Sosa Traded

It has been reported that Sammy Sosa has been traded by the Cubs to the Baltimore Orioles. The deal has Sosa heading to Baltimore while 2B Jerry Hairston, Jr. and a couple of prospects coming over to Chicago. The Cubs will also pay a good portion of Sosa's salary for 2005. Sosa has also indicated that he would void the 2006 year of his contract if he was to be traded.

I like this deal for the Cubs. One, it removes a player who has gone from being look at as a clubhouse leader to a clubhouse cancer off the team. It had been obvious that the Cubs were willing to part ways with Sosa this entire offseason. Second, it saves the Cubs an ass load of money in the 2006 season which can be better spent elsewhere. By being able to move Sosa now, it allows the Cubs to finally be able to push hard for OF Magglio Ordonez. I think Ordonez would much rather play for his former cross-town rival than head to Detroit, but that's just my opinion. His agent is, afterall, the evil Scott Boras, so he will take the offer from the team whoever offers the most dollars.

From the Oriole's standpoint of the deal, I just shake my head. The Oriole's have gained the reputation of making bad deals for players that are past their prime. This seriously reminds of me of when they signed Albert Belle to a huge contract who then was unable to play due to a degenerative hip condition. While I don't think that Sosa will suffer a career ending injury like Belle did, I would be willing to bet that Sosa won't be worth even close to what they are paying him and giving up to get him. Sosa is on the decline and the old MVP Sosa is gone and not coming back. According to ESPN, Sammy Sosa is the only player to ever decrease Avg, RBI, and HR collectively for three years in a row. Other big, long-term questionable signings they have made include Javy Lopez, Raffy Palmeiro, and Sidney Ponson last year. So as you can see, this has been the norm for Baltimore.