Wood agrees to terms with Indians

by KButler on Dec 10, 2008 12:42 AM CST

According to the tribune the deal is basically done: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-10-winter-rumorsdec10,0,2321698.story

Obviously, very sad to see Kerry go. I don't mind him in the AL in Cleveland though, another city with a good fan base and they think they are working on a "curse" of their own. Have a long way to go though, haha.

At this point, can we FINALLY admit that there is a better chance of Jake Peavy being a member of the Cubs than Kerry Wood? Or tomorrow will people still think that this was just some ploy and the Indians will now be part of a 7 team trade bringing Peavy, Roberts and Kerry Wood back?

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.

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good luck, Kerry!

I’ll miss him as I know all of us will, but we can’t wish him anything but the best. He’s a great pitcher, and a real good human being. Incidentally, the Indians play the Cubs at Wrigley this year…won’t that be a bittersweet homecoming?

by mycubs1987 on Dec 10, 2008 1:02 AM CST reply actions

You know this post is already up?

Second from the bottom of the fanposts list.

by dakoose on Dec 10, 2008 1:11 AM CST reply actions

Ahhh

Guess i missed that. My apologies.

by KButler on Dec 10, 2008 1:15 AM CST reply actions

Go2Bed

"Loyal? I'm the most loyal player money can buy."
- Dodgers, Astros, Brewers, A's & Angels pitcher Don Sutton

by CubFreak on Dec 10, 2008 1:26 AM CST up reply actions

Anyone want me to delete this one?

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Dec 10, 2008 3:34 AM CST up reply actions

sure..

"Charles Tillman is one of the best strippers in the NFL" - John Madden 11/30/08 Chicago Bears vs. Minnesota Vikings game

by Chanman25 on Dec 10, 2008 6:29 AM CST up reply actions

Not really

It gives some folks one more chance to say, “bye bye”.

Besides for me at least, it’s not anywhere near the same loss I felt in ‘92 when a certain sure-fire first-ballot perhaps-the-highest-vote-percentage-ever future-HoF’er left the Cubs.

It doesn’t come close to comparing the loss of Maddog in ‘92 and it’s not even in the same discussion as a certain event of 6/27/72. MPH73 I bet remembers that date too, very well.

Sweet Lou for Mayor in '11.

by blackhawk24 on Dec 10, 2008 7:29 AM CST up reply actions

6/27/72 must be Bobby Hull leaving, right?

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Dec 10, 2008 7:43 AM CST up reply actions

Yes

and sorry about the hockey reference.

I still don’t understand the extreme level of love for a guy who by in all parts was a bit of a disappointment over so many years.

I would love to have seen the reaction in this forum if it were available on the nasty date Maddog left the Cubs. If it weren’t full out rage, I would be horribly surprised.

Sweet Lou for Mayor in '11.

by blackhawk24 on Dec 10, 2008 9:49 AM CST up reply actions

It would have been, no doubt...

… especially when the circumstances were revealed.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Dec 10, 2008 10:23 AM CST up reply actions

Maybe you'll understand a bit more if I make a small change to your comment

I still don’t understand the extreme level of love for a team who by in all parts was a bit of a disappointment over so many years.

Not sure if that helps or not.

I think much like Santo, Woody epitomizes what it’s like to be a Cub and to be a Cub fan. In the beginning, promise and potential, stretches of brilliance & outstanding achievement, followed by trials, tribulations, injuries and setbacks. Comeback after comeback, grit and determination. Defeat after defeat. Brush yourself off, get back on your feet and try again. Sure there’s probably some bitching and maybe a little bitterness along the way. Who wouldn’t? Well, except for Ernie Banks and Buck O’Neill that is… Finally, unexpected success, and some fun in the sun. And then – one big effin’ question mark (grrrr…..)

For the most part, just sucking it up and doing your best, regardless of all the crap that goes on around you. I dunno about you, but I think that could describe a lot of people’s lives. And that’s why there is love for Woody.

Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."

by ballhawk on Dec 11, 2008 9:15 AM CST up reply actions

I don't.

It’s new news. I don’t read every new post within a fanpost, so with this site being my primary source of news for the Cubs, I probably wouldn’t have known about this had it not been for this post.

by kanderber on Dec 10, 2008 7:29 AM CST up reply actions

OK, I'll leave it.

I kind of thought it was new myself, since the other one said only that the deal was close, not official. Actually, it hasn’t been officially announced yet — might be later today.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Dec 10, 2008 7:42 AM CST up reply actions

So then can we get a

‘Kerry Wood officially signs with Indians’ post?

Brian McRae's 5 o'clock shadow

by PurpleLineToWrigley on Dec 10, 2008 9:10 AM CST up reply actions

LOL

That could go here.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Dec 10, 2008 10:23 AM CST up reply actions

Well...

at best he can still wear a C on his hat. I like those “retro” inspired Indians jerseys. He can still wear 34. He’s not in the NL so the Cubs wouldn’t see him except for those three games in June (Stubhub servers might explode) and the World Series. In which case it would be tremendously bittersweet. He can beat up on the White Sox a bit. He could help end another teams drought.

at worst, he’s still not a Cub and emotions aside, that’s still hard to fathom.

by CubFan81 on Dec 10, 2008 8:26 AM CST reply actions

I moved on

it’s about the Cubs, not one guy especially a fragile one at that.

it’s not like the Cubs lost Ryno during his heyday or that bad, bad day in 1992.

Sweet Lou for Mayor in '11.

by blackhawk24 on Dec 10, 2008 9:50 AM CST up reply actions

I agree with you in one sense...

…This is 100% the right move, except for the with holding of the arbitration offer, IF the Cubs were run in a way where they tried to minimize paying fr ast performance and focus more on expected value.

But I don’t view it as that type of decision, IMO it’s from Pinella. I also think tat Wood has a greater ikelihood of giving you value in 2009 for his salary on a one year arbitration deal than demster does after coming off his increibly best ear ever that he will never come close to replicating in his greatest fantasies.

I thought a next year arb. deal for Wood could hep this team in 2009, far more than the long-term for Dempster.

But i get back to agreeing with you about moving on. Wood should do well in Cleveland and the Cubs have to go out and plug their holes. I’ll still root for him in Cleveland.

Oh, but I also think you brought up an interesting comparison with Ryno as you referenced his hey day, but when Ryno retired or whatever it was he did man I was really happy to see that guy leave. He was one of my favorite Cubs as well but those last couple seasons I was starting to believe all of his critics, even Morgan. Wood right now is a much better player than Ryno was when he left, at least according to my foggy memory, LOL.

by DudeVf11 on Dec 11, 2008 9:53 AM CST up reply actions

Good for him

but it’s still so wrong.

"That’s the great thing about baseball, you never know what’s going to happen till you get the final out." — Lou Piniella

by drewishdrewid on Dec 10, 2008 9:55 AM CST reply actions

Good for him

I went to a Cubs game with my cousins from the Cleveland area, and who are Indians fans, on April 18, 1998. It was Kerry Wood’s first major league win. Now they get to see him close games.

by daeviant on Dec 10, 2008 10:40 AM CST reply actions

2/20M

I guess that was beyond Hendrys limit for Wood, but it is ironic he’s going to the next most title starved team in baseball.

Okay, just so I understand it... in your wildest fantasy, you are in hell. And you are co-running a bed and breakfast with the devil.

by bren on Dec 10, 2008 12:45 PM CST reply actions

The irony will be when Wood closes out a WS game

next year v. the Cubs.

The author of this post is not a certified scout, doctor, agent, statistician, manager, or journalist, nor was he ever a very good player, though he tried very hard to be like Ryne Sandberg and was about as scrappy as it gets (in T-ball). Any opinion expressed above should in no way be confused with fact, truth, or reality and is hereby qualified in the following ways: 1) The author does not know as much about baseball as Lou Piniella. 2) The author does not know as much about baseball as Jim Hendry. 3) The author does not know as much about baseball as either Dusty or Darren Baker.

by DGU on Dec 10, 2008 8:15 PM CST up reply actions

I'm still sad and somewhat mystified...

…by how the Cubs handled Kerry Wood this off-season. But so it goes. I wish him the best and am thankful that he won’t be in he NL or especially the NL Central. Like many of us, I’ll be keeping a close eye on Kerry in 2009. I wish him all the best.

Yes, yes ... winter is indeed a pond upon which all of us must skate, braving frostbite and runny noses in the hopes that our cars will start and we shan't embarass ourselves slipping on a patch of black ice. Spring is more a quagmire of cold mud and slush, and fall is a pile of fallen leaves that may or may not hide a pile of doggy doo-doo. But summer, ah summer is an oasis of endless green that disappears all too quickly beneath our feet as we rush through its warm, glorious bliss.

by daver on Dec 11, 2008 11:12 AM CST reply actions