Kerry Wood
Echos of Long Toss and Towel Drills Past
Rich Harden was all the news yesterday even though there was nothing new going on. Harden was newsworthy because he's starting the spring camp with long toss rather than work off the mound like the other pitchers. He's been on an off-season strengthening program for an achy-breaky shoulder that everyone in Cubs camp is still struggling to label. It's kind of like having a family member with a psychiatric diagnosis in the 1950's. Nobody wants to label the poor fella because of the stigma and gossip. Sun-Times beat reporter Gordon Wittenmyer, in his blog, was irked that once again there was misinformation delivered this off-season regarding what the diagnosis of Harden's shoulder issues are.
Can anybody tell me what the advantage is in omitting those details and being vague about these things? It's not like the Cubs have to protect the information for the purposes of shopping Harden or for any on-the-field competitive reasons (scouts have eyes).
I've covered three other teams in my career, and the ones that were most up front about these kinds of things had the fewest headaches with the way the information got out. And the fans stayed well informed, without the yo-yo effect.
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Kerry Wood is Officially an Ex-Cub
Kerry Wood passed his physical with the Cleveland Indians and has signed a 2-year/$20 million contract with an option for a third year based on "a vesting mechanism."
As reported by the Cleveland Plain Dealer...
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Cubs Don't Offer Kerry Wood Arbitration
So trading Jose Ceda because the Cubs were going to get two draft picks for Wood doesn't seem like such a good idea anymore.
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Will Cubs Offer Wood & Howry Arbitration?
MLB clubs have until Monday (December 1st) to decide whether to offer salary arbitration to their Type "A" and Type"B" free-agents.
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The End of the Kerry Wood Era is Near
On the heels of the Cubs acquiring Kevin Gregg, reader "jacos" heard on WSCR that Jim Hendry has said that Kerry Wood is pretty likely to have played his last game as a Cub.
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Cubs Trade for Kevin Gregg
UPDATE: The Miami Herald says it's for 4-star prospect Jose Ceda. Shiite. Too much, way, way too much. And since Ceda was one of the possible names going to San Diego for Jake Peavy, you have to think that ship is about to sail.
Double check my work if you wish, but I believe Gregg is set to be a free agent after 2009 and is arbitration eligible for this year. He made $2.5M last year.
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Cubs Hot Stove Round-Up
Baseball's fourth season is about to warm up and I'll try and summarize all the gossip every couple of days.
- Ken Rosenthal says that Ryan Dempster won't sign with the Cubs before the Cubs exclusive negotiating window closes on November 13th. A rather wise move by him and his agent. There's no reason not to test the waters and see what is actually available for him as rival teams cannot discuss money over the next two weeks. He still may very well sign with the Cubs on a hometown discount, but that discount will be based on what the prevailing market is offering. Rosenthal speculates a four year deal for Dempster with the Cubs interested in three years. Rosenthal also speculates that if the Cubs cannot resign Dempster, they'll up their efforts on Jake Peavy, which sounds like a grand plan to me.
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Kerry Wood to Be Activated; Eyre to Be DFA'd
One of our reliable readers listening to Bruce Levine of ESPN1000 out of Chicago, is hearing that Kerry Wood will be activated before the game and Scott Eyre will be designated for assignment. The Cubs will have 10 days to release or trade Eyre and will likely get nothing more than a low-minors prospect.
Durham Headed to Brewers; Wood Headed to DL?
Milwaukee acquired second baseman Ray Durham from the Giants on Sunday in exchange for Class A outfielder Darren Ford and Triple-A pitcher Steve Hammond.
Wood, Marmol, Howry — The "Nasty Men"?
Above all, there was the bullpen. If you didn't outscore the Reds in the first six innings, forget about winning. Rob Dibble, Norm Charlton and Randy Myers constituted the deadliest combination of 95-mph (or better) fastballs, swaggering attitude and occasional mullets in the game. So much so that the trio earned a nickname derived from a pre-wardrobe malfunction Janet Jackson: the Nasty Boys.
— Jonah Keri, espn.com
When Lou Piniella's Reds swept the heavily favored Oakland Athletics right out of the 1990 World Series, his trio of fireballing young relievers led the charge. After combining for 44 saves and a 2.14 ERA over a total 235.1 relief IP during the regular season, the threesome made an indelible mark in Fall Classic history by throwing 8 2/3 innings and allowing the mighty A's no earned runs on just six hits. Dibble won Game 2; Myers earned a save in the clinching Game 4.
(The Boys were no slouches in the NLCS either. Myers, the series MVP, saved three of the four Cincy victories over the Pirates, Charlton had a win, and the Nasty Boys struck out 20 and allowed just six hits and one earned run in 15 2/3 IP.)
Watching Piniella's current club at work and appreciating how his bullpen, particularly young set-up man Carlos Marmol, has contributed to the team's early season success, I thought it would be interesting to see how the three stalwarts in Piniella's Cub bullpen compare to the Nasty Boys of 18 summers ago.
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Recent comments
crunch (view)
nico gets his 5th error on the year...damn.
Childersb3 (view)
Folks, I've known Richard Lovelady since he was an 18 yr old Freshman at East Ga State College in Swainsboro, Ga.
I was the WBB Coach at EGSC and Richard was their prize recruit from outside of Hinesville, Ga.
My roommate was the Pitching Coach there.
Richard showed up a skinny, loose lipped, 83mph Lefty. Pretty good basketball player actually.
My roommate became the head coach.
Richard came back from a minor injury for his Sophmore year a more serious man. He hit 90mph and started mowing GA JUCO hitters down. It was really fun to watch.
He was the first D1 signee for EGSC baseball (school had only had athletics for five yrs at that point). He went to Kennesaw St and became their closer. One yr later, he hit 100mph and KC drafted him in the 10th Rd.
He lost the high velo with a surgery a while back.
It's so cool to see him in MLB. And now he's a Cub!! It's crazy to realize I actually "know" a Cub.
He's a legit good guy.
Easy to root for!!!
Cubster (view)
Tim. Thanks for remembering Lee Elia Day. It will always be one of the most epic rants in all sports. It took about 3 seconds to recognize him from your picture but I did get it right.
Now that Les Grobstein is no longer with us, that might contribute to this grand piece of Cubbery fading.
Just like fine wine, it should be heard...unedited. 40 years, wow.
Dolorous Jon Lester (view)
Does he have any options left, Phil?
crunch (view)
morel in the lineup and playing 3rd.
Arizona Phil (view)
Richard Lovelady one walk & 20 K, 22 hits but no HR, high ERA, and two-to-one GB to FB in 12.1 IP, so I would guess that's why he got the call. Sort of the exact opposite of Luke Little.
Dolorous Jon Lester (view)
Definitely surprised about Dick Lovelady. He has a phenomenal name but that’s probably the best thing he’s got. I was kinda hoping for Wieck even though he’s apparently still tossing 86 as his heater
crunch (view)
wicks 15d DL...cubs select...get ready for this one...richard f'n lovelady. lovelady's stregnths include being able to throw a ball left handed and that's about it.
also little optioned, palencia up.
crunch (view)
straily's a bit rusty...
3ip 4h 5bb 4k, 2r/1er
Dolorous Jon Lester (view)
Open 40 man spot might see the return of CJ. He’s been okay in Iowa. Teheran has been rocked in his starts this year. SSS of course.
Wouldn’t be shocked seeing another 40 man spot open with Brewer losing his spot.