The Chicago Tribune online has just reported that the Cubs have announced that Kerry Wood has a torn rotator cuff.

The funny thing is that there are some people who are actually surprised by this news... well, I'm not surprised in the least. As I've said in previous posts, I fully believe that the Cubs, and even Wood himself, have known that his arm was toast for a long time. I mean, he has been in to see his doctor a few times since his "return" this year, and it has taken them this long to discover the torn cuff? COME ON!! Are you saying that the doctor wasn't smart enough to do an MRI test until now? If so, then why the hell is anyone going to him/her? No, I think that the Cubs were hesitant to get a definitive report, and once they had it, they were careful about when they released it so that we fans wouldn't have a chance to tell them what a bunch of putzes they are until after the All Star break.

This could mean the end of Kerry's career, or at the very least, that he will have to go to the bullpen. At the moment, he says he isn't sure if he'll do surgery to repair his shoulder or just try to make a go of it later... as well, whether or not he will be able to remain with the Cubs at all is in question, since they know now that Wood will be useless for about a year (correction, they've always known it, just haven't wanted to admit it...)

As sad as the news is, my fellow Cubs fans (although if you're a true fan, you should have known this was the deal a LONG time ago), there may be a light at the end of the tunnel: we might finally be able to unload Wood without anyone arguing that Wood might leave us and become stellar once more.

By the way, Cubs Management, you deserve this... and no one does it better than The Man in Black...