For Wood, it was Chicago or Bust

According to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times, Wood was hoping to latch on with the Cubs from the outset. His ties to the organization and the community have remained very strong to this day, and it seems as if he never really wanted to leave. Does this mean Yankees fans will stop blaming Cashman for Wood signing elsewhere?

Wood Signs With Cubs.... For $1.5 Million?!?!?!?

From Paul Sullivan:

Kerry Wood has reached a one-year deal with the Cubs for $1.5 million, sources said Thursday.

Wood had a physical Thursday and the signing is expected to be announced Friday. The deal is well below Wood's market value, but the former Cubs ace was willing to get it done to return to his former team and possibly end his career in Chicago. He'll also receive incentives based on games finished, in case he eventually becomes the closer.

General manager Jim Hendry was unavailable for comment.

Wood reportedly turned down more lucrative offers from Boston and the White Sox, possibly leaving $10-$12 million on the table. He offered to sign a one-year deal to return to the Cubs after the '08 season, but the Cubs told him to test the market, and he received a two-year, $20 million deal in Cleveland.

Nothing from the Yankees? I guess it doesn't matter really, if he turned down the money from the White Sox and Red Sox, I'm sure he would have done the same to the Yanks. I assume going back to his first team, and the opportunity to grab the closers job was just too much to pass up for Wood.

Kerry Wood Close to Signing with Cubs

As per David Kaplan:

The Cubs, who have a major need for a veteran right handed reliever are moving towards finalizing a deal with free agent Kerry Wood.

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Wood has made Chicago his permanent home and told me just last week that whatever decision he made about where he would pitch in 2011 had to be a good fit for his family. Being able to stay home and his longtime relationship with Cubs general manager Jim Hendry are huge factors in the Cubs favor.

I have mixed feelings about this news. The Yankees do certainly have a need for something of a sure thing in the bullpen, and Wood (when healthy) could fill that role admirably. On the other hand, the rumored cost is a bit prohibitive for a set-up man - particularly one with a resume riff with injuries and inconsistency. He certainly isn't the type of pitcher that the Yankees should throw a ton of money at, but he does toe the line between want and need.

What do you think? Where do you see the Yankees going from here?

Yanks Interested in Bringing Kerry Wood Back

No Arbitration For Wood

Apparently they must have feared he would have accepted and been paid more than the Yanks were willing to offer.

Cashman: "I'm thinking yes on Wood"

From Wallace Matthews:

The New York Yankees are likely to offer arbitration to Kerry Wood, opening the door to a possible return in 2011 for the right-handed reliever to once again serve as the set-up man for Mariano Rivera.

...

"I'm thinking yes on Wood," Cashman said. "We'll do them a favor. If we put them into an arbitration setting, then we can take them out and make a fair market value offer to them."

...

But offering arbitration is the first step toward re-opening negotiations for a return to pinstripes next year for Wood, 33, who has a long history of injury problems but remained healthy during his brief tenure as a Yankee.

Official Elias Rankings Released

The official Elias rankings for the upcoming offseason were released yesterday, here how the Yankees free agents ranked:

Type A:

• Mariano Rivera
• Derek Jeter
• Andy Pettitte
  

Type-B:

• Lance Berkman
• Kerry Wood
• Javy Vazquez

Having these guys qualify as Type-B's means the Yanks would receive a supplemental first round draft pick in next year if they sign elsewhere. However, to receive those picks the Yankees would first have to offer each player arbitration. Considering they haven't done that in two years, and the money it could cost if one or more players accept, I wouldn't expect that to happen.

Options Declined For Berkman, Johnson, and Wood

From the Yankees PR department:

The Yankees today declined the options for Lance Berkman, Nick Johnson and Kerry Wood; excercised option for Andrew Brackman

Those options were $11M for Wood, $15M for Berkman, and $5.5M for Johnson, so these were obvious decisions for the Yanks. Berkman gets a $2M buyout and Johnson get $250K.

I do think they should look try to resign Wood, just not for anything near $11M.

Yanks Finally Finish Off the Wood Deal

Earlier today the Yankees completed the deal that brought Kerry Wood to the Bronx, a deal most Yankees fans are very happy about right now. To finish off the deal they sent Minor League infielder Matthew Cusick and right-hander pitcher Andy Shive to the Tribe as the players to be named later.

The Improved Bullpen (Based on Random Sample Sizes)

Before jumping right in with some numbers, I'd like to point out two things. First, I am well aware of the perils of dealing with small sample sizes and selecting random periods of time (particularly when said selections are biased). Second, I believe the first point is sort of moot, as relievers are incredibly volatile ... so no sample size is safe.

David Robertson, since May 8
34.2 IP, 27 H, 20 BB, 40 K, 1.82 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 1.764 WPA, 2.36 FIP

Boone Logan, since May 23
19.0 IP, 12 H, 6 BB, 18 K, 1.42 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 0.494 WPA, 2.62 FIP

Joba Chamberlain, since July 28
8.0 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 6 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.63 WHIP, 0.260 WPA, 2.83 FIP

Sergio Mitre, as Reliever
22.2 IP, 12 H, 7 BB, 13 K, 2.38 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, 0.127 WPA, 4.27 FIP

Kerry Wood, with Yankees
7.0 IP, 6 H, 4 BB, 9 K, 1.29 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 0.134 WPA, 4.63 FIP

Robertson and Logan have been quite good since their early season woes - I'm not sure that there are many that would dispute this, either. Robertson's control isn't quite where I'd like it to be, but he's striking batters out at a tremendous clip (10.4 K/9) and has been garnering weaker contact as the year has progressed. Logan's been better, as well, since Girardi began using him as something of a lefty specialist (as opposed to cannon fodder against righties) - I really can't fault his performance in any reasonable way.

Chamberlain and Mitre are sort of difficult to deal with. I, for one, feel that Chamberlain still has it in him to be a fantastic pitcher. This may be confirmation bias, but he has been excellent over his last few outings and, despite his unsightly ERA, his strikeouts and walks have been solid throughout the season. Many Yankee fans, myself included, still dread the thought of Mitre in the rotation ... but he's done well in the bullpen. Granted, I wouldn't want him in a high-leverage situation - but I think he's done better than a mop-up type of reliever at the same time.

Wood is, in my mind, the very definition of volatile. Brilliant in 2008. Up and down in 2009. Mostly down in 2010. That being said, he's done well with the Yankees. His control's a bit off and he did allow a blast of a home run, but his stuff looks fantastic ... and being out of the closer's role (and looking for his next contract) could work wonders for Wood.

Marte's set to return soon. Aceves's set to return soon. Albaladejo looks like a completely new pitcher. And Rivera's been his brilliant self. While the bullpen's been something of a roller coaster ride this season, I cannot help but feel that a corner has been turned ... and I feel comfortable when Girardi motions for a reliever going forward.

Evaluating the Deadline Deals

Yankees acquire RHP Kerry Wood and $2,172,131 for Cash or a PTBNL

Kerry Wood's 2010 has been a tale of two seasons thus far. In May, Wood posted an 11.05 ERA, 2.32 WHIP, and 7.4 BB/9. Granted - this line occurred over 7.1 IP, an incredibly small sample size ... but Wood was working off of an injury and, at the age of 33, it wouldn't bee surprising to see his numbers nosedive after yet another trip to the disabled list. In June and July, however, Wood performed much better (another trip to the disabled list notwithstanding). Over 12.2 IP, Wood posted a 3.55 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and 3.55 BB/9. Once more we are working off of an incredibly small sample size - but there's not much else to work with.

Wood's 2009 was fairly mediocre - 4.25 ERA, 4.15 FIP, 4.11 xFIP, and 2.25 K/BB provided for a fairly poor return for the first year of his two year, $20.5 M contract. While he certainly wasn't bad, he wasn't very good either. He was relatively healthy, however, and continued to rack up strikeouts (as he has done this year, as well).

In my mind, this deal represents a low-risk, high-reward situation for the bullpen. The Wood of June and July bolsters the bullpen significantly, as would his 2009 incarnation. The 2008 Wood could very well give the Yankees the best bullpen in the game. The Wood of May, however, would be far worse than Park (or anyone, for that matter). The typical Wood ... may just end up on the disabled list - I'm sure Nick Johnson could use the company. All this for a paltry PTBNL or $500,000.

Yankees acquire OF Austin Kearns for a PTBNL

Austin Kearns represents a tremendous upgrade to the Yankees bench - he provides a better bat and glove than Colin Curtis (or Kevin Russo or Greg Golson) and a better glove than Marcus Thames (without giving away too much with the bat, to boot). He's batting .272/.354/.419 with 8 HR, 4 SB, and a 115 wRC+ in 301 AB, while playing solid defense in LF and RF (and not embarrassing himself in CF).

For his career, Kearns doesn't show much of a platoon split, batting .261/.383/.416 against LHP and .256/.341/.430 against RHP. Against a strong lefty, having Kearns in LF, Gardner in CF, and Thames DH'ing represents a massive upgrade over previous alignments.

Yankees acquire 1B Lance Berkman and $4 M for RHP Mark Melancon and IF Jimmy Paredes

Despite being in the midst of the worst season of his career, Lance Berkman represents a massive upgrade over the DH pu pu platter of Juan Miranda and Marcus Thames, while strengthening the bench with the latter moving to what will primarily be a PH role against LHP. Further, it's worth noting that Berkman has an .882 OPS in July and has traditionally batted better against RHP (which will only be assisted by the short porch in New Yankee Stadium).

In my mind, Berkman's early season woes were the product of recovering from offseason knee surgery. His .275 BABIP is a career low (and about 20 points lower than expected), as his is still-solid .189 ISO. Noting this, the ZiPS projection system, found on Fangraphs, projects a .260/.383/.480 for the remainder of 2010 - and that doesn't account for the move to the Yankees line-up or stadium.

Mark Melancon, in my mind, never received much of a shot - but he was battered in his short Major League stints and was in the midst of his worst minor league season at 25. With Albaladejo and Sanchez still around, I'm not sure that he'll be missed. Jimmy Paredes does not appear to be anything special, either - he outgrew SS at age 21 and has not drawn many positive reviews for his defense at 2B or 3B, either. He's essentially David Adams with a lesser glove and less plate discipline - and the Yankees still have Adams.

Sherman: Yanks Get Kerry Wood

From Joel Sherman:

Kerry Wood deal from Indians to Yankees is completed, awaiting Commissioner's approval on dollars that Indians are sending Yanks

It is a palyer to be named later or cash that Yankees are giving Indians for Wood

Yankees picking up about $1.5M of $3.6M owed Wood

The move should provide some help for the Yankees pen, but Wood has been nothing but mediocre in his year+ in the AL. Last year, he was 3-3, with 20 saves and a 4.25 ERA. This season, he is 1-4, with 8 saves and a 6.30 ERA. However, in his 17 outings he has an ERA of 3.45.