Cubs work out trade for Barney to Dodgers
The Cubs were able to get something for Darwin Barney after all and save a little money, too.
On Monday, the Cubs traded Barney and a cash consideration to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a player to be named. Barney had about $800,000 left on his $2.3 million salary for this season, and the Dodgers will pick up $500,000 of it.
The Cubs last week designated Barney for assignment when Emilio Bonifacio came off the disabled list. Barney's poor hitting coupled with the emergence of rookie second baseman Arismendy Alcantara also contributed to Barney being squeezed out.
Barney, who won the Gold Glove in 2012, had a hitting line of .230/.265/.328.
"Good for him," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. "He was going to land on his feet. It's tough at the moment change occurs. But again, we've been in this game a long time, and he's been around awhile."
The Cubs play the Dodgers at Los Angeles this weekend and at Wrigley Field Sept. 18-21.
"You hope it doesn't bite you in a particular game when we compete against them somewhere down the road," Renteria said. "He's a professional. You're always going to respect what he brings to the table. If we ever cross paths on the opposite side of the field, we're going to respect him.
"Like anybody else, he's shown that he can perform and compete, and we're going to deal with him like everybody else.
"In terms of moving forward, we've got a lot of young men coming up through the system. As an organization, we probably just thought that at this particular time it was just the right time to move forward."
Fujikawa progressing:
Former closer Kyuji Fujikawa continues his rehab from Tommy John surgery as Class AAA Iowa, but it's uncertain when the Cubs will activate him. In four games at Iowa, Fujikawa has pitched 4 innings, giving up 5 hits and 1 run while walking one and striking out three.
He has appeared in 10 games at three minor-league levels, including two with the Kane County Cougars.
"I can say that he's responding well after his outings," Rick Renteria said. "We'll continue to monitor and see where he's at. But by all indications he's doing fine.
"Our concern would basically be that he's comfortable and pain free more than anything. Once you start pitching a little bit more, when you're used the way you're capable of being used, maybe velocities continue to go up. But as long as he's commanding the zone, that's one of the things we're most concerned about."
The Cubs signed Fujikawa to a two-year, $9.5 million deal before last season. He appeared in just 12 games last year before being sidelined by elbow problems.