Yardbarker: Kerry Wood

Baseball Free Agency Starts Friday

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:00:19 -0500

It is amazing how dates like this can sneak up on you when your expectations are nil. The Indians were semi-active last season in free agency. They went out and signed Mark DeRosa, Carl Pavano, and Kerry Wood. This season? Not so much. At this point, it is tough for me to even sit here [...]

Pondering Kerry Wood at closer for the Braves

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:58:51 -0500

More photos » by Mark Duncan - AP Browse more photos » Keith Law makes some good points about the Indians closer, Kerry Wood: "Wood had a better year than he's getting credit for having - once you consider ballpark, defense, and league, he probably had the best year of the three major free agent closers from last winter. With just one year left on his deal and a team motivated to cut payroll, he could be a n...

MLB Trade Rumors: Tribe Looking to Move Wood

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:00:08 -0500

One year after singing a true closer, it appears that the Indians could already be regretting the move. ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that Mark Shapiro and staff are currently entertaining offers for their 32-year old flame thrower. Kerry Wood was given a two-year deal that could become three if certain criteria was met just a year [...]

The Indians are willing to move Kerry Wood, who has one year remaining on his two-year, $20 million...

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:03:32 -0500

The Indians are willing to move Kerry Wood, who has one year remaining on his two-year, $20 million deal. Signing Wood made all the sense in the world for them a year ago, when it seemed the Indians might compete in the AL Central. But in the aftermath of the trades of Victor Martinez and Cliff Lee, Cleveland is in rebuilding mode and thus Wood is an expensive bauble. Given that there are so many closers available on the market, however, the Indians might not be able to move Wood's con...

Cleveland Indians pitcher Kerry Wood says African-American players for the Chicago Cubs received hate mail

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:20:45 -0500

Kerry Wood says African-American players on the Chicago Cubs received hate mail.

Is Kerry Wood Now A Liar?

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:47:32 -0500

Finally, somebody stood up and talked about what was going on with the Cubs. Cleveland Indians closer and ex-Cubs ace Kerry Wood didn’t dismiss the notion that Cubs outfielder Milton Bradley and other African-American players may have experienced racial insensitivity during their time in Chicago. “I know just from the experience of playing with those guys, and I’ve seen some of the mail that they get, obviously not a lot of us get that kind of mail,” Wood said o...

Lock Down Pen Does It Again

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:00:36 -0500

In mid-May, if I told you that the Indians bullpen would be set with a reliable set-up crew in front of Kerry Wood by late August, would you have believed me? Of course you wouldn’t have. But again yesterday, it was a flawless performance from the much maligned bridge to closer Kerry Wood that helped [...]

Game #70: Wild Wood Throws Another One Away in 6-5 Disaster in 13

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:51:04 -0500

Maybe Kerry Wood is secretly still playing for the Chicago Cubs? How else can you explain how Wood, who had blown two saves in 10 chances entering Friday, has already blown two saves in two games in Chicago, as Saturday he basically threw the game away, allowing the Cubs to rally for two 13th inning runs [...]

Anatomy of a pitch: the 12-6 Curveball

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 23:37:39 -0500

With pitchf/x being all the rage these days, I thought I would give a primer on what makes pitches do the crazy things they do. I’ll start with the curveball, since I’ve always found it to be the most interesting. As we will see, curveballs are also pretty simple to analyze. Note: I’m doing this entirely from a physics perspective, not a baseball perspective, and I know nothing about pitchf/x. I have never personally thrown any of these pitches (other than maybe a ‘f...

Dusty Baker Interested In Wood

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:56:23 -0500

According to the Chicago Tribune, Reds manager Dusty Baker has interest in bringing in Kerry Wood to be the Reds setup man. The Cubs decided to pass on offering arbitration to Wood, who has thirty-four saves last season. The Cubs feared that Wood would accept the offer, mostly because of his desire to stay in Chicago. By not offering Wood arbitration, he becomes much more desirable to teams who value their draft picks. The Reds probably do not have much chance of signing Wood, who is reportedly seeking a multi-year deal and a guaranteed closer spot.A
The Rangers, Angels, Mets, and Tigers are reportedly showing interest.A
This story was approved by MLB Rumors.

Hey Kerry, Remember That Time I Ruined Your Arm And Your Career? We All Had A Good Laugh; Anyways Want To Play For Me Again?

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:00:55 -0500

Remember 2003? Ahh, we all remember the good old days, when our good 'ole skipper Dusty would shred our pitchers' arms to no end by leaving them in too long and running up their pitch counts. I wrote a wonderful ode to Dusty's amazing ability to manage his pitchers here. Well apparently now that ...

A True Kerry Wood Eulogy

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 02:11:16 -0500

On Thursday we found out that Kerry Wood would not be back next year. I wrote about the sadness I felt about it but I don't think I was truly able to capture the essence of how Cubs fans are feeling. Fortunately for us, a commentor on Shysterball has eloquently put the whole thing in context: " I am a die-hard Cub fan, I was raised that way by my father. I was only 7 in '84, I remember that team well but didn't experience the heartbreak that many fans old enough to proces...

Rangers After Wood

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:05:31 -0500

According to Ken Rosenthal, people within the industry believe the Rangers will pursue closer Kerry Wood. The Rangers would receive a big boost from Wood, and probably have the inside track at this point, mostly because Wood is from there. However, the Mets, Angels, Tigers, and Diamondbacks have expressed interest in the closer, who is reportedly seeking a multiyear deal. Wood went 5-4 with a 3.26 ERA and 34 SV in 65 games this season, and is just 31. He is probably looking for seven to eight million dollars annually and could get more if the demand is high.
Wood will probably wait on Fuentes and Rodriguez to sign, mostly because it will drive up his price even more.A
This story was approved by MLB Rumors.