Sosa headed for Baltimore

According to ESPN's Tim Kurkjian, Sammy Sosa is heading to Baltimore as long as everyone involved in the trade passes their physicals. The Cubs will land Jerry Hairston Jr. and at least two minor-leaguers. The Cubs will pay a "substantial" part of Sosa's 2005 salary and he will agree to void his salary in 2006. Hairston is the opposite of Sosa, he hits for average and can steal bases. Last year for the O's, Hairston played second base and all three outfield positions. The Chicago Tribune is reporting that he can only play left and second base though. I had him on my fantasy team the last two years and he puts up good numbers when healthy. Last year Hairson only played 86 games due to a fractured finger and ankle, but he still managed to bat .303 and steal 13 bases. He started the season on the DL because of a fractured finger he suffered in an exhibition game against the Marlins. He then broke his ankle trying to snag a home-run on August 17th. The fractured ankle ended his season. Let's hope the broken bones are a thing of the past, because the Cubs are woefully thin in the outfield. If Hairston went down with an injury, Hollandsworth and Dubois would start in the corner outfield positions unless the Cubs add someone else to the mix. The Cubs were said to be considering Maggs Ordonez but it looks like the Tigers are willing to overpay for his services. Left-handed hitter Jeromy Burnitz is the only other free-agent outfielder available, and the Cubs were known to have been in contact with his agent. One source said they were close to a deal with the left-handed hitter, who is 35 and hit .283 with 37 home runs and 110 RBIs in the light air of Colorado last season.