The Kerry Over Effect: How Wood's Retirement Will Reshape the Cubs' Bullpen

Kerry Wood, the monument of everything right about being a Chicago Cub over the last 17 years, is retiring. The Cubs got one last memorable appearance, striking out Dayan Viciedo on three pitches and getting a standing ovation from the crowd and a hug from his son as he walked off the field for the final time.

If this was Alfonso Soriano, the bleacher bums waiting in line on Waveland would already be chugging celebratory Old Styles. But this is Kid K, the man who threw 20 strikeouts in one game in his rookie year, led the Cubs to the NLCS in 2003, and took a hometown discount to come back to Chicago two winters ago. He'll take a spot somewhere in the Cubs organization, likely as an advisor on Jed Hoyer's staff with the possibility of moving into scouting, coaching or an enhanced front office role in future seasons. Regardless of his official role with the team, Wood will always be welcomed back with open arms at Wrigley.

More on Kerry Wood's legacy to come, but after the jump we look at how the move will reshape the Cubs bullpen.

Cubs Season Preview Part I - Rotation

With under 96 hours until the first pitch of the 2012 Cubs season, let me take a couple uneducated stabs at where I think this season starts, ends up, and leads to in the ever-brighter future.

Vegas and national media over/unders have the Cubs pegged at 74ish wins, which is a much brighter perspective than I expected to start the year. I have the Cubs at 73, which I think is entirely within the Cubs' boundaries as they are currently constructed. With a couple additions, the Cubs could stretch it to 82 or 83 wins, but I'm not sure Theo's willing to give up much for a far-fetched run at a somewhat open division race. If the current rotation experiments crap out and Rodrigo Lopez takes a spot by June, well, then a 67 win season is not out of the question.

Let's take a quick look at the four pieces of the roster - rotation, bullpen, starting eight, bench. I'll give some brief thoughts on where each player is at this point of his career and what he should be contributing to this Cubs team, but also take deeper dives into key contributors throughout the week as we prepare for the opener.