when will this ridiculousness end?

Sheesh, how many different ways is it possible to be frustrated by a baseball team?

Because it's off-season in baseball world, I haven't really been checking up on Cubbies news like I should, and so I missed this all-important piece of tragic info from a few weeks ago:

WE GOT RID OF KERRY WOOD.

*sobs*

The way that the club handled it was really strange, as well. They basically told him that he deserved a better deal than they could give him, and he should "do what's best for himself and his family". While of course you have Wood saying that he would certainly have taken a one or two year deal for less money than he could have gotten somewhere else, as long as he could stay a Chicago Cub.

WTF, Hendry?

I'm not taking anything away from Carlos Marmol, because I think he's a great pitcher and will be able to step into Wood's closing role well, but to me Kerry has sort of epitomized the Cubs for as long as he's been a part of the team. Yes, there were many injuries, some of them extremely strange (i.e. slipping while getting out of his hot tub), but both his attitude and work ethic have always been exemplary. Unlike Mark Prior, he was able to recover from his chronic injuries and transition (relatively) smoothly from a starter to a closer. And clearly, he loves the club and wanted to stay.

I hope he goes on to continue to do great things, even as his career starts to draw to a close, and I do hope that he at least can be part of a World Series-winning team, because the Cubbies sure aren't going to win it.

He's always been one of my favorite players, so this is just a very sad thing for me. Not going to stop me wearing my 34 Cubbies jersey though.