Kerry Wood Wants to Pitch for the Cubs Next Year and Other Bullets

Randy Wells had his best start of the year last night against a decent Braves lineup, but he’ll need to string together at least a couple more of those to convince the next GM that he’s got a guaranteed starter in Wells. Even then, he might not be convinced. That’s not to say it’s Wells’ fault – an early-season forearm injury appears to have drained a few MPH off his fastball, and taken the precision out of his game. But the Cubs need to know what they have in Wells, and soon.

  • Kerry Wood says he hopes the Cubs want him back to pitch next year. Given how he’s thrown of late, I’m sure there will be interest. The question, of course, is how much he’ll cost. He gave the Cubs a sweetheart $1.5 million deal this year, but would he do the same again next year? It’s unknown right now, but Wood has made it clear he wants to be with the Cubs’ organization until, and long after, he retires.
  • Bud Selig hearts Tom Ricketts, which I suppose is one upside to having the MLB Commissioner steer open ownership spots to the guys he likes. Selig says Ricketts is the “right guy” to do the work that needs to be done. And that includes, says the Commissioner, getting “support from all the sectors” needed to get a Wrigley Field renovation done. Translation: you have MLB’s support when it comes to trying to secure partial public funding for a renovation project. Your move, city and state.
  • Speaking of which, Selig also said that Wrigley Field is an appealing venue for an All-Star Game in the near future. The Cubs have petitioned to have the game in 2014, the 100-year anniversary of Wrigley Field. “It’s appealing. No question about it,” Selig said of an All-Star Game at Wrigley. “We have a lot of things to work out here. But it is appealing. There’s been a lot of cities that built new stadiums and a lot of commitments have been made. I’ll just have to work my way through it.”
  • Rick Morrissey says the Cubs should hire Ozzie Guillen as their next manager, which may not be as crazy as it sounds if Rick Hahn ends up landing the GM job.
  • Alfonso Soriano is happy he chose to sign with the Cubs, despite the team’s lack of success the last three years (article is in Spanish). Given that the Cubs were offering a couple more years and about $40 million more than any other team, yeah, I’d be happy about signing with the Cubs, too.
  • Baseball America’s Jim Callis says the Cubs’ farm system has “solid depth,” and is a “middle-of-the-pack system” after their successful draft and international signings. Given the Garza trade, how poorly the Cubs’ top prospects have performed this year, and how many have been injured, this is a pretty fair evaluation. I do, however, expect the system to take leaps forward over the next two years.
  • Jonah Keri offers a tome on the Cubs’ future, including reasons why they should not pursue Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder.
  • written by

    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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