to Jim Hendry, say, "hey you know how I really badly want to come back and play for the Cubs again, and you told me no, you can't." Well, I want to help you anyway. I would like it if we could lower my value on the free agent market so that you, the person who kicked me to the curb could benefit. I'd like the franchise who I will be competing against for the rest of my career to benefit at my expense.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I'm guessing this has more to do with Hendry's perverse sense of fair play than money.

[UMFan83]

Where were all these Hendry haters when everyone was praising him for earning his contract extension?

 

I realize he's had some questionable moves since he was extended, but those moves are no where near among Hendry's worst since being the Cubs GM.

[Sammys Boombox]

I know we don't always know all the details, but it seems like Hendry does some things that really make you scratch your head. Overall I think he's a decent GM, but sometimes I just don't get it.

[Cubswin11]

So where does this leave us with the draft picks? Do we get nothing from the team who signs him?

[JeffH]

So where does this leave us with the draft picks? Do we get nothing from the team who signs him?

 

Correct.

[Flames24Rulz]

I don't really understand this. After the Harden trade, I was more than willing to give Hendry the benefit of the doubt.

 

But to not even offer Wood arbitration? What the heck is that?

[JimSorgi]

I don't really understand this. After the Harden trade, I was more than willing to give Hendry the benefit of the doubt.

 

But to not even offer Wood arbitration? What the heck is that?

Yeah, I actually started to like him after the Harden trade, but now I'm just confused.

[UMFan83]

I don't really understand this. After the Harden trade, I was more than willing to give Hendry the benefit of the doubt.

 

But to not even offer Wood arbitration? What the heck is that?

Yeah, I actually started to like him after the Harden trade, but now I'm just confused.

 

How is it confusing? If Wood accepts arbitration, he's going to get at least $8 million, which will take the Cubs out of the Peavy sweepstakes, and really limit his options for a RF most likely.

 

The only confusing part is why he traded for Gregg and let Wood go to begin with if Wood supposedly would have accepted a 1 year deal.

[SouthSideRyan]

I don't really understand this. After the Harden trade, I was more than willing to give Hendry the benefit of the doubt.

 

But to not even offer Wood arbitration? What the heck is that?

Yeah, I actually started to like him after the Harden trade, but now I'm just confused.

 

How is it confusing? If Wood accepts arbitration, he's going to get at least $8 million, which will take the Cubs out of the Peavy sweepstakes, and really limit his options for a RF most likely.

 

The only confusing part is why he traded for Gregg and let Wood go to begin with if Wood supposedly would have accepted a 1 year deal.

 

Or why he can't trade Gregg after offering arbitration to Wood?

 

Jim Hendry thinks Kevin Gregg is a better pitcher than Kerry Wood.

[JeffH]

This is Kerry Freaking Wood, a legitimate difference maker out of the bullpen.

 

If you have to, non-tender Chad Gaudin, Neal Cotts, and Michael Wuertz and get a backup catcher for $0.5 million.

 

Maybe Hendry slept with Sarah Wood and he's trying to get Kerry out of town before he finds out.

[USSoccer]

If you can't find a way to ditch $8m for this season on the off chance that no one else signs him, then you suck as a GM and should be fired for a utter lack of creativity.

 

You could non tender like 3 guys and go cheap one other place and come up with most of this. Assuming you'd even need to.

 

It's just bad business management.

[David]

Is it possible that the Cubs doctors know something we don't about Wood's arm? Remember, it was only a year and a half ago that he almost gave up on baseball completely. Then "miraculously" his arm felt better.

 

I can't blame them for not wanting any risk of having to pay him $8M+ if that's the case, especially considering the circumstances.

 

 

The question that would leave is why even bring him back last year, then? But who knows what may have presented itself this season.

[David]

I don't really understand this. After the Harden trade, I was more than willing to give Hendry the benefit of the doubt.

 

But to not even offer Wood arbitration? What the heck is that?

Yeah, I actually started to like him after the Harden trade, but now I'm just confused.

 

How is it confusing? If Wood accepts arbitration, he's going to get at least $8 million, which will take the Cubs out of the Peavy sweepstakes, and really limit his options for a RF most likely.

 

The only confusing part is why he traded for Gregg and let Wood go to begin with if Wood supposedly would have accepted a 1 year deal.

 

Or why he can't trade Gregg after offering arbitration to Wood?

 

Jim Hendry thinks Kevin Gregg is a better pitcher than Kerry Wood.

 

 

Because things like the durability of a pitcher who has had constant injury problems and almost gave up on the game a little over a year ago don't factor into his value?

[David]

People are letting their emotional attachment to Wood multiply their reaction to this situation a good amount.

 

Is it a bad move? Depends on a lot of things we don't really know about, really. At face value, it looks like it probably is. But, then again, that's face value and you'd have to think the Cubs know a lot more than we do about Kerry Wood.

 

Is there anyway it's some no-brainer idiotic decision that should result in the firing of a GM? Not a chance.

[Derwood]

i very much doubt that Hendry thinks that Gregg is = to or better than Kerry Wood

[ChiCubsFan]

If you can't find a way to ditch $8m for this season on the off chance that no one else signs him, then you suck as a GM and should be fired for a utter lack of creativity.

 

You could non tender like 3 guys and go cheap one other place and come up with most of this. Assuming you'd even need to.

 

It's just bad business management.

 

Well it has nothing to do with whether or not someone else signs him. If Kerry would have accepted arbitration he would get that money. I think I would have offered KW arbi and then made it clear to him that we did not want him to accept. I think Kerry has enough pride to not want to come back to somewhere he clearly isn't wanted (by the GM at least). If he did accept it then trade Gregg and make a few other minor moves to recoup the 8M. Maybe Hendry already has a plan to do those minor moves and use that money to get Peavy and/or a RF. If that's the case, then I understand not risking offering arbitration to Wood. I don't like it, but I understand it.

[erik316wttn]

If this were the dark ages, Hendry would be executed without trial.

 

This is completely and totally indefensible. There is NO downside to offering him arbitration. None. And Hendry declined.

[Outshined_One]

I...just...what?! Really? Seriously?

 

He's serious.

 

He's freaking serious.

 

WHY?

[SouthSideRyan]

I don't really understand this. After the Harden trade, I was more than willing to give Hendry the benefit of the doubt.

 

But to not even offer Wood arbitration? What the heck is that?

Yeah, I actually started to like him after the Harden trade, but now I'm just confused.

 

How is it confusing? If Wood accepts arbitration, he's going to get at least $8 million, which will take the Cubs out of the Peavy sweepstakes, and really limit his options for a RF most likely.

 

The only confusing part is why he traded for Gregg and let Wood go to begin with if Wood supposedly would have accepted a 1 year deal.

 

Or why he can't trade Gregg after offering arbitration to Wood?

 

Jim Hendry thinks Kevin Gregg is a better pitcher than Kerry Wood.

 

 

Because things like the durability of a pitcher who has had constant injury problems and almost gave up on the game a little over a year ago don't factor into his value?

 

In an admittedly small sample size, Kerry's injuries as a bullpen pitcher consist of blisters.

[USSoccer]

Even if the hypothesis of imminent shoulder explosion is accurate, it doesn't mean we still couldn't offer arbitration, and then back out like San Diego did with Todd Walker.

 

In order for the imminent injury hypo to be valid, you have to assume:

 

-Wood wouldn't get signed elsewhere

-Wood accepts said arbitration

-We couldn't find $8m in the budget somewhere

-We couldn't back out.

 

It's a crap theory that's too littered with unlikely what-if's to be plausible.

[17 Seconds]

Is it possible that the Cubs doctors know something we don't about Wood's arm? Remember, it was only a year and a half ago that he almost gave up on baseball completely. Then "miraculously" his arm felt better.

 

I can't blame them for not wanting any risk of having to pay him $8M+ if that's the case, especially considering the circumstances.

 

 

The question that would leave is why even bring him back last year, then? But who knows what may have presented itself this season.

 

You know that people are mad about losing the picks and not mad about losing the chance of Wood accepting arbitration, right?

[cubsfan26]

Where were all these Hendry haters when everyone was praising him for earning his contract extension

 

 

This is a poor move, but people are really overreacting. This move alone shouldn't take their opinion of Hendry from doing a good/decent job to being fired. We all know the move was made to save money, so we can improve other parts of the team. So if Hendry goes out and adds say Peavy and Milton Bradley, then everybody will love Hendry again. But if course if Hendry for some reason decides to his this money on a crap middle infielder or another reliever, then I can understand people jumping on the fire Hendry bandwagon. But this move alone shouldn't make people jump ship.

[David]

Is it possible that the Cubs doctors know something we don't about Wood's arm? Remember, it was only a year and a half ago that he almost gave up on baseball completely. Then "miraculously" his arm felt better.

 

I can't blame them for not wanting any risk of having to pay him $8M+ if that's the case, especially considering the circumstances.

 

 

The question that would leave is why even bring him back last year, then? But who knows what may have presented itself this season.

 

You know that people are mad about losing the picks and not mad about losing the chance of Wood accepting arbitration, right?

 

Not chance. Risk.