There are rumors around the Winter Meetings today that the White Sox have expressed some interest in free agent reliever Kerry Wood. Wood would actually be a good fit for the Sox as they could use some late inning setup help. It’s expected that Matt Thornton will likely be the Sox closer in 2011, replacing Bobby Jenks, but that leaves Thornton’s setup role unfilled.
Wood might be too expensive for the Sox, especially if they do retain Paul Konerko. Wood is said to be looking for a two-year deal in the $9 million range.
The former Cub would, of course, also be a good fit for the Cubs, who also could use some setup help. That amount of money wouldn’t seem to be too large for a Cubs budget to handle, especially if it were backloaded into 2012, when a lot of big Cub deals come off the books. Wood may also just stay in New York with the Yankees; he and Yankees manager Joe Girardi have a good relationship dating back to their days as Cub teammates.