PITTSBURGH -- Sammy Sosa is staying with the Chicago Cubs. For now, if not for long.

	Sosa

The New York Yankees' pursuit of the Chicago Cubs slugger ended Thursday night when the Yankees traded for Cleveland outfielder David Justice. The Cubs apparently wanted at least five Yankees prospects, including several considered among the best in the New York farm system.

Word of the Justice trade broke several minutes after the Cubs began their game in Pittsburgh. Sosa hit a 448-foot homer in the eighth that put the Cubs ahead 4-2, his first homer since June 18, but the Cubs lost 5-4 in 10 innings.

"I'm still in Chicago," Sosa said. "I was ready for anything that could happen. Everybody was waiting for that moment, I think. The Yankees went after somebody, but pretty much I feel happy because a lot of people in Chicago want me to stay."

Still, Sosa sounded like a man who prefers to leave. His agent, Tom Reich, expects a deal with another team will be made.

"I think ultimately Sammy will be traded," Reich said. "This one got real close. But there was a difference of opinion on the players. But I think ultimately there is a deal to make." Reich and Sosa were prepared to talk contract with the Yankees if a tentative trade was agreed to.

"We were ready to go, and Sammy was ready to go," Reich said, "but there was no trade. They got a guy at a lesser cost, but he's a formidable guy."

Cubs president Andy MacPhail also said the Justice trade ended the Yankees talks, telling Chicago reporters, "The deal is dead."

"I think the Cubs will have other discussions," Reich said.

But when? And with whom? Sosa has no idea, and neither does manager Don Baylor, with whom Sosa has had an uneven relationship.

"I haven't heard anything yet," Sosa said. "The situation was the Yankees and they can't make the deal, for some reason. If another team wants me, they probably are going to have to go through the same process. I'll see what happens."

Baylor plans to hold a team meeting Friday in Milwaukee to address the persistent trade rumors he says are distracting a team that has lost eight of its past 10 games.

"We're going to discuss it," Baylor said. "Every single day, guys are talking about who's going where. I'd like to get all of that behind us and start thinking about baseball."

Sosa is signed through next season, but is seeking a significant pay raise from his current $11 million salary, one the Cubs don't seem willing to pay.

"If I stay here, they probably are going to go out there and get some good players. They can probably put a winning team out there," he said. "But we don't know what's going to happen."

Cubs scout Ken Kravec, who had been following the Yankees recently, has watched Tampa Bay and Toronto play the past two days. The Blue Jays had been rumored to be interested in Sosa, but manager Jim Fregosi denied the teams had talked.

Sosa seems as confused as anywhere about the direction the Cubs will go. Asked if he expects something else to be done now, he said, "Probably, yes. Probably, no.

"Right now, my main concern maybe is if somebody else is going to come through. But this is not up to me. I've got to keep playing and keep relaxing. If something happens, I've got to leave."