Stocking Stuffers

Mike Kiley writes that the Red Sox could look at Korey Patterson. He specifically notes:

Sending him to the American League would be the best of all worlds. Then Patterson couldn't come back to haunt the Cubs in the National League.

I guess Kiley means that having Korey in the AL means he won't be making outs against teams the Cubs need to beat.

In Kiley's follow on article about the Prior-Tejada talks, Kiley says:

With the possibility that Kerry Wood won't be ready to open the 2006 season on time as he recovers from surgery on his right shoulder, the Cubs might not be able to trade Prior without getting a solid starting pitcher in return.

Why aren't more people up in arms about this? By keeping Kerry pitching in relief last JulyAugust in meaningless games (we all know the Cubs were done in early May), Jim Hendry effectively blew a shot to have Wood ready by opening day.

Isn't that gross negligence? Yes, we throw that term "negligence" around a lot here, but isn't that exactly what this is?