On January 28, 2005, the Cubs traded Sosa to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for infielder/outfielder Jerry Hairston, Jr., infielder Mike Fontenot, and RHP Dave Crouthers.

The Cubs recently tried to trade Sosa to the Yankees but failed when the Yankees wouldn't give them all of the players they wanted for the slugging outfielder.

The prevailing view among baseball officials is that the Cubs will trade Sosa sometime before the July 31 deadline for making trades without needing waivers.

Yet MacPhail and General Manager Ed Lynch have not acknowledged their intentions to trade Sosa.

The possibility that the Cubs will trade Sosa has become the premier story of the season.

The White Sox traded Sosa to the Cubs in 1992.

Prior to the 2005 campaign, the Cubs finally managed to trade Sosa to the Baltimore Orioles for Jerry Hairston, Jr. and Mike Fontenot.

The celebrated outfielder, who hit 129 home runs in 1998 and '99, was apparently prompted to speak out after it was suggested in a column in The Tribune on Sunday that the Cubs would be wise to trade Sosa.

President Bush, who owned the Rangers at that time, has said that the biggest mistake he made in life was trading Sosa.

The Cubs traded Sosa to the Baltimore Orioles, leaving the Nationals without the big bat their weak offense could use.