Nationals Make Guaranteed Offer To Sosa

The genius of Jim Bowden strikes again.  He’s offered Sammy Sosa a guaranteed Major League contract with incentives.

It seems like Washington was the only club considering such an offer.  Sosa earned $17MM in 2005, and had negative offensive value.  He was outhit by many pitchers, including Elmer Dessens, Hector Carrasco, and Josh Fogg.  He just barely edged out Braves pitcher Jorge Sosa offensively.

However, Sosa was far from the worst hitter in baseball.  That honor goes to Miguel Olivo’s Seattle stint, where he hit .151/.172/.276 in 157 plate appearances.  Nipping at Olivo’s heels was Corey Patterson, who hit .215/.251/.348 in 483 plate appearances.

Should we expect another laughably bad season from the former idol?  Tough to say.  Let’s take a look at the field of forecasters, using the AVG-HR-RBI-runs format and pro-rating to my projected total of 486 ABs.

RotoAuthority:  .245-19-60-51
PECOTA:           .242-21-76-53
ZiPS:                .227-23-74-39

Outlook: not so good.  Sosa looks to serve as the backup for Jose Guillen, who is in no hurry to get back after November labrum surgery.  Guillen should miss at least a month of the season. Why can’t Ryan Church get some love?

Mark your calendars for Tuesday, May 16th at 7:05.  That would presumably mark Sosa’s return to Wrigley Field if he accepts the Nats’ offer and stays healthy that long.  It’s not entirely out of the question that Sosa could be pursuing his 600th home run during the Wrigley Series if he has a great April.  He has faced Greg Maddux more than any other Cubs starter, and has three home runs in 56 at-bats against him.