Now, of course, the Yankees insist they weren’t close to making a deal for Sammy Sosa. Their face-saving story: Sosa was one of several big sticks they considered before General Manager Brian Cashman happened to be talking to Cleveland GM John Hart and discovered David Justice was available.
Justice always seems to prevail for the New York Yankees.
Cubs sources told a different story on the late-June day the Yankees broke off trade talks. The Cubs’ side: They had agreed to a modest package of minor-leaguers for Sosa because they didn’t want to commit to the six-year contract at about $100 million that Sosa saw himself making.
But the deal-breaker put Sosa’s worth back in perspective, if not Sosa back in his place. Cubs sources said Yankees owner George Steinbrenner decided Sosa’s demand was too rich even for his hot blood. Star-lover Steinbrenner was intrigued with Sosa’s Hispanic TV market magnetism. But not at that price.
That was the best move Steinbrenner never made. With Sosa in their clubhouse and outfield the Yankees probably wouldn’t have won their third straight World Series and fourth in five years. Sosa would have been the “I” of a storm that would have blown apart the rare “we” that is the Yankees.
Sosa initially would have listened to Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams and tried to sacrifice his ego for the “Yankee Way.” But asking Sosa to be a selfless cog would be like asking Steinbrenner to take a vow of silence. Neither would be capable. Sosa is a natural-born Sam-me-me-me. Sosa wants to win–but he wants more to be a star. He’s strictly tangibles.
The Cubs will not be able to contend as long as they try rebuilding around Sosa’s slugging sideshow. But with each passing day the possibility looms larger that management will let Sosa’s agents try to make a deal with another team–or even let him play out the final year of his contract at $12 million.
Sosa did put up sensational second-half numbers. But they came after he had failed to carry the club in April and May, when winning mattered. That’s why the Cubs are still attempting to get Sosa at their price–more like four years, $15 million per. He perhaps has reduced his leverage by indicating he would love to remain king of Chicago.
But this sounds suspiciously like wanting to be the big fish in an evaporating Chicago sports pond. If winning is the goal, signing Sosa shouldn’t be. He’s the unYankee, doing big things at little times.
These Yankees have become all-time great by doing just the opposite. These Bronx Bombers are more like Bronx Jewelers, cutting diamonds in their championship rings with relentlessly subtle precision. The monster home run is not a priority. They’re more Luis Sojo than Sammy Sosa.
Adding Justice allowed the Yankees to make another A-plus in chemistry. He’s a proven postseason performer, a better outfielder than Sosa and didn’t bring Sosa’s star complex and entourage into the N.Y. clubhouse. Justice: ALCS MVP. With some of the minor-leaguers who didn’t go for Sosa, the Yankees were able to add valuable pieces like Denny Neagle, who started Wednesday night’s Game 4 and helped give the Yankees an all-but-over 3-1 Series lead.
If it had ended after four games, 37-year-old right fielder Paul O’Neill might have been MVP for his bat and glove. Imagine the waves Sosa–with six years of Yankees security–would have made during O’Neill’s recent slump. Sosa envisions himself a Roberto Clemente. His pride demands he play Clemente’s position, right field.
Sosa, who can work the media the way Yankees work the count, would have told New York writers, “Paul has been a great player, but we all get old.”
Manager Joe Torre calls O’Neill “the essence of a winner and competitor.” Sosa would have been incapable of reacting the way O’Neill did after Game 4, when he ducked hero-worshiping headlines by telling reporters: “I don’t want to be rude but I really don’t want to talk about me. This is the time of year to talk about the New York Yankees.”
If Steinbrenner had paid Sosa’s price, he also would have paid this one: People would be talking about these Yankees in the past tense.
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Instead Torre doesn’t shy away from questions favorably comparing these Yankees with two recent dynasties, the Oakland A’s of the early 1970s and Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine. Sosa also has made history, solo history.