Wood Gets a Big Deal

Kerry Wood agreed Friday to a $32.5-million, three-year contract with the Chicago Cubs, the most lucrative deal for a pitcher in club history. It includes a mutual option for the 2007 season that could increase the value to $43 million.

“For me it was pretty simple. This organization gave me the opportunity when I was 18 years old to play professional baseball. That’s something I’ll never forget,” Wood said.

“It was pretty easy. We are going to be a good team for a long time. And that was the whole determining factor for me. The whole reason I play this game is to win, and I think we are going to do that here for a while.”

The Cubs came within five outs of making it to the World Series last season, and General Manager Jim Hendry has been busy building on that.

He signed veteran pitcher Greg Maddux, to bolster a starting rotation that also features Mark Prior and Matt Clement.

Wood, 26, had agreed last month to a one-year deal worth $9.75 million. He would have been eligible for free agency after this season.

His new agreement calls for a $3-million signing bonus, payable at $1 million annually over three years, and salaries of $7 million this season, $8.5 million in 2005 and $11 million in 2006. Wood also has a no-trade clause in those three years.

The club has a $13.5-million option for 2007 with a $3-million buyout, and the 2007 salary would become guaranteed if Wood pitched 400 or more innings in 2005 and 2006 combined. But Wood also can reject the option.

Wood went 14-11 with a 3.20 earned-run average in 32 starts last season. He struck out a major league-high 266 batters and held opponents to a .203 batting average.

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Oakland A’s left-hander Mark Mulder has back spasms that caused him to miss two spring training workouts.

Mulder, 26, woke up Sunday with a sore back, a problem he never encountered.

“I was concerned Sunday, but that was about it,” Mulder said Friday. “[Teammate Mark] Kotsay said it’s happened to him and it usually takes three or four days, and that’s what it’s been.”

Mulder sustained a stress fracture in his right leg near the hip last August and sat out the rest of the season. He went 15-9 with a 3.13 ERA.

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New York Yankee center fielder Bernie Williams could be released from a Tampa, Fla., hospital today, two days after his appendix was removed.

Yankee Manager Joe Torre said Williams had a low grade fever Friday. He was considered a longshot to be ready for the Yankees’ season opener March 30 in Tokyo against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

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The Yankees, after watching a workout by Orlando Hernandez in Miami on Friday, are considering re-signing the veteran right-hander.

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Atlanta closer John Smoltz, coming back from elbow surgery, threw from the mound for the second time this spring with no problems.

“He threw everything,” Manager Bobby Cox said. “He looked really good.”