With reports coming out yesterday of the Chicago Cubs doing all they can to trade Kosuke Fukudome, he makes perfect sense to be the target of today’s subject in my Fire Sale series, and how likely the Cubs are to have one. Out of all of the players on the team, Fukudome seems to be the one they are most desperate to move, so they can clear a spot in the outfield for hot prospect, rookie Tyler Colvin.
When you look at his history, you would have to be surprised to see how many fans are hoping he gets traded. Even before he declared his intentions to play in the United States, baseball fans were clamoring for him, even Cub fans. When he was signed by the Cubs, the fans were ecstatic, even though the price tag may have been a bit more than they would have liked. However, the Cubs were not even the highest bidder for his services, which had to seem like a victory and give the indication that the Cubs got a steal when they signed him.
Yesterday, reports came out that stated the Cubs were so desperate to trade Fukudome, that they have stated they are willing to eat the remaining $8 million he is still owed for the remainder of this season, as well as half of the $14 million he is owed for 2011, which is his final year on the deal. When a team comes out and states they are willing to eat more than half of a player’s contract, you know they really want to get rid of him, and get at least a little bit of salary relief.
While the Cubs are actively shopping Fukudome, and are willing to eat most of his contract, the problem of his no trade clause still remains. While he does not have a full no trade clause, he is still able to reject a trade to a number of other teams. How many teams that is, or which teams they are, I am not sure. However, he will have no say if a trade is made to one of the teams that are not on his list. This, along with the Cubs willingness to eat $15 of the $22 million he is owed, makes him much easier to trade than either Alfonso Soriano or Aramis Ramirez.
There is only one slight problem in trading Fukudome. According to the same report that said the Cubs were willing to eat this money, they are still having a hard time finding any team willing to take him on, most likely due to his sever drop off after the first month of the year.
For his career, Fukudome hits .335 in April, but tails off as the months go on. May his career numbers have him hitting a respectable .276 as well as .271 in July. However, that is where the respectability ends. For June, he hits .220, August is .241 and September he has a lowly average of .193. His on base percentage is still great, always around the mid .300s, but the lack of hitting and driving in runs overshadows the getting on base at a high clip. With two and a half years of tape and statistics to look at, you can hardly wonder why teams are not fighting to get him.
With his contract being easily manageable with the Cubs taking on most of the money, there is no other explanation why teams would be balking at the idea of giving up prospects to bring him on board. If that doesn’t speak volumes about his perceived worth around baseball, nothing will. So while there may be several fans wishing for his departure, there just may not be much of a demand for his services around the league. Fans may have to come to grips with the idea that they may be stuck with Fukudome for another year.
The only other possibility, depending on how desperate the Cubs get, they could bite the bullet and digest the final $7 million he is owed. After all, what is $7 million more if you are already willing to eat $15 million? Actually, that is still quite a bit more, almost half as much, but I digress. This way, they could get possibly get a team interested knowing they have no financial attachment at all in bringing him on board. If they can’t, they could just cut him all together. While this is a possibility, I am not sure how likely this would be. Everything falls on how desperate the Cubs really are to get rid of Fukudome.
For now, Fukudome seems to be the first, and possibly only, player that may be moved.
