O's await as Cubs prepare to slam door on Sosa era
NEW YORK -- The Chicago Cubs were close to agreement on a trade to send unhappy slugger Sammy Sosa to the Baltimore Orioles, several high-ranking baseball officials told the Associated Press.
Medical tests and approval from commissioner Bud Selig and the players association remain unresolved, the officials said Friday night, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Cubs would pay a substantial part of Sosa's $17 million salary this season, the executives said. Sosa would agree to void his salary scheduled for 2006, they also said.
In exchange, Chicago would receive second baseman Jerry Hairston Jr. and at least two prospects.
Sosa's contract gives the Cubs an $18 million option in 2006 with a $4.5 million buyout. But the contract says that if he is traded, his 2006 salary would become guaranteed and a 2007 club option would be added at $19 million with a $4.5 million buyout.
|
|
| Sammy Sosa has 574 career home runs, seventh on the all-time list. (Getty Images) |
"I haven't spoken with anybody about the particulars, but from what I understand in all conversations that what was being discussed was cleared a while back," said Gene Orza, the union's chief operating officer.
The teams had not finalized a deal, all the executives said. Selig's approval is necessary because the trade would involve the transfer of $1 million or more. Sosa also must waive his no-trade clause.
Orioles executive vice president Jim Beattie and vice president Mike Flanagan could not be reached for comment. Cubs spokesman Sharon Pannozzo could not be reached for comment and Katz declined to comment.
As late as Friday afternoon, the Cubs also were talking to the Washington Nationals about a deal to send Sosa to the new team in the nation's capital.
The Cubs have been looking for a taker for Sosa since the end of the season, when he skipped out on the finale at Wrigley Field. Sosa initially claimed he didn't leave until the seventh inning, but the Cubs produced videotapes showing him leaving shortly after the game began and fined him $87,500 -- one day's salary.
The New York Mets were initially thought to be the best bet because general manager Omar Minaya signed Sosa when he was a teenager in the Dominican Republic. But the Mets won the bidding for Carlos Beltran two weeks ago, and two Mets officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said they were not involved with Sosa trade talks this week.
Baltimore's interest intensified after the Orioles lost out on Carlos Delgado earlier this week. Baltimore offered Delgado $48 million over four years, but the slugger took a $52 million, four-year deal from the Florida Marlins instead.
