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Yahoo! Sports: MLB - Cubs should trade Sosa while he still has value
Sammy's looking for $110m for six years. Please keep in mind that I lambasted the Cubs for the contract he is currently playing with, so my opinion shouldn't count for much, but I agree with the text that says you shouldn't pay him that much.
I do however think that the article severely underestimates his value. Sosa will be just 32 next year and has three straight years of a .630+ SLG% in what has been a neutral park over the last three years. And to his credit he has missed all of 10 games in the last three years. Without Sosa, the last two Cubs teams would have easily lost 100 games.
Sosa produced more runs (142) than Vlad Guerrero (132) and more than anyone else but Todd Helton. He was a big-time offensive player and has been for three years now. That is not a fluke.
There is cause for concern on his similarity list as Rocky Colavito, Dale Murphy, Jim Rice, Ralph Kiner, Jose Canseco and Bobby Bonds were not (or have not been) worth much past age 34. It isn't much of a stretch to see Sosa turning into Jose Canseco in a few years, except that Sosa is far more durable than Canseco has proven to be. I would be willing to go $55m for three years, but I don't think I would go much beyond that, unless I could get a buyout (even for $5m) after each season.
Sammy's looking for $110m for six years. Please keep in mind that I lambasted the Cubs for the contract he is currently playing with, so my opinion shouldn't count for much, but I agree with the text that says you shouldn't pay him that much.
I do however think that the article severely underestimates his value. Sosa will be just 32 next year and has three straight years of a .630+ SLG% in what has been a neutral park over the last three years. And to his credit he has missed all of 10 games in the last three years. Without Sosa, the last two Cubs teams would have easily lost 100 games.
Sosa produced more runs (142) than Vlad Guerrero (132) and more than anyone else but Todd Helton. He was a big-time offensive player and has been for three years now. That is not a fluke.
There is cause for concern on his similarity list as Rocky Colavito, Dale Murphy, Jim Rice, Ralph Kiner, Jose Canseco and Bobby Bonds were not (or have not been) worth much past age 34. It isn't much of a stretch to see Sosa turning into Jose Canseco in a few years, except that Sosa is far more durable than Canseco has proven to be. I would be willing to go $55m for three years, but I don't think I would go much beyond that, unless I could get a buyout (even for $5m) after each season.
posted by Sean Foran # 10:25 AM 
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