On December 9, 1981, Woods was traded to the Chicago Cubs for Jim Tracy and was pressed into service as a starting center fielder when prospect Ty Waller failed early. "I was batting about .350 after 150 at-bats," Woods told the Chicago Tribune in the September 11, 1986 article. "But they decided to put Keith (Moreland) in the outfield and they wanted to play Steve Henderson to see if they could trade him. I sat down and never got a chance to get back in." Woods finished the 1982 hitting .269 in 117 games and never committing an error.