Orioles dumping Palmeiro, Sosa

Orioles moving on from Palmeiro, Sosa

In a move that comes as a surprise to no one, the Baltimore Orioles announced Saturday that first baseman Rafael Palmeiro and outfielder Sammy Sosa will not return to the team next season.

At this point, we are heading in a different direction," club executive vice president Mike Flanagan told the Baltimore Sun.

Sosa, 37, who was acquired from the Chicago Cubs for second baseman Jerry Hairston and two minor leaguers, hit .221 with 14 homers and 45 RBI in 102 games.

It also was reported that he and Miguel Tejada had a disagreement that led to an icy relationship between the two Dominican Republic superstars.

While Palmeiro's season included collecting his 3,000th hit, it was his failed drug test that caused a commotion. Palmeiro, 41, continues to deny he intentionally took steroids, but he has no concrete proof as to why stanozolol was found in his system during a May drug test.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2222870

I used to like Sammy, too. Oh well.

And no matter what happens, Sosa's no. 21 should be retired by the Cubs. I know about the ALLEGATIONS of his steroid use, but until, and unless it's proven, there's no way to keep him out of the baseball HoF and the Cubs damn well better his number. Sad to see him go out like he did, but he most likely will retire now. Understand, Sammy was never the same after Salomon (headhunter) Torres drilled him in '04. It was downright scary when Sosa's helmet broke.

That's an awful lot of sunk money off the books. If the O's use it to help fill out the middle of their rotation, they could be a dark horse next year.