Re: Sosa rejects Nationals' offer <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>WASHINGTON -- Outfielder Sammy Sosa has rejected the one-year, $500,000 non-guaranteed Major League offer from the Nationals, according to general manager Jim Bowden in an e-mail to MLB.com.Sosa wanted at least $1 million to sign with the team, but Bowden was not willing to increase the offer. The Nationals originally had offered Sosa a Minor League deal with an invitation to Spring Training."We respect Sammy and what he has accomplished in the game," Bowden said. "We wish him well and hope that he is able to come back and perform like he did a couple of years ago. As long as he is not in our division, we'll be rooting for him to win Comeback Player of the Year."A source familiar with the negotiations said if Sosa was offered a deal similar to Frank Thomas, who received a $500,000 guaranteed contract with incentives from the Athletics, he would have taken the deal. But the think tank in the Nationals' front office was very concerned about Sosa's eroding skills.Sosa is coming off the worst season of his career, hitting .221 with 14 home runs and 45 RBIs, and he had two stints on the disabled list with Baltimore. Sosa's last good season was in 2003, when he hit .279 with 40 home runs and 103 RBIs for the Cubs.The Nationals had looked at Sosa as Spring Training insurance in case Jose Guillen's injured left shoulder has not fully recovered, and if Alfonso Soriano continues to refuse to play the outfield or plays in the World Baseball Classic.With Sosa out of the picture, it means Marlon Byrd, Ryan Church and Brandon Watson will compete for the center-field job. Had Sosa agreed to the deal, the Nationals would have had Soriano playing center field, with Sosa and Guillen at the corners.Sosa has hinted at retirement. If so, he leaves the game with 588 home runs, fifth best in league history, 1,575 RBIs and a .274 batting average."It's a tough way to call it a career, if that's what he's doing," one source said.</div>http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/new...e2005&fext=.jsp
