Sosa and rumors

The papers reported yesterday on the Cubs trying to re-sign Nomar Garciaparra and Todd Walker for next year. Walker has said he would only sign if he was told he was going to be the regular 2nd baseman.

The other rumor is Sosa is going to be heavily shopped during the Winter Meetings.

In my opinion, the only way to get to the next level is to trade Sosa. This will make it possible for the Cubs to develop a new leader for the team. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Thanks for the memories, Sammy.

Originally, I would have preferred to keep Sammy and have him finish his career in Chicago. In order for that to happen, Sosa would have to accept a lesser role and he has shown no hint to that. Every offensive category has slipped the past 4 years. His strike outs per game have gone up and he has played less games each year.

2001 to 2004
Games - 160 - 150 - 137 - 126
Strikeouts - 153 - 144 - 143 - 133
Ks per game - .956 - .96 - 1.044 - 1.056
Avg. - .328 - .288 - .279 - .253
Slugging - .737 - .594 - .553 - .517
TB - 425 - 330 - 286 - 247
TB per game - 2.66 - 2.16 - 2.08 - 1.96

This has been the longest downturn in Sammy's career.