Kerry Wood agreed Monday to a $4.2 million, one-year deal to return to the Chicago Cubs. Wood can reportedly earn an additional $3.45 million in performance bonuses due to incentive clauses based on number of games finished. Wood had a $1.75 million salary for 2007, during which the right-hander went 1-1 with a 3.33 ERA in 22 relief appearances. He has a 72-57 career record with 3.67 ERA in part of nine seasons with the Cubs.

The signing of Wood leaves Cubs GM Jim Hendry to decide whether to bring back Mark Prior, who missed the entire 2007 season after April shoulder surgery and whose best-case scenario for returning to the mound is early in the 2008 season. Prior is in his final winter of arbitration eligibility and made $3.575 million last year. Since teams are not allowed to cut the salaries of controlled players by more than 20%, Prior cannot be paid less than $2.86 million by the Cubs, whether he reaches an arbitration hearing or not.

The Cubs have until Dec. 12 to agree to terms with Prior or decide between offering arbitration or cutting him. Speculation in the print media suggests the decision will come down to whether or not Prior will agree to include an option year on a one-year contract to prevent the Cubs from paying him to rehab in 2008 , only to get leveraged against his free agency in 2009.

However, a story on the ESPN web site reports that the Cubs are willing to trade the former All-Star, who has pitched in just 57 games the last four seasons since going 18-6 with a 2.43 ERA in 2003.

Eight, in fact, to come in a close fourth in the Cy Young voting. All my campaigning finally paid off. I’m sure the pitching helped too.

2007 NL Cy Young Award Voting

The other NLC’er to make the list was The Moose, Carlos Zambrano. Apparently attacking your catcher still counts for something.

Jacque Jones hit .332 with 46 RBIs after the All-Star break this season to help the Chicago Cubs make it to the postseason. So the Cubs, being the Cubs after all, have just traded him to the Detroit Tigers for Omar Infante, a utility infielder who had a total of 17 RBIs for the entire 2007 season.

It wouldn’t surprise me if Jones has a big year in Detroit. He’s a .287 lifetime hitter in Comerica Park, with 13 doubles, 7 HRs, and 30 RBIs in 47 games. As for Infante, well, he’s eligible for arbitration this winter after making $1.3 million this past season.

Don’t most teams usually try to avoid going to arbitration with players? Yet the Cubs actually import a potential arbitration case from somebody else’s team, and give up a decent player in order to do so.

🙄

Then again, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised at yet another great personnel decision from the same organization that decided Corey Patterson was a better leadoff hitter than Kenny Lofton, let Moises Alou go for Todd Hollandsworth, kept trusting Prior and Wood year after year despite the fact that they proved they can’t stay on the field, and then blamed Dusty Baker for all their problems.

Why didn’t Dusty Baker win in Chicago? For the exact same reason that nobody else has won there in the last 100 years: They’re the Cubs!

But will they have beer?

CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs today announced weekend passes for the 23rd annual Cubs Convention will go on sale Wednesday, November 7, at 10 a.m. CST. Passes will be available for purchase only through two methods – by visiting www.cubs.com or by calling tickets.com at 1-800-THE-CUBS.

The 23rd annual Cubs Convention will be held at the Hilton Chicago, 720 South Michigan Avenue, from Friday, January 18 through Sunday, January 20, 2008. Each fan will be able to purchase up to four (4) weekend passes while tickets last. The convention pass, valid for entry during the entire convention weekend, cost $50 each plus convenience fees. Fans holding a room reservation for the 23rd annual Cubs Convention do not need to order convention passes at this time.

The hours of the convention are as follows: Friday 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to midnight and Sunday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Included with each pass is access to all autograph/photo sessions, question and answer sessions as well as the memorabilia and vendor booths.

Rooms at the Hilton are currently sold out for Convention weekend, but fans are encouraged to check back for cancellations or availability by calling 312-922-4400. As a reminder, fans who reserve a room under the Cubs Convention rate can purchase weekend passes for only $10 each (limit four per room).

Proceeds from the Convention benefit Cubs Care. The 2007 Cubs Convention raised more than $300,000. To date, the Cubs Convention has raised nearly $4 million for Cubs Care. Cubs Care is a fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation. Since 1991, Cubs Care has granted more than $12 million in the city of Chicago to support youth sports, children with special needs and victims of domestic violence. Cubs Care also supports a variety of charitable and social service organizations serving the Lakeview community.

The Phillies were the second team swept out of contention this weekend when the Rockies beat them 1-2. The team of the 10,000 losses just keeps on marching.

I’m pleased to see the Rockies win, but MLB and TBS have to be hating these short series. Don’t these teams know anything about advertising??

My favorite quote from the Phillies game wrap:

“It’s crazy, man,” added Romero. “I know I executed my pitches, but … that one out of the reach of Jayson, and [the hit past] Chase — I tip my hat. They put enough wood on the [ball]. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s unfortunate that we came up short. We showed a lot of character, and now we have to go home and watch the [Rockies] continue to play.”

It’s my favorite because of the words in square brackets, indicating that those words weren’t actually part of the quote. What did Romero call the team if not [Rockies]? Probably [them], but my imagination likes to wander.