The good news is, we now have Aramis Ramirez under contract for five more years. The bad news is, it’ll cost us a little more then if he stayed under his old contract. Regardless, Ramirez, who had a career year yesterday, signed a five year, $73 million deal to remain with the Cubs.
This is pretty huge. Assuming Derek Lee can remain healthy, this is an impressive one-two punch in the lineup. Then again, I hope this is just the first step.
Kerry Wood also signed his name on the bottom line and he’ll make $1.75 million. Wood has a ton to prove and if he meets all of the incentives, he’ll net $6 million. This is one of those low risk, high potential signings that could really help the Cubs out next year. And if Wood doesn’t throw more then a handful of pitches, it’s probably money well spent to see what Wood still has left in the tank.
