Cubs, Wood Hammer Out New Deal the Chicago Way

By Chuck Sudo in News on Dec 17, 2010 5:40PM

Looks like Steve Dahl and I weren't the only ones to have a pizza summit recently. The Tribune's Paul Sullivan reports that the seeds for Kerry Wood's one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Cubs were sown at D'Agostino's Pizza in Wrigleyville,

According to Sullivan, Wood and Cubs GM Jim Hendry spoke at Ron Santo's funeral last week. Later, Wood made his pitch to Hendry at D'Agostino's, which was hosting a fundraiser for Cubs' pitcher Ryan Dempster's charity organization. Wood made it clear that he wanted to return to the Cubs, but that Carlos Marmol was firmly entrenched in the closer role.

The deal allows Wood to serve as a right-handed setup man for Marmol while giving the Cubs the flexibility to move Andrew Cashman to the starting rotation. That's old school Chicago-style negotiations worthy of any politician's respect.