First: “If you want to know the deeper reason why Sammy Sosa no longer will be with us, it’s because he loved himself to death.”
Sosa’s displays of selfishness, much more than his decline in performance, turned him into someone that was no longer fun to cheer for.
Second: “The success of the trade does not depend on how Sosa plays for the Orioles this season. . . . Moving Sosa is the right thing now and forever. He walked out on his teammates. End of story.”
I would only qualify that statement in this way: He walked out on his teammates, and never showed contrition. End of story.Here’s what I wrote back in October:
I want Sosa disciplined. And I have no idea what I want with regard to Sosa being in a Cubs uniform next year. I used to think I’d always want him back, overpaid or not (the Trib Co. can afford it). This latest episode, though, where he walked out on his team and then lied about it is quite despicable. Show some contrition, Sammy. I’ll cheer for you again. If not, thanks, and goodbye.
Third: “[T]hat it came to this is one of the strangest and saddest stories in Chicago sports history.”
Sosa—the guy who had all the fun next to the dreary Mark McGwire during The Great Home Run Race of ‘98—was the king of post-23 Chicago. And it’s come to this. Booed in his last season (and not because of performance issues), and then gifted to Baltimore with nary a cry from the Wrigley faithful.
Chicago has had a long string of mega-stars. Walter Payton. Michael Jordan. Sammy Sosa. It’s without one for the first time since 1975.
The story this offseason has been that if the Cubs want to sign Carlos Beltran—which they’ve indicated they do—they must trade Sammy Sosa first. In order to make that happen, the Cubs have held discussions with a number of teams, most notably the New York Mets (with the Mets’ interest disappearing and then possibly reappearing again).
Well, perhaps the Mets have decided to forego trading for Sosa and just go after Beltran himself. The AP quotes Beltran as saying recently, “The Mets have been very aggressive. So far, they haven’t made any offers. I think we’ll have a meeting very soon to talk personally.”
The AP reports that “Sammy Sosa was humiliated by being dropped to sixth in the Chicago Cubs lineup, and claims he was mistreated by the club.” Sosa told the Hoy newspaper in Santo Domingo, D.R., “I’m a cleanup hitter or third because I’ve earned that right with almost 600 career home runs.” (more…)
Paul Sullivan directly confirms what has been obvious from the Chicago media coverage of Sammy Sosa for a few years now, in a story in Saturday’s Chicago Tribune (“Sosa’s ‘04 collapse biggest of them all,” 10/9/2004):
Dealing with Sammy Sosa has been an unenviable task for managers, teammates, reporters, media relations personnel and even parking lot attendants at Wrigley Field, at least the ones who refused to go fill his car up with gas when directed.
Over the last several years, Sosa’s rise to larger-than-life status has turned him into one of the most difficult athletes anyone should have to deal with. This is the same guy who in that glorious 1998 season came across as one of the most accommodating, media-friendly superstars in sports.
What happened?
Only Sosa knows the answer. But there’s little doubt he has burned his bridges in Chicago—with the team’s front office, with Cubs fans and with the local media. Sosa’s churlish attitude this year made him persona non grata with the Cubs’ media-relations department, the same people who helped build his image in ‘98 and covered for him during the corked-bat episode last year.
I’m surprised it’s come to this. It shouldn’t have, and I wish it hadn’t.
Mark Prior stated he thought Sammy Sosa should apologize for abandoning the team on the last day of the season, reports FOXSports.com, picking up on a report from the Sun-Times. Prior’s right, Sosa should. Perhaps the larger story? Prior is—already—the team’s leader, or at least one of the main leaders.
The Chicago Cubs did the right thing and fined Sammy Sosa one day’s pay—$87,000—for his abandonment of the team on the last day of the season, reports the AP.
Sammy Sosa told the Sun-Times‘ Mike Kiley on Sunday that he left Sunday’s game in the 7th inning. The Sun-Times reports today, however, “that Wrigley Field security cameras showed his car departing the players’ lot at 1:35 p.m. Sunday, just 15 minutes after the season finale against the Atlanta Braves began.” Team sources said the “club would take disciplinary action against Sosa in the near future.”
Whenever Sosa left, it was certainly before the end of the game. He should—and must—be disciplined.
There may be more: Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti reports (speculates?—he doesn’t attribute his report to any source) that “[t]aking in the near-consensus opinion among local fans and media that Sosa finally has worn out his welcome, the Tribsters appear eager to trade the future Hall of Famer and the $17 million owed him for 2005:”
They want Sosa out of here, having gone to extreme lengths to embarrass him. An employer doesn’t expose a highly paid employee as a liar and jaker, then welcome him back to work with open arms just a few months later. This is called a smear campaign. There is no chance the Cubs and Sosa can have a good relationship anymore . . . .
I can’t believe it has come to this. The greatest player in team history (despite anyone’s personal feelings about the guy, it’s true) leaving on such a bitter note.
I want Sosa disciplined. And I have no idea what I want with regard to Sosa being in a Cubs uniform next year. I used to think I’d always want him back, overpaid or not (the Trib Co. can afford it). This latest episode, though, where he walked out on his team and then lied about it is quite despicable. Show some contrition, Sammy. I’ll cheer for you again. If not, thanks, and goodbye.
MLB.com reports “[r]ight-hander Angel Guzman, coming back from shoulder surgery last July, threw to live batters Sunday and had a successful outing.” The Trib says the outing lasted 30 pitches, and Guzman is “projected to return in May.”
“Joe Borowski’s velocity is down this spring but Cubs manager Dusty Baker wasn’t concerned. Borowski threw on the side Sunday after pitching two-thirds of an inning Saturday night.
‘You’d like him at this point to have a little more velocity,’ Baker said. ‘It looks like it’s the same delivery, same everything. The ball isn’t coming out the same right now. You hope it’s Spring Training and training and fatigue and heat and all that stuff.’”
The Tribune’s Paul Sullivan writes that Borowski’s “fastball has been clocked in the upper 80s this spring, or about 4-5 m.p.h. under last year’s velocity.”
Let’s hope this is just a temporary dip. Borowski throws two pitches – a fastball and a slider. He doesn’t have a sinker or changeup that would allow him to be effective (or at least as effective as he has been) without a low 90s fastball. Additionally, he already lives by painting corners. A slowdown in his velocity may lead him to try to paint the corners even more, meaning an increased walk rate.
Scott Chiasson – remember him?; the guy the Cubs traded Eric Hinske for – “will throw a simulated game Monday. If all goes well, he could pitch in a game Thursday,” reports MLB.com. In 2001, Chiasson looked for all the world like the Cubs future closer, putting up a 1.76 ERA at West Tennessee and coming up to the big leagues for a cup of coffee. A disastrous start to the 2002 season eventually led to Tommy John surgery, however, and Chiasson was out all of 2003.
He was non-tendered in December, and so is no longer on the 40-man roster. He stuck with the Cubs, though, and hopefully will find a spot in Iowa’s bullpen this year.
Baseball Prospectus’s “The Week in Quotes” has a pretty funny juxtaposition of two recent Robert Fick quotes in the St. Petersburg Times:
“It’s unheard of. It’s unbelievable. I had 80 RBIs last year and I took a $200,000 pay cut. How did that happen? … I wasn’t that surprised because of what happened the year before, but something’s fishy. You know what I mean. … There’s a lot of good players out there that were having trouble finding jobs this year. It was worse this year than last year. Not too many teams were knocking on my door.“
–Robert Fick, Devil Rays infielder (St. Petersburg Times)
“Usually, horse—- ballclubs are Mickey Mouse organizations, and maybe in previous years it’s been like that, but, man, it’s pretty cool here. Everything. It’s big-league here… There’s a bunch of names in here now, quality baseball players. A lot of times, the Devil Rays were getting guys released from different teams that were trying to stay in the big leagues and came here, but that’s not the case anymore. It’s a privilege to play for this team.”
–Fick, on his new team
(Emphasis added.) You mean a first baseman who hits no more than league average (98 OPS+ last year, 105 for career) and who does things like this wasn’t all that sought after? I’m shocked.
According to the AP, the Cubs have signed Greg Maddux to a 3 year deal for $24M. The third year is voidable if Maddux doesn’t pitch a certain number of innings in 2005. No word on how many innings that has to be.
In other Cubs news, the Chicago Tribune reports today that three minor leaguers have suffered serious leg injuries. Shortstop Nate Frese broke his leg in a farm accident and will be out for the year. Pitcher John Webb broke his leg chasing his dog. And most significantly, projected 2005 second baseman Brendan Harris woke up with a sore knee and is now set to have knee surgery that will keep him out up to 12 weeks.
Beltran, 23, who saw brief time with the big league club in 2002, had a 2.96 ERA in 48.2 innings for Iowa last year. Barring an injury and Beltran pitching lights out in spring training, he will likely start 2004 with Iowa again. (See Bryan Stroh’s comments on Beltran.) It will be his eighth season in the Cubs minor league system.
The story this offseason has been that if the Cubs want to sign Carlos Beltran—which they’ve indicated they do—they