8/22/2003 09:56:00 AM by Rob

Decision time on Wood? Yes, but not what you think

Dang, I was hoping for more of a charge out of you guys from yesterday's posting. Or maybe you too were all sated and relaxed.

Anyway, back to the edge. Sorry I had to do it, but what do we do with Kerry Wood? Oh, I'm not talking about what do we do in terms of the Great NL Central Push of 2003. I could give a flying fuck about that. I'm looking Long Term, folks.

Wood is eligible for one more arbitration year, in which he will probably be awarded his usual and customary $6M, because for all his strikeouts and innings, he is as of now an 11-10 pitcher, and while .500 pitchers have some value, neither do they often jar the salary structure out of whack. But after 2004, he is a free agent, and Hendry and McFail have some big decisions to make.

The first thing to keep in mind is: this is NOT the Kerry Wood that struck out 20 Asstros in 1998. That Wood died during the Wild Card chase of 1998, and was buried on an operating table. The four foot curve, thrown across his body, has become extinct. Many Cub fans are behind this man 1000 percent, because they believe that the 1998 Kerry is just about to break out any minute now. That man is dead, is never coming back, and I believe that McFail and Hendry know this all too well, even if fans do not.

So the question(s) became: has he become a Pitcher? Does he provide Leadership? I believe the answer to the first question is "No, but it can happen." In which case he can become a fairly consistent 15 game winner, with a 1-2 year window at 20, when he does put it all together, yet still has his youth. I'm not so sure about the second question.

If I were a teammate, I would have a real problem with Wood and his bitching and yelling every time he loses a game. Of course, I am not a major leaguer, and I haven't heard of too many complaints about what I feel is aberrant behavior. Maybe ballplayers are thicker skinned than I, and maybe his temper tantrums are livable by their standards. I tend to believe this is the case, even though I wouldn't want to play with a man who feels that he was "making good pitches" last night. I wouldn't want somebody chewing my ass every single time I made a mistake. I wouldn't want a teammate who has no problem going on the air on his radio show and questioning the heart of the rest of us.

I know he cares, and I know he hates to lose, which is half the battle in reversing a 95-year-old trend of lovable losing. But the problem is, it is going to take So Much Money to sign him, and at best he slots in at your third starter. He is not an Ace. Fortunately you have one, and in Zambrano you may have a 2. At this point, I consider Wood and Clement to be on the same footing. Once in a while, they are brilliant, and often they pitch well enough to win. But, just as often, they lose. This sounds like a 3-4-5 starter to me. Do you pay one of these guys $10M per? Then you gotta pay the other one. And what about Prior and Z? What do you pay them, $15M?

Is the Trib really going to do that? I say NO. If they will, then fine, let them. But if they do what they always do, they are going to find the best bang for their mid-sized buck. Wood would be valuable trade bait for two Texas-based teams with lots of high-priced hitters and little pitching. Do you do that?

I would.

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