Cubs: Wood close to signing multi-year deal
The News
Kerry Wood should have a new contract within a day or two. The Chicago Sun-Times reports the Cubs are close to finalizing a multi-year contract with Wood and expect to have one in place by the weekend. Wood signed a one-year, $9.75 million contract in January.
Our View
Not only will the Cubbies get Wood under contract for several more seasons, thereby cementing the Wood-Maddux-Prior top of the rotation, but they will also reduce their payroll a few million for this year by doing so.

The obvious choice..

Good none the less..

Done deal apparently. Good for him and good for them, once Zambrano matures and gets in a groove, that rotation will be a force to be reckoned with.

Seemed awfully cheap to me. This is a siging that should help in the Pedro negotiations.

Also on a side note, what's the point of a three year deal, with a 3 million signing bonus paid out 1 million a year for three years? How is that any different than calling his base salaries one more million a year? Is this an attempt to make it look like he signed for less? Since most reports will list his yearly salaries and not discuss the payment structure of the bonus. To most people it will appear to be a cheaper deal. His salary as officiallt listed will also be lower. You would think the Players Union who have their nose in everything would object to this. They would call it 'an underhanded, deceitful way of trying to lower the salary structure of the league' or some such nonsense.

It appears as though he gave the Cubs a hometown discount. I hope that some of the Red Sox free agents start thinking like Kerry Wood. Good deal for the Cubs.

Dusty's decision
Cubs to hand Wood ball on Opening Day; Maddux, Prior will follow

MESA, Ariz. (AP) -- Kerry Wood will start the Chicago Cubs opener in Cincinnati on April 5 and be followed by Greg Maddux and Mark Prior.

Manager Dusty Baker wants to use Maddux, the four-time Cy Young Award winner who re-signed with the Cubs this month, and his crafty assortment of pitches between his two young power pitchers Wood and Prior.

The rest of the rotation will be Matt Clement and Carlos Zambrano.

"I'm going with Prior after Maddux to give a different look, plus Prior can learn a lot from Maddux, I think," Baker said Saturday.

The way the rotation is set up means Maddux will not start a game during Chicago's second series in Atlanta against the team he pitched for the past 11 years.

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