No one figures to escape unscathed from the Cubs’ ongoing Sammy Sosa fiasco, in which, by making it clear they don’t want to give him a nine-figure contract extension, they’ve placed themselves in the ticklish position of being all but forced to trade him before the end of next season, when he becomes a free agent. Already most key figures on the Cubs have seen their reputations damaged, including Sosa himself.
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Sosa, just to make things clear, is not on the outs due to any real drop in production. He entered the week hitting .310, with 21 homers and 69 runs batted in, which translates to more than 40 homers, down from his previous two historic seasons, but about 140 RBI, right there with last year’s 141. He might have committed five errors, and he might be on a league-leading pace with 87 strikeouts, but most power hitters strike out a lot–no one more than Reggie Jackson–and I’ve always said give me a strikeout instead of a double play anytime. His 45 walks and on-base percentage near .400 were likewise solid figures; in fact, Sosa’s on-base percentage almost equaled Eric Young’s. Young is the Cubs’ first true leadoff man in years (perhaps decades), and he and Sosa entered the week tied for the team lead in runs scored, which after all is the only offensive figure that really counts. Still, Sosa has seen his reputation slighted by manager Don Baylor, who helped bring on this fiasco by challenging Sosa to become a “more complete” player earlier this season. Sosa hasn’t handled the situation well. He at first seemed peevish at Baylor’s demands, then said Baylor showed “no respect” for him and had “no class,” then announced he would welcome a trade, especially one including a contract extension–which was practically a demand, as he can veto any deal that doesn’t include one–then amended that by saying the Cubs ought to trade him if they don’t intend to offer him such an extension. Sosa is making $10.6 million a year, which at the time he signed his contract was considered highway robbery but is cheap for a player hitting 60 homers a year. He’s said to be seeking a new deal in the $18 to $20-million range for four or five more years–$100 million ideally. At 31, with the end of his career in sight but several seasons away, Sosa is certainly justified in wanting an extension that would make him comfortable for life–not that he isn’t already–but he comes off as the baseball equivalent of Scottie Pippen, complaining about a contract that was eminently fair when it was signed.
This is the last straw for Lynch because he’s already had so many others and because the whole thing has been so badly muddled. A Chicago fan would have to go back to the Sox’ then-GM, Ken Harrelson, bending over a pool table in an attempt to entice Billy Martin to manage the team–as Tony LaRussa was left hanging–to find something equally mismanaged in the media (though the Bulls’ front-office behavior after the sixth title and the Bears’ unsigning of coach Dave McGinnis admittedly come close). Lynch has shown an erratic eye for talent, and for every good deal he’s made there’s been a bad one. He signed the greatly overrated Brian McRae and Mel Rojas to long-term contracts. When he succeeded in foisting them on the New York Mets for Lance Johnson, he began the instant rebuilding scheme that resulted in the 1998 playoff appearance. Yet even then he made dubious deals, in the worst case trading pitching prospect Jon Garland to the White Sox for Matt Karchner in the mistaken belief that because Karchner had once saved some games for the Sox he was closer or even middle-reliever material. When they came to Chicago, MacPhail and Lynch said they were going to build the team slowly and through the farm system, but they have generally drafted poorly–perhaps because of some ill-advised changes in the Cubs’ scouting system–and they’ve abandoned their master plan by trading away talents like Garland that they did have for short-term gains. They were forced to shop Sosa for prospects because, aside from Corey Patterson and a couple of pitchers, they have none.
