A Look at Kosuke's Time with the Cubs

Even though Kosuke Fukudome's time with the Cubs was, for the most part, a failure, there is still a part of me that is sad to see him go. Anytime a Cub who has been with the team for several years departs, most die-hard fans miss seeing them play every day.

Let us say goodbye to Kosuke by looking back at his time with the Cubs.

December 11, 2007
The Cubs signed outfielder Kosuke Fukudome to a four year, $48 million contract. The Cubs thought that that Japanes import would help put their team over the top after winning the division title that year.

March 31, 2008: Big League Debut
There is no doubt that the highlight of Fukudome's time in Cubbie blue came very early on, in his big league debut on Opening Day of 2008. The fans at Wrigley Field, many of whom were sporting Fukudome Japanese headbands, went wild when he doubled on the first pitch he saw in the big leagues. Kosuke stepped to the plate with two men on base in the bottom of the ninth inning with the Cubs trailing the Brewers 3-0. He delivered a dramatic home run to tie the game at three and finish his debut 3-for-3. Although the Cubs fell 4-3 in ten innings, Kosuke's game tying homer is a moment that Cubs fans will never forget.

2008 Season: Hot When It's Cold, Cold When It's Hot
Each year Kosuke got off to a solid start in April and May before falling victim to a June swoon when the weather heated up. His number continued to decline each year as the season moved into the fall. That was evident in his first season when he batted .327 in April, .293 in May, .264 in June, .236 in July, .193 in August, .178 in September and .100 in two postseason games.

July 7, 2008: An All-Star
Kosuke told Judd Sirott in an interview for WGN Radio a few weeks ago that the 2008 season was his favorite in a Cub uniform for several reasons. It was the only one in which the Cubs won the division title. His hot start in the big leagues was also fun for him. It led to his lone All-Star appearance as well. Kosuke started in center for the NL and went 0-for-2.

2009: Position Switch
At the start of his second season with the Cubs, Kosuke was moved to center field so that Milton Bradley could play right. In July, he switched to first in the batting order, replacing Alfonso Soriano. For the rest of his Cubs career, Fukudome bounced around the lineup after hitting fifth for most of '08. Kosuke moved back to right field for 2010. In 2009, he actually finished second on the team in OBP at .375.

2010 & 2011 : Platooning
The past two seasons, the story of Kosuke Fukudome not living up to his large contract has faded onto the back burner with all the other headlines surrounding the Cubs. Kosuke's struggles were well documented his first two seasons, but he is actually an asset to a team when he is put into the proper role. Kosuke brings strong defense and draws a lot of walks, plus is one of baseball's good guys. He is not, however, a middle of the order hitter or a $48 million player. In 2010, Kosuke split time with fellow left handed hitter Tyler Colvin in right field. Colvin had a great season, so Fukudome's player time decrease quit a bit but he finished with his best average since signing with the Cubs at .263. Colvin started off slow in 2011 so he was sent back to Triple-A, with Kosuke sitting in favor of Reed Johnson against left handed pitchers.

July 28, 2011: Traded to the Indians
Yesterday, Kosuke's tenure with the Cubs came to an end when he was shipped to Cleveland for two minor leaguers. Click here for more information on the trade.

That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted as we countdown to Sunday's 3pm CT trade deadline!

Breaking News: Kosuke Traded to the Indians

Update 1:10pm CT: This trade is official. Kosuke sent to Cleveland for minor leaguers P Abner Abreu and OF Carlton Smith. Tyler Colvin added to active roster, in Milwaukee for today's game.

Well, it looks as if the Cubs are about the make their first move prior to the trade deadline.

According to multiple reports, the Cubs and Indians have agreed to a deal that would sent Kosuke Fukudome to Cleveland. Buster Olney tweets that the Cubs will pay more than half of the $4.7 million owed to Kosuke, while Jon Heyman says it will be the vast majority.

Kosuke does have partial no-trade rights and the Tribe are one of the 15 teams that he can block a trade to. Right now, they are trying to figure out minor perks for him in exchange for waiving the no-trade clause. Paul Hoynes reports that the Cubs will receive one upper level and one lower level prospect in the deal.

This deal is not yet official, but it appears that it is going to happen before today's game. Tyler Colvin will likely replace Kosuke on the active roster. I will update soon with more information, stayed tuned!

CUBS MAKING BIG MOVES.....DEROSA TRADED!

The Cubs are making moves left and right! Here's the latest:

• The Cubs have signed switch hitting infielder Aaron Miles to a 2 year deal. Miles is 32 years old, batted .317 with 15 doubles, 4 HR, and 31 RBIs in 2008 for the Cardinals. Miles can play tons of positions. He appeared in 7 different ones last year: 85 games at second, 27 at shortstop, 11 games at 3rd, 4 in left, 1 in center and 1 in right. Miles played for the White Sox and Rockies before becoming a Cardinal in 2006.
• Bad News if you like Mark DeRosa; the Cubs have traded him to the Clevland Indians for Jeff Stevens, John Gaub, and Chris Archer. All 3 are minor league pitchers.
• Here's the stats for Stevens, Gaub, and Archer.
• The Marquis trade to the Rockies for Vizcaino is a done deal and will be announced sometime over the next few days according to sources including Bruce Levine of ESPN Radio and David Kaplan of Comcast Sports Net.
• Levine thinks that with the money the Cubs will save in the Marquis deal they will end up using on Milton Bradley and goes as far as calling it a "done deal".
• I'm also hearing the the Cubs will rework the Peavy talks using the players they got in the DeRosa deal and adding other prospects.

I don't know what to think about the DeRosa deal. I really like DeRo, but if it is what the Cubs have to deal to end up with Bradley and Peavy then that's fine. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. I expect either Fontenot or Miles will be the starting second baseman in 2009.

I'll keep you posted.

UPDATE 2:25 CT- David Kaplan says that he thinks bringing in prospects for the DeRosa is the start of the getting the Jake Peavy deal set up. He also reports that the Marquis deal is not done yet because Jason is out of the country.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that since the Cubs have traded for 3 pitching prospects and traded away our 5th starter, the Peavy deal could be back on.

Kap had Paul Sullivan on the show to talk about the Cubs news.

• Sullivan says that he thinks it's amazing how everything is happening at once.
• Sully says it seems that Miles could move into the leadoff spot.
• He hates to see DeRosa go.
• Kap asked about Milton Bradley. Paul said that he talked to Frank Thomas and Frank said he was intense and smart and just needs to be left alone. If Bradley can stay healthy and out of trouble this could work out good. Paul is willing to give Bradley the benefit of the doubt.
• Paul says he sees no need for Rich Aurillia. He thinks Pie and Cedeno will be traded and would like to see another lefty in the bullpen.

The Cubs have a conference call coming up, so I'll keep you posted.