Sammy Sosa to Baltimore
How badly did the Cubs want to unload Sammy Sosa? While they are picking up a lot of his salary, the fact remains that they were willing to give up one of their best and most productive players ever in exchange for a decent Jerry Hairston Jr. and a few minor leaguers.

Where does this leave the Cubs? They let an aging and expensive Moises Alou walk in the off-season. Now suddenly they find themselves without both the bats of Alou and Sosa in the middle of their lineup. Are they going to go after Magglio Ordonez? Lots of questions remain. Remember, they signed Greg Maddux in February of last year, so a big move late into the offseason isn't completely out of the possibility. The problem for the Cubs this year is that there aren't many marquee bats left out on the market.

While Sosa's production has declined, he didn't have a terrible season in 2004. He hit 35 homeruns with a line of .253/.332/.517. Yes, that is far from what he did in his 'roided up prime (allegedly), but still 35 homeruns and an OPS of 849 isn't brutal. It's just the fact that he makes so much money and has fallen so far. With that said, what better place for him than Baltimore? They brought back Rafael Palmeiro, and for the past ten seasons have been to washed up ballplayers what Long Beach, CA is to washed up prostitutes. Sosa brings a still powerful bat, although now he also accompanies that with an attitude, diminishing skills, and the fact that he's a complete circus in the outfield. I wouldn't be too surprised to see him DH-ing on a semi-regular basis as we get deeper into 2005.

Sosa has fallen far from grace in the eyes of Chicago sports fans. Sosa was once revered with such stars as Michael Jordan, Ryne Sandberg, Dick Butkus, Ernie Banks and Ron Santo. Now there is almost a sense of relief that the problematic slugger is gone from the Windy City.

Think of all that Sosa has gotten away with while playing for the Cubs. The accusation of steroid use, the corked bat incident, tons of losing baseball, a reputation for choking when the game is on the line (this is not meant to start a "clutch hitting: Does it exist" debate, I'm just stating public opinion), diminishing skills, complaining about his spot in the lineup and then finally walking out on the team during the final game of the 2004 season.

My feeling is that Sosa will bounce back in 2005 to some degree. I'd predict about 35 HRs again, but with a little higher AVG and OBP. I'm thinking something like .265/.345/.500. Baltimore added another bat, but they need pitching. It looks like they might try the Cleveland Indians in the mid-1990's model for winning by trying to win a lot of 10-7 games. Unfortunately, Boston and New York has just as much offense with vastly superior pitching.