The Cubs and Dodgers could exchange high-priced outfielders at this week's general manager meetings.
Right fielders Sammy Sosa and Shawn Green could switch teams in a blockbuster proposal the Dodgers and Cubs plan to discuss in the next couple days, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.
The Dodgers were contacted by the Cubs about acquiring Green, and baseball sources indicated to the Times that Dodgers general manager Paul DePodesta and Cubs general manager Jim Hendry have planned to meet early at the general manager meetings, which are set to begin Tuesday at Key Biscayne, Fla.
However, a number of obstacles stand in the way of this potential blockbuster.
Green — who turns 32 on Wednesday — and Sosa — who will turn 36 on Friday — have no-trade clauses in their current contracts. There are also other potential contract obstacles to completing a deal that may be expanded to include additional players and teams.
The Cubs are eager to deal Sosa, whose relationship with manager Dusty Baker deteriorated horribly last season. Sosa was fined $87,400 (a game's salary) for arriving late to the Cubs' season finale at Wrigley Field and leaving the game early. In responding to reporters' questions about next season, Baker said he wanted Sosa to report to spring training in top shape. Sosa angrily said he was tired of Baker blaming him for the Cubs' problems.
Sosa is guaranteed $17 million in 2005, and an $18-million option in 2006 becomes guaranteed if he is traded. Sosa's contract also includes a $19-million option, or $4.5-million buyout, in 2007.
Green has stated publicly that he'd like to remain in Los Angeles with the Dodgers. However, the left-handed slugger did not rule out waiving his no-trade clause.
Sammy Sosa's relationship with the Cubs has deteriorated.
(Jonathan Daniel / GettyImages)
Green batted only .266 with 28 home runs and 86 runs batted in while being paid $16 million last season. However, the two-time All-Star was recovering from arthroscopic shoulder surgery and adjusting to playing first base for the first time in his career. Down the stretch, when the Dodgers needed him the most, Green delivered with some timely home runs as L.A. won the NL West.
Green has a salary of $16 million in 2005, which would make him the team's highest-paid player for the second consecutive season.
DePodesta said that re-signing third baseman Adrian Beltre was the team's top priority and Beltre could receive a significantly more lucrative offer from other teams after an MVP-caliber season. Acquiring Sosa could fill a void in the lineup left by the potential loss of Beltre, and his star power could help a team in dire need of it.
Both players are either past their prime (Sosa) or washed up (Green). It's a no-win situation for both teams. Why you would want to trade away one player for the other and in essense NOT lower your payroll is beyond me?
Both players are either past their prime (Sosa) or washed up (Green). It's a no-win situation for both teams. Why you would want to trade away one player for the other and in essense NOT lower your payroll is beyond me?
In recent weeks, Sosa has made some pretty crude comments about the Cubs organization. He also left their last game of the season early. I would think the Cubs just want him gone.
Basically they (the Cubs) got someone of "equal value" (at this point in their careers as you explained) in the trade.
The Cubs sure did act VERY quickly in dealing off Sosa. We saw the reports on what he had said and done. Wow, there must have been much worse things behind the scenes.
Nontheless I am sure the Cubs just wanted to get rid of him asap. Which is a shame...... to see a man like that who has meant so much to tha franchise become a problem spot on the team...
When they had a tough late-season (again) he was the first one to complain about what was wrong with the team.. Instead of being a team leader and being vocal about what needed to be done to improve....
All in all though for the Cubs, I feel they came out slightly ahead. Sosa is beyond his prime and won't be the 40+ HR a year slugger any longer. In addition to that he's got controversy surrounding him now - from the corked bat to the shameless comments and actions at the end of the season. On the other hand, Green is in his early 30's and may have some good/better years ahead of him. Aside form that, he is nearing the end of his contract and is a very marketable guy. Should he have a good season with the Cubs, he would become more tradeable as well.
It all started with "The Sneeze". I think Sosa was in the doghouse from that point on as far as Baker was concerned. It totally ruined any chance of Sosa having a very productive season. And he never recovered from it, hurting the Cubs in so many games in the middle of the season until Baker finally had the balls to move him down in the lineup.
Not only is any trade of Sammy Sosa not imminent, it is less than likely.
"At this point, I'd bet on him staying with the Cubs," Sosa's agent, Adam Katz, told ESPN's Peter Gammons. "If there were anything going, they'd have to contact me, and no one has. Nothing is even close to irreconcilable. Both people [Sosa and Cubs manager Dusty Baker] are good people who want to win and do so in Chicago."
Sosa's 2004 season with the Cubs ended on a sour note for both parties.
Sosa arrived 70 minutes before the first pitch of the Cubs' meaningless season finale, and he apparently left 15 minutes after the game started without ever putting on his uniform, as security cameras in the team's parking lot at Wrigley Field showed. Sosa told the Chicago Sun-Times he was in the clubhouse until the seventh inning.
The Cubs' fading slugger was fined $87,400 -- one day's salary -- for arriving late to that game.
