Bowden's Not THAT Silly, Is He?

The Post reports on Sosa to the Nats rumors. This is so bizarre to comprehend, that I don’t even wanna think about it.

On top of being old, overpaid, disappointing offensively and tainted by the hint of steroids (not that I’m accusing him, I’m just sayin’), Sosa has a contract that automatically vests his option year if he’s traded. Not only would you be on the hook for the $18 million this year, but you’d have to pay him a ridiculous amount next year as well. You might be able to make the argument if this was 1998 all over again. But, it’s not. He’s older. Declining. A Bad defender. All that on a team with outfielders up to its gills and a stubbornly low $50 million payroll? Even if the Cubs pick up a substantial portion of that contract, why do it? And if the Cubs are picking up more than half of it, wouldn’t it make sense for them to just play him and then let him walk as a free agent? Has he burned that many bridges? This thing just doesn’t pass the smell test to me.

To quote the great Bill James, “Pass.”

In case you’re looking for more insightful comments, John at Washington Baseball Blog crunches the numbers. It ain’t pretty.