http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-1217-cubs-chicago--20101216,0,3564140.storyHere is more for you....deal was agreed upon verbaly FRIDAY night.
In what may be remembered as the Pizza Summit, Kerry Wood and Cubs general manager Jim Hendry huddled Friday night in a cramped hallway at D'Agostino's restaurant in Wrigleyville.
The two had spoken earlier that day at Ron Santo's funeral, but their second meeting at the pizza joint during a charity function for the Ryan and Jenny Dempster Foundation, was Wood's chance to make his pitch.
Wood lives in Chicago and wanted to return to the Cubs, which was no big secret. The Cubs also were known to be seeking a right-handed reliever to set up Carlos Marmol and free up Andrew Cashner for the rotation. But the Cubs' budgetary constraints, combined with Wood's strong second half with the Yankees, made the notion of a second marriage a long shot.
Yet the two agreed to a one-year deal for the relatively paltry sum of $1.5 million, giving Wood an opportunity one day to finish his career in a Cubs uniform. There will be a news conference Friday at Wrigley Field to announce the deal.
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Efforts to ready Wood and Hendry for comment on Thursday were unsuccessful.
Wood, once known as "Kid K," was very close with the iconic Cubs' broadcaster and attended Santo's wake and funeral service with his wife, Sarah. But two years after what he called a "bittersweet" departure, Wood is still a significant part of the "Cubs family," as Chairman Tom Ricketts told him that day.
After the funeral service, Wood spoke to reporters about Santo's life on the steps of Holy Name Cathedral. Naturally, he was asked about the possibility of returning to the Cubs.
"Never say never," he replied.
Before the Woods left, Kerry shook hands with us and said goodbye.
"See you in Mesa," I said.
Wood just grinned. A few hours later came the Pizza Summit, and the rest will be history.
Though Wood can increase his salary with incentives based on games finished — in case Marmol gets injured or struggles — he reportedly turned down more lucrative offers from the Red Sox and the White Sox, possibly leaving as much as $12 million on the table.
After the '08 season, when Wood offered to sign a one-year deal to return to the Cubs, Hendry told him to test the market to "take care of your family." The Cubs acquired the Marlins' Kevin Gregg, who flopped in the closer's role and lasted only one season. Wood eventually received a two-year, $20 million deal with the Indians, for whom he toiled in near obscurity for the better part of 1 1/2 dismal seasons.
Wood returned to dominance in a setup role for Yankees' closer Mariano Rivera the final two months of the 2010 season.
But he has had a split personality on the mound since leaving the Cubs, compiling a 5.68 earned-run average in the first-halves of the last two years and a 1.79 ERA in the second halves. His injury problems are well known, including 14 stints on the disabled list.
But when Wood is in a groove, he's as dominant as any reliever in the majors. And the cost to the Cubs for 2011 is less that the annual revenue received from the Toyota sign in the left field bleachers.
While there could be some potential problems if Marmol feels threatened, the closer told the Tribune last September he would welcome Wood's return.
"Sounds good to me," he said.
Wood's return means Cashner could become the No. 3 starter behind Dempster and Carlos Zambrano, with Randy Wells, Carlos Silva, Tom Gorzelanny, Jeff Samardzija and perhaps Brandon Webb competing for the other two spots.
The deferred money on Carlos Pena's $10 million deal and Wood's low salary means the Cubs have committed only $6.5 million in 2011 to two free-agents. Hendry can try to sign the rehabbing Webb to an incentive-laden deal or trade for another starter.
No matter what happens the rest of the offseason, the Cubs will have their longtime leader back in the clubhouse. And that may be as important as anything Wood accomplishes on the field.
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