Kerry Wood Among the Latest to File for Free Agency, Are Cubs Days Numbered?

It's impossible to believe, but Kerry Wood has spent 11 seasons as a member of the Chicago Cubs. Seems like just yesterday that he was merely a prospect, and I convinced my fantasy baseball partner that we should take a chance on this heralded rookie ... only to have him convince me to wheel him for three players mere days before he struck out 20 Astros at Wrigley.

Amazingly Wood, even through all of his injuries, remained a member of the Cubbies. But now that he filed for free agency on Friday, it looks like his days as a Cub could end. With Carlos Marmol waiting in the wings as closer, it's easy to see the Cubs being a bit cautious in bidding for Kerry. GM Jim Hendry has even said that it depends on the length of contract.

For Wood meanwhile, he picked a good season to be relatively healthy ... and for all his past injury troubles he deserves a shot at a nice contract. With a few high spending teams in the market for a closer (the Cardinals and Mets to name a couple), Wood could parlay a healthy 2008 into cold hard cash. Even with his injury history, teams will most assuredly go above and beyond in the bidding for Wood and his filthy stuff to close games for them.