Damaged Goods

Come to the Dominican Republic!

It looks as though the first major personnel move of the post-BALCO era has been completed, with Sammy Sosa departing the friendly confines of Wrigley for Camden Yards and the Cubbies picking up $12 million of the total $17 million for this season. I realize that this is not truly a signing of a player wrapped up with steroids and scandal (allegedly), but it is the first deal since the new steroid rulings let MLB quote Casablanca ("I'm shocked! Shocked to find gambling in this establishment!"). Though five million worth of salary seems a drop in the bucket for a guy who hit more homeruns than any Oriole last year, the Birds are paying a high price in talent (Jerry Hairston, Jr, most of all). It remains to be seen what Giambi, Bonds, Sheffield and the rest of the BALCO gang will do this season and what future contracts will be tendered to the next 180-lb. batsmen who is suddenly parking 50 balls a year. This move by Baltimore raises the question: is baseball once bitten, twice shy? Or, like the disparity in the ways Giambi and Sheffield are treated by the New York press, does forty home runs a year heal all wounds. (Goddamn, I'm starting to sound all Carrie Bradshaw-ish. This has gotta stop.)