$30.5-Million Deal Moves Sandberg to the Top of Salary List

The Chicago Tribune Co., which bought the Cubs for $20.5 million in 1981, will spend $30.5 million to keep Ryne Sandberg at second base through 1996.

Sandberg, who was eligible for free agency at the end of the 1992 season, became No. 1 on baseball’s ever-changing pecking order when he agreed to terms Monday.

“I’m overwhelmed,” he said at a news conference. “It’s a great day for the Sandbergs and for the Cubs.”

The five-year, $30.5-million package includes a $2.1-million salary Sandberg was already guaranteed for 1992 as part of his last contract. That will be boosted to $5.6 million with a $3.5-million bonus to be paid in December.

The $30.5 million also includes $2 million in personal service guarantees, annual salaries of $5.1 million from 1993 through 1996 and a $2.5-million buyout if the Cubs do not pick up a $5.9-million option in 1997, when Sandberg will be 38.

Sandberg can also earn $1.6 million in award incentives over the life of the contract.

Bobby Bonilla’s five-year, $29.5-million contract with the New York Mets had been baseball’s biggest, as was its average annual value of $5.8 million.

At $30.5, Sandberg’s contract has an average annual value of $6.1 million.

If his $2.1-million salary of this year is excluded, the new guarantee of $28.4 million over four years carries an average annual value of $7.1 million.

Sandberg is a nine-time Gold Glove winner who batted .291 last season with 26 home runs and 100 runs batted in.

Sandberg said it would be premature to call it his last contract but added that it almost ensures he will end his career with the Cubs.

“It was never a priority that I be the highest-paid player, but the chance to spend 15 years with the same club was very important to me,” he said. “That doesn’t happen much anymore, and it’s something I can be proud of.”