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Cubs agree to new contracts with 3B Ramirez, RHP Wood

November 12, 2006

CHICAGO (Ticker) - The Chicago Cubs simply would not let Aramis Ramirez get away.

Despite losing exclusive negotiating rights with the star third baseman, the Cubs on Sunday agreed to a five-year deal with Ramirez.

Chicago also agreed to a one-year deal with injury-prone righthander Kerry Wood, who returns for his ninth season with the Cubs.

Ramirez's deal also includes a mutual option for the 2012 season. Financial terms were not disclosed for either deal, but the Chicago Tribune reported on its web site that Ramirez will receive $73 million while Wood agreed to an incentive-laden contract with a base salary of $1.75 million.

Ramirez walked away from a guaranteed $22.5 million from the Cubs over the next two years, exercising an opt-out clause that allowed him to terminate the deal after the 2006 season.

Negotiations between the sides had stalled earlier this week, and as of midnight Saturday, other teams could begin bidding for the services of the high-profile free agent.

But Ramirez previously had expressed his desire to stay in Chicago and the 28-year-old kept his word, marking the first major personnel move in what figures to be a busy offseason for the Cubs, who brought in Lou Piniella to manage the club last month.

"At the end of the day (Ramirez) really did want to be here," Cubs general manager Jim Hendry told the paper. "It's not much secret that the figures being bantered around in his situation would've been much higher. I think that as good a deal as this obviously is for any player, I certainly believe there were six- or seven-year deals out there for him that certainly would've paid him $20-$30 million more than he got, guaranteed.

"He was the lucky beneficiary of being a free agent at a time when his services were certainly going to be needed by some quality clubs and some major market clubs. I think the people in Chicago would be glad to know that at the end of the day, he did leave a lot."

Ramirez quietly enjoyed a fine offensive season in an otherwise dismal year for the Cubs, batting .291 with career highs of 38 homers and 119 RBI. After hitting just .259 in the first half, Ramirez batted .328 with 22 home runs after the All-Star break.

The Dominican slugger spent his first six major league seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, never quite fulfilling his promise on a consistent basis. He did hit .300 with 34 home runs and 112 RBI in 2001 only to watch those numbers dip to .234, 18 and 71 the following year.

In July 2003, the Pirates traded Ramirez and Kenny Lofton to the Cubs in a five-player deal. After struggling the second half of that season, Ramirez has come into his own the last three years, averaging 35 homers and 131 RBI.

An All-Star in 2005, Ramirez owns a career average of .279 with 196 homers and 669 RBI in nine seasons with the Cubs and Pirates.

Wood never fulfilled his promise, mostly due to injuries. The righthander has made 30 starts only twice in his career and has been limited to 25 games - 14 starts - over the last two seasons.

In 2006, Wood's entire campaign consisted of only four starts from May 18-June 6. He sat out the first six weeks after undergoing surgery on both his right shoulder and right knee in the offseason and promptly was sidelined by shoulder stiffness.

Wood went 1-2 with a 4.12 ERA in his limited action this past season. He never has won more than 14 games and has pitched more than 200 innings just twice, posting a 71-56 record with a 3.68 ERA in eight seasons with Chicago.

"Despite his physical problems, there was a lot of action on (Wood) that probably would've given him a base of almost twice as much as we did," Hendry told the paper. "I think as well as Woody's been paid the last couple of years, Woody did show a great amount of loyalty here by coming back."

There have been times when Wood displayed his potential. He tied the major league record with 20 strikeouts in just his fifth career start, a one-hitter against Houston in May 1998. He won the NL Rookie of the Year award that season, but underwent "Tommy John" surgery the following spring training and rarely was the same again.

Wood's only All-Star campaign came in 2003, when he went 14-11 with a 3.20 ERA and a league-leading 266 strikeouts. He won both his starts in the NLDS against Atlanta but melted down in Game Seven of the NLCS, surrendering seven runs in 5 2/3 innings as the Cubs were ousted by Florida to complete one of the most infamous series collapses in baseball history.