Sammy Sosa to follow Manny Ramirez back to Chicago Cubs?

CHICAGO, May 27 (UPI) -- The Chicago Cubs recently hired suspected steroids user Manny Ramirez to serve as a player/coach with the organization's Triple-A Iowa squad, leading many to speculate that a similar slugger, Sammy Sosa, will also be reconnecting with the team sometime in the near future.

Cubs president Theo Epstein has a connection with Ramirez, who was suspended twice for using steroids, from their days together working for the Boston Red Sox. Unfortunately for Sosa, who has never admitted using steroids, he doesn't share the same sort of connection with Epstein

"I don't know where things stand with Sammy right now," Epstein said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. "But I do know that it was important to us that Manny has been very upfront about admitting his mistakes, that Manny was very cooperative with Major League Baseball and that Manny is interested in making sure younger players don't make the same mistakes that he made. Those are things that made this worth doing."

Sosa left the Cubs in 2004 after a 13-year stint with the team that saw him hit 545 homeruns and led Chicago to two playoff appearances. When the team celebrated the 100th anniversary of Wrigley Field last month, Sosa did not receive an invite.

It does not sound as if a reunion between Sosa and the Cubs is imminent, possibly because he has never admitted to taking performance-enhancing drugs, unlike Ramirez.

"I know I am nearing the end of my playing days, but I have a lot of knowledge to pass on to the next generation -- both what to do and what not to do,'' Ramirez said in a statement.