=The Cubs were willing to sign Wood for one year, but knew he could get far more on the open market, with several teams in need of established closers.
Carlos Marmol has seemed ready to close for more than a year and offers the Cubs a cheaper, arguably more dominating alternative in the role. Gregg, a hard-throwing 30-year-old who lost his closer's job in August, is coming off knee surgery. He had 61 saves the last two seasons and is the unofficial insurance policy.
Whether Wood would have accepted a one-year deal to stay in Chicago wasn't immediately known. His agent, Pat Rooney, did not return calls.
Either way, it's over for Wood in Chicago, as the Cubs waved goodbye to one of their most popular players of the last 25 years.
Having covered Wood in eight of his 11 seasons with the Cubs, from his 20-strikeout gem in his fifth start to his Game 7 loss to Florida in the 2003
National League Championship Series to his remarkable transition to All-Star closer in 2008, I found him to be funny, intelligent, sarcastic, brutally honest and somewhat moody — but mostly just human.
He was loyal to his teammates, his pitching coaches, the
Wrigley Field ushers and Eddie Vedder. He was charitable to children's causes. And he generally was accommodating with reporters, except when he was asked how his arm, elbow, shoulder or blister was doing.
A Tribune byline search Thursday found 504 articles under my name citing Wood's name in the headline and/or in the first two paragraphs. Several included the term "simulated game." We had a few battles, as happens, and I regret mentioning his infamous hot tub spill so often.
The angriest I saw him was in the cramped Cubs clubhouse at RFK Stadium on a rainy spring day in '05, after I reported the Cubs had discussed moving him to the bullpen because of ongoing shoulder issues. His denial was heated.
But after Wood suffered another shoulder injury, manager Dusty Baker moved him to the bullpen when he returned in August. Wood had shoulder surgery after the season, missed all but four games in '06 and never started again.
He began the second chapter of his career as a closer this year, and except for the lingering blister problem in July, he was healthy and successful.
Wood made a ton of money pitching for the Cubs, and he'll make plenty more elsewhere, so no one should feel sorry for him. But he didn't always receive the best medical advice, including from doctors outside the organization.
He missed the final month of '98 with elbow soreness but was brought back to pitch Game 3 of the playoffs against Atlanta. He blew out his elbow in a
spring training game the next spring, starting the Woody-go-round. And whether Wood's rotator-cuff problem was misdiagnosed after labrum surgery after 2005, leading to an aborted comeback in 2006 and the loss of the first four months of '07, is a mystery that may never be solved.
"Early in his life, he probably hurt his own health by doing what was best for the
Chicago Cubs," Hendry said Thursday.
But that was Wood, always wanting the ball. He was frequently mentioned in the same breath — and on the same injury report — as disabled-list magnet Mark Prior, but it was never a fair comparison. Wood's arm wouldn't let him pitch, not his head.
Whether it was right or wrong to let Wood go, his legacy in Chicago is secure. He arrived as a phenom, became a legend in only five starts and experienced more highs and lows than any player in franchise history.
psullivan@tribune.com