Sun, Jan 30, 2005 page23

• Sammy Sosa may head to the Baltimore Orioles

  • AP
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  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 AP.

  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 US$17 million salary this season, the executives said. Sosa would agree to void his salary in 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 US$18 million option in 2006 with a US$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 US$19 million with a US$4.5 million buyout.

  The players' association had told Sosa's agent, Adam Katz, several weeks ago that voiding the option would not be a problem.

  The teams had not finalized a deal, all the executives said. Selig's approval is necessary because the trade would involve the transfer of US$1 million or more.

  Orioles executive vice president Jim Beattie and vice president Mike Flanagan could not be reached for comment. Cubs spokesman Sharon Panazzo also could not be reached for comment and Katz declined to comment.

  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 US$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.

  The Orioles' interest apparently heated up after they lost out on Carlos Delgado earlier this week. Baltimore offered Delgado US$48 million over four years, but the slugger took a US$52 million, four-year deal from the Florida Marlins instead.

  Sosa has 574 home runs, seventh on the career list, and his home run race with Mark McGwire in 1998 made him one of the game's most popular players. With an infectious smile, home run hops and heart taps, he became Chicago's favorite athlete after Michael Jordan retired. In all those dark years when the Cubs struggled, Sosa and his jaw-dropping homers were the lone bright spots.

  But Sosa's relations with the Cubs -- and the fans -- soured in recent years. Hampered by injuries, he's batted just .266 the last two seasons and his homer totals have dropped. Last season, Sosa batted only .253 -- his lowest average since 1997 -- and hit 35 homers and 80 RBIs in 126 games, ending his run of 100-RBI seasons at nine.

  The breaking point came when he skipped out on the final game of last season. He criticized manager Dusty Baker the next day, with Sosa saying all the blame was put on him for the Cubs' failures. In a later interview, Sosa said he was humiliated by being dropped to sixth in the batting order.

  While Cubs general manager Jim Hendry, Baker and Cubs players insisted at last week's Cubs convention that Sosa's presence wouldn't be a disruption to the team, fans weren't buying it. When his image appeared on a video, there was a loud chorus of boos.

  The baseball Doug Mientkiewicz caught for the out that ended the Boston Red Sox 86-year World Series drought is going back to the team -- for one year, anyway.

  The club and its former first baseman announced on Friday that while no decision has been made on who owns the ball, it will be encased in a special plaque and join the World Series trophy on its victory tour.

  Mientkiewicz was traded on Wednesday to the New York Mets. He's a better fielder than Boston's other first baseman, Kevin Millar, but lacks Millar's power at the plate.
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