Cubs Become Fifth Team to Make Bid for Bonilla

The Chicago Cubs faxed an offer to Bobby Bonilla’s agent, Dennis Gilbert, on Wednesday, leaving the Chicago White Sox as the last team expected to bid for the prized free agent. White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf will present his club’s proposal to Gilbert Friday or Saturday at Reinsdorf’s vacation home in Tucson, Ariz.

The Cubs joined the Angels, Phillies, Mets and Pirates as competitors for Bonilla’s services. The Angels’ five-year, guaranteed offer of nearly $30 million was described by a source familiar with the negotiations as equal to the highest bid Bonilla had received through Tuesday.

Met General Manager Al Harazin said Thursday he would consider amending his initial offer of $24.5 million for four years plus an option year after Gilbert told him that bid was insufficient.

“I’ll certainly do everything I can to sign Bobby, but there’s a certain point where you’ve gone as far as you can go,” Harazin said.

The Cubs’ pursuit of Bonilla is surprising, given their already hefty payroll--they’re paying George Bell, Andre Dawson and Shawon Dunston $3 million each--and their stated intention of signing Ryne Sandberg this winter, before the standout second baseman becomes eligible for free agency. However, General Manager Larry Himes said his club’s serious interest is reflected in its bid.

“It’s an incredible offer which I won’t share with you,” Himes told the Chicago Sun-Times. “He could add a left-handed bat to the middle of our lineup.”

Himes said that although pitching was the Cubs’ first priority, signing the switch-hitting Bonilla “would free up other people to trade for pitching.”

Should the Angels sign Bonilla and spend $15-$16 million to re-sign Wally Joyner, they’re likely to slash their budget by not re-signing shortstop Dick Schofield or pitcher Kirk McCaskill.

Schofield’s agent, Dan Grigsby, said Wednesday he believes Schofield was never really in the Angels’ budget, despite team executives’ insistence they were aggressively pursuing Schofield. Grigsby said he has not heard from Angel management since Oct. 18, when he presented a counter-proposal to an offer they had rejected.

“It would be hard to tell if negotiations are broken off because there are no negotiations and there never have been,” Grigsby said. “I just keep thinking we’re going to hear from the Angels, but maybe they’ve made their last offer.”

Grigsby said he has discussed Schofield with several teams, but he said most are waiting to negotiate until after Dec. 7. That’s the deadline for teams to offer salary arbitration to their former players who filed for free agency. If clubs don’t offer arbitration, the players can be signed without costing their new team a draft pick.