Thursday, May 18, 2006

Meet the new Wood, same as the old Wood

As much as I like Kerry Wood, it's quite possible that few guys in the history of baseball have been paid more for doing less. Sure, he was a steal at $170,000 in 1998, but the guy's made 17.5 million dollars over the last two seasons while making just 32 starts and going 11-13. He's never won more than 14 games in a season, he's never had an ERA under 3.20... he's had a couple nice K years (266 in 2003 being his high, which led baseball that year), but he's just on the shelf so much (including missing the entire 1999 season). I can't begrudge him his injuries, I guess, but that's a ton of money.

And then he comes back and gives up three home runs to a Nationals team that had scored precisely zero runs off Zambrano and Marshall in the two games prior. The good news is he didn't give up that many hits (five in five innings isn't great, but it's not horrendous) and he didn't walk anyone; he also struck out six. The signs for a possible return to 2003 or 1998 form are there. But can he stay healthy long enough for that to happen? God, I hope so.

At least the Cubs won the series. If they win two of every three for the rest of the way, they should be in good shape. Why don't I just hold my breath for that one?

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