Gregg In Wood Out

The Cubs made a move in attempt to better the bullpen. This seems like a very odd trade and definitely not something any of us saw coming. Kevin Gregg spent the last two seasons as the Florida Marlins closer, saving a total of 61 games throughout that time. Despite the respectable 3.41 era this past season, Gregg struggled. He had a few nagging injuries and had surgery on his knee not too long ago. His walk rate is very alarming, and has only gone up the last two seasons. Gregg needs to get the walks under control, if he can keep the walk rate between 3.5 and 4 per 9 ip, he should be an asset to this bullpen.

In exchange for Gregg, the Cubs gave up Jose Ceda, 21, one of the better prospects in a very thin Cubs minor league system. I am a pretty big fan of Ceda. He has tremendous upside as a reliever, with a fastball that sits in the 96+ range and a slider that ranks as a 65 on the 20-80 scout scale. He has the potential to be Carlos Marmol good as a closer in a couple years. With that said, there is an IF there. Ceda is pretty good and has a lot of upside, but is not ready to contribute April 1, 2009, thus making him expendable.

The biggest news coming from this trade has nothing to do with the two players actually traded. Kerry Wood is not going to be in a Cub next season. As soon as the trade broke, many were saying this meant Wood was not going to be back. I did not believe it, feeling Gregg was acquired to replace the useless Bob Howry. It turns out I was wrong as Jim Hendry explained the situation during a conference call.

"We felt it was time Kerry goes out and does what is best for him and his family and get a huge multiyear deal, if possible," Hendry said. "This is really the right thing to do. We’ve had some really honest conversations in the last week. We don’t have to get into how much I think of him, but at the same time I don’t think we could do for him right now what he deserves and what I think he’ll get going elsewhere."

The positive coming from this is that the Cubs will likely save around $6 million next season. Expect that money to go towards Ryan Dempster and/or a left-handed hitter of some kind.

This really is a sad day for Cub fans. Kerry Wood may never have lived up to the expectations people had for him after the incredible 20 strikeout performance ten years ago, but he was loyal to this organization for 14 professional seasons. Last year, he came back for a 1 year deal when he could have gotten more money on the open market. Kerry Wood is a true class act and I will certainly miss watching him (and his gorgeous wife) in a Cub uniform. He deserves nothing but the best and thats exactly what I wish him on his future endeavors.