Bye, Kerry Wood: Part II

Kerry Wood (Cubbie Nation/File) Filed: Dec. 2nd, 2008 I guess now we can move on. Arbitration passed last night at 11 p.m., and with it, any hope of Kerry Wood remaining a Cub in 2009. The club refused arbitration to all of their free agents, including Kerry, who now faces an extremely uncertain future given the sudden flood of available closers and a worse than expected economic downturn. I know, I know. Some people will say that there is still negotiating room there, with the Cubs able to work a deal out on the cheap once the market officially bottoms. Don't buy it. There's no nice way to say it, but Wood just isn't wanted. Everyone involved has been a bit tight-lipped to date; understandably so, given that Wood likely saw arbitration as a last possible means of being retained. However, now that that deadline has passed, I expect that some of the more aggressive Lou bashers in the media should either be able to extract an interesting tidbit or two, if not the ... (link)