The Chicago Cubs traded Kosuke Fukudome to the Cleveland Indians for prospect pitcher Carlton Smith and OF Abner Abreu. The Cubs will reportedly pay 3.9 million of the 4.6 million left on Fukudome’s contract. In a corresponding move the Cubs have recalled Tyler Colvin to Chicago.
The Cubs have been rumored to have a deal in place with the Indians for a week now but the Indians wanted to see what Beltran and Rasmus were doing before they pulled the trigger. The Cubs were also given two choices in the deal; to pay the majority of the contract and receive their pick of two players off a list given to them by the Indians or to pay none of the contract and take a PTBNL in the deal. The Cubs made the right decision.
Carlton Smith is a 25 year old righty who has pitched both in the bullpen and rotation. Smith has 7 minor league seasons under his belt and has never spent time in the majors. In those 7 seasons he has a 36-28 record with a 4.21 ERA. He has pitched a total of 535 innings, gave up 532 hits, and struck out 347. He by no means is a guy who will miss a lot of bats but could be projected to join the bullpen for the Cubs sometime this season.
Abner Abreu is considered the prize in the deal according to scouts. Even though Abreu is projected as an outfielder he is more of an athlete having played OF, SS, 2B, and 3rd in his young minor league career. Abreu is only 21 years old and needs some polishing before he becomes anything too special. In 5 seasons he traveled from rookie ball to high A ball before his 21st birthday. In 5 seasons he has hit .267 with 38 homers 42 SB and a .311 OBP. He has a very high ceiling and could be something really special by the time he is 25.
In the end the Cubs got exactly what they wanted in a trade for Fukudome; SOMETHING! The market for Fukudome was petty weak and I was even hearing teams like the Brewers wanted the Cubs to pay most of his contract and get a PTBNL in return so all in all this was a good move for Jim Hendry. Fukudome has been a solid baseball player for the Cubs. He has played stellar defense in RF, showed what it is like to have plate discipline, and played hard all the time. The fact is Fukudome is not worth the contract he signed and this should be a learning experience for the Cubs and all of baseball that stats don’t always translate. I am just glad the Cubs got two solid young guys for a guy with only 13 RBIs this season. In the end I give this trade a B. What do you think?
Until Next Time…
5 comments:
I wish the cubs would of took PTBNL
instead of the 2 players they got. Smith will never pitch in the majors and Abreu has raw tallent, but hes had raw tallent for 5 years
and hes still in A ball. That way the cubs could of saved 4 million to help pay someone to take Zambrano and/or Soriano. The only trade so far where i think someone got a prospect. Were the mets getting Wheeler.
I'm not blown away by either of the prospects. I wish we would've saved some money and just taken a PTBNL
The players the Cubs got will never make an impact on the major league club. They saved 775,00 dollars and allow Tyler Colvin the opportunity to see if he is part of the future.
Fukodome caused no problems to the Cubs. He was an excellent defender in RF, played hard & not afraid to get dirty, didn't mind getting walked to get on base, & took a business approach on the field.
It was not his problem he was over paid by Hendry. It created a lot of pressure on himself and with the fans. He represented the Cubs both on & off the field & we wish him well & success with the Indians. I hope other fans feel the same way.
Mets got a prospect in Wheeler. Astros got 2 prospects in Singleton
,Cosart. Cubs got nothing.
Hendry in the sun-times says we are not far from competing. I say since he couldn't trade Soriano or Zambrano after offering half their salaries, that tells me cubs are not competing till 2014. And that is why as much as i like Garza, i say trade him. Both NYY and Red Sox
are intrested and have prospects. Even Tigers and Indians have pitching prospects. Maybe he has to say we can compete, cause he knows we are stuck with the cancer players till 2014.
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