Sosa trade to Orioles expected this week

By wire services
Published January 30, 2005

The formal divorce of Sammy Sosa and the Chicago Cubs could be all but complete.

The Cubs and the Orioles agreed on a trade late Friday that would send Sosa, the slugger who has gone from hailed to reviled at Wrigley Field, to Baltimore for second baseman Jerry Hairston and prospects.

A team official said that the only obstacles to completing the trade were procedural: The players must pass physicals, and commissioner Bud Selig must approve the deal.

According to the official, a formal announcement will likely not come until Wednesday. But others say the deal isn't solid. Paperwork for the Sosa deal had not been filed with Selig's office on Saturday.

Sosa, who must approve the trade, is eager to leave Chicago and told associates last week that he expected to be dealt to the Orioles. But trading for Sosa is complicated because of his contract.

Sosa's contract calls for an $18-million option for 2006 to become guaranteed if the Cubs trade him. The union has told Sosa it will allow him to waive that clause, but it cannot give formal permission until the trade is final.

The Cubs are expected to pay Sosa's severance and give the Orioles perhaps $12-million of his $17-million salary. The Orioles would pay the rest of the salary.

NICE RING: Florida Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria has a World Series ring and would like to see Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie get his first Super Bowl championship ring next Sunday.

Loria and Lurie have never met, but they are often confused for one another.

"I was at the Breakers Hotel at the league meetings in Palm Beach," said Lurie. "A waiter came up to me in the restaurant and said, "Congratulations on winning the championship.' "

That scene took place after the Marlins won the World Series in 2003. Nearly 10 years earlier, just after Lurie bought the Eagles, there was a similar scene.

"I was in minor league baseball at the time," said Loria. "One day some guy called me and said: "I'm calling from the Philadelphia Inquirer. Would you give me the inside scoop?' "

"I'm not the buyer," Loria told the reporter. "He's Lurie."

[Last modified January 30, 2005, 00:11:11]