Good Luck Kerry Wood

[rocket]

My friend with the Rangers said he heard Woody is looking for 4 years $50 million.

 

yeah, no way the cubs should pay him that much.

[Soul]

My friend with the Rangers said he heard Woody is looking for 4 years $50 million.

 

yeah, no way the cubs should pay him that much.

 

I guess I'm the only one who will be shocked if he actually gets that. But still, I will be.

[badger1679666666]

My favorite Kerry Wood memory is from October 15, 2003 – Game 7 of the NLCS against the Marlins. After the Game 6 debacle, every Cubs fan older than eight years old knew the outcome of Game 7 was a foregone conclusion. This was confirmed when Miguel Cabrera hit a three-run homer in the top of the first inning. Yet Woody responded with a two-run homer in the bottom of the second to tie the game and allow Cubs fans everywhere to believe, if only for a couple more innings. I remember watching him circle the bases with tears in my eyes; I’m not sure if they were out of sadness or joy. Entering the game with 211 regular season and 20+ postseason innings, Woody’s tired right arm didn’t have its best stuff, and he eventually left the game in the sixth inning after giving up seven runs. Nonetheless, I never forgot his competitiveness and how he tried to keep the Cubs in the game any way he could.

 

(Excerpt from Every Hundred Years ... or so)

 

I was at that game...his homer caused the loudest sound i have ever heard.

 

Courtesy of Aramis_Fan (I believe)

 

http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c230/badger195/?action=view&current=WoodNLCSHR.flv

 

Beware though, it hurts alot to watch it over and over again, which you will undoubtedly do.

[Southpaw191679666239]

Beware though, it hurts alot to watch it over and over again, which you will undoubtedly do.

 

 

Look at how vivid the Cubbie Blue was in that clip. Seems to always be that way on National TV.

[Soul]

Beware though, it hurts alot to watch it over and over again, which you will undoubtedly do.

 

 

Look at how vivid the Cubbie Blue was in that clip. Seems to always be that way on National TV.

 

:cray:

 

I'm gonna get drunk tonight just for the hell of it.

[Peoriaman]

Wood: Leaving Cubs is 'bittersweet'

By Paul Sullivan

 

Kerry Wood called his departure from the Cubs "bittersweet" on Friday, but said he'd been preparing for the possibility of leaving through the 2008 season and wasn’t surprised by general manager Jim Hendry’s decision to go in another direction.

 

"It's bittersweet," Wood said. "Obviously this was my first choice. I wanted to stay here, and it was the best choice for me and my family… (but) it was good to hear it out of his mouth, the honesty. It’s a rarity in the game."

 

Wood said he’d prefer to stay in the National League, but is open to going anywhere. The New York Mets are looking for a closer, Texas is close to his childhood home, and the Los Angeles Angels may now be in the picture after waving bye to Francisco Rodriguez.

 

But there's a glut of closers on the market, so where Wood will wind up is anyone's guess right now.

 

"There are plenty of teams out there," he said. "I’ll find my niche somewhere."

 

While Wood was understanding about the Cubs' decision, which Hendry said was made in the best interests of Wood and his family, he did say he would've been amenable to staying and "would have done anything" to stay a Cub. The Cubs told him to go get a three- or four-year deal for more money, but Wood said he would've agreed to a one-year deal to stay.

 

"That was an avenue we kind of approached," he said. "But they’ve got some issues they've got to take care of, and at the end I wasn't as important as lot of other aspects of the team. (Carlos) Marmol, we all know what he's capable of doing… it is what it is."

 

Wood found out he was no longer wanted a few days ago during a dinner with his agent and Hendry. But he was mentally preparing for the possibility all season, making the news a little easier to digest.

 

"I had to prepare myself for this last year, and that maybe helped me enjoy this past summer a little bit better, knowing it could possible be my last year with the Cubs," he said.

 

"Did I want to leave? Of course not," he said. "I wanted to end my career here, and start taking my kids to the games. But in the end, having a little bit of knowledge about the organization, and what's going on with the team and who was up for free agency and the contracts, I had a pretty good idea. It didn't catch me off-guard. I was disappointed and obviously would've loved to have stayed here, but that's baseball."

[XZero771679666304]

Wood: Leaving Cubs is 'bittersweet'

By Paul Sullivan

 

Kerry Wood called his departure from the Cubs "bittersweet" on Friday, but said he'd been preparing for the possibility of leaving through the 2008 season and wasn’t surprised by general manager Jim Hendry’s decision to go in another direction.

 

"It's bittersweet," Wood said. "Obviously this was my first choice. I wanted to stay here, and it was the best choice for me and my family… (but) it was good to hear it out of his mouth, the honesty. It’s a rarity in the game."

 

Wood said he’d prefer to stay in the National League, but is open to going anywhere. The New York Mets are looking for a closer, Texas is close to his childhood home, and the Los Angeles Angels may now be in the picture after waving bye to Francisco Rodriguez.

 

But there's a glut of closers on the market, so where Wood will wind up is anyone's guess right now.

 

"There are plenty of teams out there," he said. "I’ll find my niche somewhere."

 

While Wood was understanding about the Cubs' decision, which Hendry said was made in the best interests of Wood and his family, he did say he would've been amenable to staying and "would have done anything" to stay a Cub. The Cubs told him to go get a three- or four-year deal for more money, but Wood said he would've agreed to a one-year deal to stay.

 

"That was an avenue we kind of approached," he said. "But they’ve got some issues they've got to take care of, and at the end I wasn't as important as lot of other aspects of the team. (Carlos) Marmol, we all know what he's capable of doing… it is what it is."

 

Wood found out he was no longer wanted a few days ago during a dinner with his agent and Hendry. But he was mentally preparing for the possibility all season, making the news a little easier to digest.

 

"I had to prepare myself for this last year, and that maybe helped me enjoy this past summer a little bit better, knowing it could possible be my last year with the Cubs," he said.

 

"Did I want to leave? Of course not," he said. "I wanted to end my career here, and start taking my kids to the games. But in the end, having a little bit of knowledge about the organization, and what's going on with the team and who was up for free agency and the contracts, I had a pretty good idea. It didn't catch me off-guard. I was disappointed and obviously would've loved to have stayed here, but that's baseball."

 

 

I was sad before, now I am irritated.

 

The fact that he would have taken a one year deal really changes my perception of this.

[manbearcub]

what the hell jim

[Sammy Sofa]

What the fudge, Jim.

 

He's willing to take a one year deal.

 

WHAT THE FUDGE.

[17 Seconds]

Wow, now I take back everything I said to defend hendry in this decision. Jim Hendry is a piece of trash. I can't even imagine how pissed I'm going to be when they give Dempster like 60 million.

 

Part of me almost hopes our bullpen (Gregg especially) is a disaster next year just so hendry can eat isht.

[Old Style]

Yeah, that pisses me off. We couldn't have offered him a one year deal?

[NCCubFan]

Hendry wouldn't even give Wood a one-year deal? So much for the good feelings I had about Hendry's performance the last couple of years. This is starting to reek of the same stench as Larry Himes' refusal to re-sign Maddux when he was just entering his prime.

 

Fire Hendry.

[bhogg]

okay, now I'm pissed off.

[Clem Fandango]

Wow, now I take back everything I said to defend hendry in this decision.

 

+1. I was under the impression Wood was looking for a multi-year deal and that's where they had the impasse, and under that condition, it was a smart move. Not offering a one year deal is just [expletive]. Judging from the desire he clearly had to stay here, it seems he probably would've done it for less than $10 mil, too.

 

Now I'm hoping they offer him arbitration not for the draft picks, but for the off chance Kerry Wood accepts it

[imb]

Hendry wouldn't even give Wood a one-year deal? So much for the good feelings I had about Hendry's performance the last couple of years. This is starting to reek of the same stench as Larry Himes' refusal to re-sign Maddux when he was just entering his prime.

 

Fire Hendry.

 

it's basically absolutely nothing like that

[Wilson A2000]

Yeah, that pisses me off. We couldn't have offered him a one year deal?

 

Hendry is lying. This has to be a money issue or a Lou issue.

[Andy]

Great, the Cubs are refusing to keep Kerry Wood so he can make more money. That's ridiculous.

[17 Seconds]

The picture of young Kerry Wood next to current Kerry Wood on the cubs.com homepage makes me sad

[rynefan]

I am sad, pissed of and want Hendry fired. Did I miss anything?

[ISUCubsFan]

So essentially Hendry took Gregg+$5M or so next year over Wood+Ceda? I wasn't a fan of the Gregg trade to begin with, but if Wood would take a 1 year deal it looks horrible.

[ConstableRabbit]

Something tells me there's something going on we don't know.

 

If all Kerry wanted was 1 year deal, there's no way we just let him go. I have no idea what the story is, but it can't be that simple.

[Wilson A2000]

Something tells me there's something going on we don't know.

 

If all Kerry wanted was 1 year deal, there's no way we just let him go. I have no idea what the story is, but it can't be that simple.

 

Or Kerry is saying that he wanted a one year deal after Hendry already made his decision so he could leave on good terms. I still think this is about money. The Cubs can't afford every player they would like. Yes the Cubs spent bad money on pitchers like Marquis, and it has to come and bite them at times.

[Jehrico]

I'm not so sure the extreme opinions on either side are justified. You know that during the initial conversations Wood's camp didn't come right out and say "we want a 3-4 year deal, but we're open to a one year deal if that's the only way we can stay here." If it's true Wood would have accepted a one year deal, he surely wasn't going to voice it early in the negotiations, as he surely preferred longer. Hendry, as well as most posters here, probably assumed that Wood was going to demand at least a 3 year, nothing less, and decided to pay Wood the respect he deserved and not string this on once he figured there wasn't a middleground that can be reached. Once Hendry made the announcement he wasn't going to waste Wood's time, and allow him to pursue the deal he deserves elsewhere, that's when Wood came out and let his minimum requirements be known.

 

Where Hendry screwed up was closing the door. Like I said in an earlier post in this thread, he should have said "Here's what we can offer Kerry. I know you're worth more, but this is what we can afford to offer based on other factors of the team right now. We wish you the best in finding the best deal that you deserve, but if the FA market doesn't work out the way you anticipated, this token one year offer will be on the table until (all offseason, end of December, whatever) if you want to take it." Or anything. He shouldn't have closed the door the way he did.

[jiml60]

This organization doesn't deserve to reap the benefits of the Cubs winning the World Series someday. F*** Jim Hendry.

[Schwarber Fan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI3R1Ss1Muw