Sum Totals

Multiple sources are reporting the final money details from the Sammy Sosa trade. We'll use the Daily Herald's:

...it looks like the Orioles will pay Sosa $5 million of the $17 million (salary) he's owed for this year, with the Cubs paying $12 million. The Orioles are on the hook for the $18 million option for 2006 or the $4.5 million buyout. The Cubs would cover the $3.5 million severance pay owed to Sosa, according to reports.

...

It all means the Cubs probably will end up paying $61.5 million of the $72 million due Sosa as part of the four-year contract extension that took effect in 2002. Baltimore would pay a guaranteed $9.5 million.

The Cubs' expense in 2005 drops from $25 million down to $15.5 million. Not only did Jim Hendry save the Cubs $9.5 million, but he rid them of a declining player who was more of a distraction than a benefit to the team. And, he added a high-OBP guy who can actually leadoff.

Nice work.

Hatchets

Carol Slezak goes right to media gadfly Mark Grace for his reaction. Now, Grace was no fan of Sosa. And many speculate that Grace was let go by the Cubs because they didn't want the infighting between free-agent Grace and a still-under-contract Sosa ton continue. Grace seemed to agree:

"Now that I think about it, it was pretty obvious he was not a big fan of mine," Grace said. "He didn't like me being on the Cubs. Once Andy MacPhail decided to build the Cubs around Sosa, my days were numbered."

What rankles Grace is what happened after he signed with the Diamondbacks.

"Sammy said I was a cancer in the clubhouse and a bad guy," Grace said. "That was unfair, and because he was so adored in Chicago, people believed him. If you ask anyone else, any of my other teammates, they would have a different view."

Well, I don't know if Grace was a good or bad guy in the clubhouse. I do know that this was a player, in his years here, who would not speak out negatively in any way against team management. If Grace had used the power of the pulpit the media gave him to cajole the team to improve the talent pool, perhaps the team would have won while Grace was here.

Instead, Grace was all happy in his assumed comfy role as Steve Stone's heir apparent. Why screw up that future gig by publicly stating the Cubs weren't good enough? Alas, that got screwed up. Grace left town and won a World Series, yet still chose to bash the Cubs during the post Game 7 on-field celebration. Must be all Sammy's fault.

Grace was a fan favorite here. I will never get why.