CHICAGO -- Sammy Sosa popped out of the dugout and knew immediately he was home. Early arriving fans welcomed him back to Wrigley Field with familiar calls of "SAM-MEE, SAM-MEE" and waved signs telling him they don't want him to go.

During a two-week road trip, Sosa's return to Chicago was anything but certain. The subject of incessant trade rumors, he was apparently on his way to New York before a deal with the Yankees fell through.

	Sammy Sosa, who went hitless Monday, says that recent media reports have been misleading.

Now, he waits. And he continues to play for the Cubs, even as stores outside the neighborhood ballpark put sale prices on his merchandise.

"I'm still here. I don't hear anything," Sosa said before the struggling Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0 Monday. "If nothing happens, I have to stay here and I'm going to stay. I don't have any problem with that."

Sosa is under contract through 2001 at about $11 million per season. Most think he is seeking a four-year extension, worth at least $17 million per season. And he can reject any trade because he has 10 years in the major leagues and five with the same team.

Sosa, who hit 129 homers over the previous two seasons, reiterated that his desire to be rewarded is not about money, but respect.

"We're not talking about salary, buddy," he said. "The money is not a problem. The problem is they pay some of the best players in my category. I consider myself one of those players. I deserve to get what I get. It's not about how much it is or how much I get."

He criticized media accounts over the last two weeks and said he's never made an ultimatum to the Cubs.

"I always say 'Take care of me,' I never say `Pay me or trade me,"' Sosa said. "Come on, I'm not that type of person."

Can Sosa, after all that has happened over the last two weeks, accept that maybe there is no viable trade for him because other teams can't give the Cubs what they would want in return?.

"I don't know," he said. "I'm not a GM. I'm a player."

Would he accept a trade without the stipulation of an extension?

"We haven't gotten to that point yet," he said.

Sosa and manager Don Baylor say they have patched up their strained relationship after a talk in Pittsburgh last weekend.

Both are weary of the trade talk. Baylor told the team in Milwaukee over the weekend it had to deal with it and tune it out.

"I didn't want to hear it in clubhouse. I was tired of listening to it and I'm tired of it listening to it now," Baylor said. "I'm glad the storm has quieted some, but I imagine it could start up again. Most things do. The (July 31) deadline is still out there. I'd like for it to go away, but it's not."

Sosa's play has not suffered by the distractions. Even with an 0-for-4 Monday that included two strikeouts, he was still batting .306 with 21 homers and 69 RBI.

With Sosa, the Cubs are playing poor baseball. Without him, they would probably do the same, but without their biggest attraction.

Sosa, as he does before every home game, raced to his position in right field Monday as the fans cheered wildly. He thumped his heart and blew them a kiss.

"They showed me a lot of love today and that makes me really happy," Sosa said. "I never said I wanted to leave. Let's see what happens. I don't have any control about it, but I still love Chicago."

Will he be here the rest of the season? Other teams reportedly interested have been Arizona, Cleveland, Toronto and the Mets.

"I'm not going to talk about money or situations like that because my agents have to take care of that," Sosa said.

"I always say I want to finish my career, in Chicago," he said. "But if they don't take care of me, I got to go to another place."