It's amazing what $4.2 million will get you. If you're a baseball General Manager, that money can help guarantee that a player will decide to stay with your team. In the case of the Cubs, that's exactly what happened.
Kerry Wood agreed to stay with the Cubs for a $4.2 million one-year deal. When free agents started to look into him, the Cubs put more money on the table to keep him around.
"Chicago's my home," Wood said during a conference call. "Chicago's been great to me. There's no better place to play, especially if you're winning."
Of course the word "winning" is in Chicago Cubs terms. This doesn't mean a World Series Title, it just means that with the NL Central victory, the team is on the right track to actually getting through the postseason. Heck, I would stick around to if my salary went from $1.7 million to $4.2 million in just a year.
It's most likely that Wood will pitch from the bullpen along with Marmol and Howry. He's had some elbow and shoulder problems in the past but that hasn't stopped him from being an important aspect to the Cubs' pitching. Wood has a 72-57 career record with 3.67 ERA in part of nine seasons with the Cubs.
"Physically, I feel like I can do it," he said. "But I know what it takes to go out and eat up 200-plus innings. I know what kind of toll it takes on your body. With what I've been through, I don't know if it's wise of me to take that chance again right away."
Hopefully this decision to keep Wood around for at least one more year will benefit the Chicago team. I see Wood doing great things next year, boosting fans' confidence in the bullpen and possibly becoming a great closer. The $4.2 million was well spent on Kerry Wood.
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