LONG TIME MOBSTER SOSA DEPARTS TO CANTON

For Immediate Release
December 18, 2000

  FOX SPORTS NEWS  – Outfielder Roger Cedeno & right-handed reliever John Wettland were traded Monday from the Canton Indians to the Chicago Mobsters for outfielder Sammy Sosa.  The move came less than a week after about four teams failed to trade for Sosa, who Chicago was planning on moving in the off season.

“Entering the off season, we felt that we needed to rebuild with youth in order to improve the ball club,” Mobsters general manager Stray Corrado said. “After seeing once again how unsettled the trade market can be, we turned our attention to the getting something we liked, and something for the future.   The trade helps both ball clubs and we always believe in getting value for value.”

Sosa, 30, who sometime next season could be the Mid-West Baseball League’s all time home run hitter, was disappointed about the move at first, but later in a interview with Jim Rome, on Fox Sports Radio said “I be a good ball player, and I go wherever to play ball.   I wish I could have stayed in Chicago, but the Mobsters move in a different direction.  So I go, to be a Indian, and play for “Sweet” Lou”.   Roger Cedeno on the other hand was ecstatic about the deal.   He was looking forward to playing in the spacious Comerica Park, and thinks his speed could put him in the area of 70 steals, and 15-20 triples within a couple of years.   Wettland, a strong dominant right hand reliever has some back problems, but will do his duty in the Mobsters pen in 2001.  Wettland fills a void for a quality right-handed reliever. The addition of Sosa brings another Latin slugger to a team that desperately needs power.   “He hits the gaps, he hits the ball hard,” Indians general manager “Sweet” Lou Solomon said of Sosa. “He runs well. Across the board, he’s an excellent athlete.”   He also struggles but that wasn’t what he was brought to Canton for.   “Giving up Sosa was difficult,” Corrado said. “However, we do feel we have enough depth within the organization at outfield … Everyone knows that Sosa was an important part of our playoff team last year, but in order to get Cedeno and the draft picks, we had to include him in the deal.   Full details of the trade follow.

Chicago Receives: Roger Cedeno, John Wettland, Kentucky’s 1st RD – 2001,Kentucky’s 2nd RD – 2001,& Northridge’s 5th RD – 2001.
Canton Receives: Sammy Sosa, Oregon’s 5th RD – 2001, & Warfield’s 5th RD – 2001, Chicago’s 6th RD – 2001, Kentucky’s 6th RD – 2001.