Cubs deal Fukudome to Cleveland for prospects
MILWAUKEE — The Cubs moved on Thursday from one era, which was largely a disappointment, and on to another, which is fraught with uncertainty.
General manager Jim Hendry traded right fielder Kosuke Fukudome to the Cleveland Indians for a pair of minor-league players: Class AAA pitcher Carlton Smith and Class A outfielder Abner Abreu. The Cubs will pick up all but about $1 million left on the more than $4 million left on Fukudome's contract.
The Cubs recalled outfielder Tyler Colvin from Class AAA Iowa, and for the immediate future their plan is to play him regularly in right field to see if he figures into their plans as an everyday player for next year and beyond.
“Moving forward, we can make the proper decisions on him, and he can find out and kind of show us where he's at going into '12,” Hendry said.
Dealing Fukudome seemed to fit the needs of the Cubs and the Indians. Cleveland has suffered injuries to its outfield corps, and the Cubs and Fukudome were set to part ways after the season as his four-year, $48 million contract expires.
The Cubs signed Fukudome in the fall of 2007, when they were flush with cash. He was the first big-league signing out of Japan for the Cubs, who thought they were getting a much more productive and powerful offensive player.
Instead, Fukudome was a solid defensive right fielder and a good on-base percentage hitter. But he didn't live up to the hype or the contract. His years in Chicago were characterized by fast starts at the plate and midseason fades.
“Obviously he did do some good things here,” Hendry said. “And he played, a lot of times, very solidly. The first year, he made the all-star team in New York. There were some tough times too, some bad endings to the first couple of years, didn't play as well the second half. Great defender. I think in a perfect world, we thought the bat would've played at a little larger scale when we signed him, obviously, as did everyone else that pursued him.”
It got so bad for Fukudome that he found himself benched by then-manager Lou Piniella, who had run out of patience with Fukudome by the time the 2008 playoffs ended with the Cubs being swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
This season, Fukudome had an average/on-base/slugging line of .273/.374/.369 with 3 home runs and 13 RBI. His career best in home runs came last year, when he hit 13.
“The first year that we were in the playoffs was something really special for me,” Fukudome said, referring to his rookie season of 2008. “It was the first time that I was in the United States and playing for a major-league baseball team. But I can say that it was unfortunate I couldn't help much.”
His biggest moment probably came in his first game as a Cub, when he hit a game-tying 3-run home run in the ninth inning on Opening Day at Wrigley Field.
Fukudome, who had partial no-trade protection in his contract, said the Cubs approached him about a possible trade shortly after the all-star break.
In “moving forward,” as Hendry put it, this is an important chance for Colvin, who opened the season with the Cubs only to be sent to the minor leagues.
In his rookie season last year, Colvin had a hitting line of 254/.316/.500 with 20 homers and 56 RBI. His season ended in mid-September when he was struck with a piece of a broken bad and suffered a collapsed lung.
This year at Iowa, Colvin had a line of .256/.270/.478 with 7 home runs, 5 walks and 55 strikeouts. With the Cubs to start the season, he hit .105 with 2 homers, 8 walks and 24 strikeouts.
The Cubs' first-round draft pick out of Clemson in 2006, Colvin has been hounded by questions about his on-base ability, walks and strikeouts.
“I got to go down and calm myself down,” Colvin said. “I feel like I'm in a better position to hit now than I was earlier.”
Both Hendry and field manager Mike Quade said Colvin will see a lot of playing time over the final two months of the season. How he does, and whether the Cubs trade center fielder Marlon Byrd, will help determine Colvin's future. The Cubs recently promoted top outfield prospect Brett Jackson, a center fielder, from Class AA Tennessee to Iowa.
“Like a lot of things, he'll have to earn some of that,” Quade said of Colvin and playing time. “He's been doing a good job down there. Perfect fit for him to come back here and try and play well.”
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