Cubs General Manager Ed Lynch has adopted a new strategy in dealing with the Sammy Sosa trade rumors.
“People ask me, `How do you characterize the [trade] talks?'” Lynch said. “I’m not going to answer that. I know [the talk] is not going to go away, but I’m not going to add fuel to it.”
Fair enough. The flames are already strong enough to have overshadowed last weekend’s crosstown series between the Cubs and White Sox. And the same will happen this week when the Mets–believed to be Sosa’s top suitors–rumble into town for a two-game series beginning Tuesday.
Mets General Manager Steve Phillips contacted Lynch late last week to inquire about Sosa’s availability. Lynch told him he would listen to offers, but the two have not spoken since.
Phillips is not scheduled to make the trip to Chicago this week. Nor is Omar Minaya, the Mets’ assistant general manager who signed Sosa 15 years ago when he was a scout for the Texas Rangers. Assistant GM Jim Duquette will monitor things for the Mets.
Phillips has fanned the flames with recent comments about a potential deal.
“Chips are not going to be a problem,” he told reporters. “If we want to make trades, we have plenty to trade.”
But some baseball officials dispute that. The Mets traded a half-dozen prospects in 1998 to acquire Al Leiter and Mike Piazza and two more last season to add Kenny Rogers. And they are not eager to part with their current top prospects, Class AA outfielder Alex Escobar and right-handers Pat Strange and Grant Roberts.
Moreover, the Mets’$80 million payroll isthe sixth highest in baseball, and they want to sign left-hander Mike Hampton to a long-term deal and make an off-season run at Seattle shortstop Alex Rodriguez.
But the Mets are desperate for outfielders after releasing Rickey Henderson and sending Roger Cedeno to Houston in the Hampton deal. Rookie left-fielder Jason Tyner has not hit a home run since high school, and Phillips and manager Bobby Valentine are in the last year of their contracts, giving the organization a win-at-all costs feel.
What should not be forgotten in any trade talk involving Sosa is his status as a “10 and 5” player. As a 10-year veteran with at least five years with one team, Sosa can veto any trade.
Sosa’s agent, Adam Katz, said Monday that he has not submitted a list of teams to which Sosa would approve a trade.
“I’m not going to start carving into his rights as a 10-and-5 player,” Katz said. “We have talked in general terms about preferences, but I’m not going to get into that with anybody but [Cubs President Andy MacPhail] or Ed [Lynch].
“My position is, if they decide to move him, we’ll be cooperative. His first preference, by the way, is to stay with the Cubs.”
Sosa, though, has given every indication he would welcome a trade to the Mets. According to team sources, he walked through the clubhouse last week and declared: “Hey, everybody, I’m going to New York.”
Katz dismissed that line as a joke.
He also downplayed Sosa’s comment last month that he would approve a trade to one of four teams: San Francisco, Arizona, Colorado or Houston.
“Sammy mentioned to me that he misunderstood the question,” Katz said. “Those are the four new ballparks he likes playing in.”
Sosa has told those close to him that if he is traded, he wants to stay in the National League. He fears an American League team would force him into a role as a designated hitter, and he does not want to forfeit his knowledge of National League pitchers.
If that doesn’t preclude a deal with the Yankees, this might: While owner George Steinbrenner is said to be infatuated with the idea of obtaining Sosa, his top advisers are warning against trading for a player viewed by some as “one-dimensional.”
Yes, Lynch and top Yankees scout Gene Michael had lunch together over the weekend at Comiskey Park and sat together for at least one game. But that does not mean a trade with the Yankees is looming, just as it didn’t three weeks ago when the Yankees dispatched Michael to Chicago to scout Henry Rodriguez.
The Angels and Royals also reportedly contacted Lynch about Sosa, but Anaheim is regarded as having baseball’s weakest farm system and Kansas City has balked at signing outfielder Johnny Damon to a $5 million-a-year deal.
As for the New York teams, both appear more interested in acquiring a front-line starter before the July 31 trading deadline. That makes a deal for Cubs right-hander Ismael Valdes more likely.
Valdes can become a free agent after this season, and the Cubs appear to have little interest in signing the injury-prone right-hander to a long-term deal. For all his problems, though, Valdes has a 3.33 ERA over his last four starts.
