Chicago Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts acknowledged on Saturday that the front office could have handled the Kerry Wood signing in a more timely fashion. The 34-year-old veteran pitcher told the media on Friday that he was 25 minutes away from going for a physical with another team, with which he had agreed to a deal in principle. That's when the Cubs closed in and finished off the contract. "I'm not sure why the timing ended up the way it did," Ricketts said at the team's annual convention. "We probably could have had that conversation a month ago. My gut would just say that (Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer) were focused on everything else that was going on. We probably could have done it a little sooner." Read more: http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/stor...hairman-says-kerry-wood-contract-done-earlier
