The Chicago Cubs are going to be dumping players like it’s out of style this week. With the Cubs willing to absorb most, if not all of Alfonso Soriano’s contract, I see him getting dealt this week. Carlos Pena is another one of the really solid trade chips the Cubs have with the Yankees and Pirates likely being the most interested. Marlon Byrd, Kosuke Fukudome and Geovany Soto are other starting players that could be on the move by this coming up Sunday. Blake DeWitt, Jeff Baker and Reed Johnson are reserve players who are wanted by other teams and the Cubs will likely move them if they get a decent prospect in return for them. The most likely pitcher to be dealt this week will be lefty reliever John Grabow. Starters Ryan Dempster, Carlos Zambrano and Rodrigo Lopez are all available for trade also. Righty reliever Kerry Wood doesn’t want to be traded but the Cubs could get something nice for him. The Cubs need to tear the roster down and rebuild it so that they can get back to winning in the future.

If I were running the Cubs I wouldn’t be having a firesale. But I would be making some deals with an eye on the future. First off I would deal Derek Lee and Jeff Baker to the Angels for 1B Mark Trumbo, OF Chris Pettit and righty relievers Kevin Jepsen and Francisco Rodriguez. I would then deal 2B/3B Mike Fontenot to the Phillies for righty relievers Scott Mathieson and David Herndon. Finally I would pay Kosuke Fukudome’s contract and deal him to the Padres for shortstop Lance Zawadzki. These deals would help the Cubs rebuild the bullpen quickly and it would open up RF for Tyler Colvin and 1B for Mark Trumbo. Make the moves Cubbies.

The Cubs are 36-47 on the season which has them in 4th place in the N.L. Central, 11.5 games behind the Reds. With that in mind I see the Cubs being sellers this month giving Cubs’ fans further heartache. Derek Lee, Ryan Theriot and Ted Lilly are the best trade chips the Cubs have to offer. They will likely try to move all three of them in separate trades. Mike Fontenot, Jeff Baker and Xavier Nady all have value to especially if the Cubs trade them to another N.L. team. But any dreams of getting rid of Kosuke Fukudome or Carlos Zambrano are likely just that….dreams….because it is very unlikely to happen. This month is going to really hurt, Cubs’ fans!

The Cubs would love to find a taker for 33-year old lefty swinging RF Kosuke Fukudome. He has played in 65 games for the Cubs this season and he is 51 of 189 (.270 avg, .791 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 6 homers, 24 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Fukudome came to the Cubs three years ago from Japan with the reputation of being a big power hitter but he hasn’t shown much power in the majors yet. Fukudome has now played in 361 games in his three years with the Cubs and he is 309 of 1,189 (.260 avg, .771 OPS) with 182 runs scored, 27 homers, 136 RBIs and 22 stolen bases. The Cubs really want to move Fukudome so they can give the full time starting job in RF to 24-year old lefty swinging rookie Tyler Colvin. Colvin has played in 67 games this season for the Cubbies and he is 40 of 135 (.296 avg, .945 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 10 homers and 27 RBIs.

The Cubs need to make a big splash to help the bullpen from the right side or the season is going to be a huge disappointment for them. With that in mind the Cubs need to make a call to the Blue Jays and bite the bullet offering outfielders Tyler Colvin and Sam Fuld for Jason Frasor, Jeremy Accardo, Brian Tallet and Jeremy Reed. I know that Colvin is a fan favorite right now but the Cubs can’t afford to wait to make a deal. Frasor, Accardo and Tallet would give the Cubs a lot of help in the bullpen the rest of the year and the Cubs should consider pulling the trigger on a deal like this sooner rather than later. The Cubs could then flip a minor prospect like outfielder James Adduci to the Indians for Austin Kearns who will fill in as Kosuke Fukudome’s new platoon partner in RF. The Cubs need to get into the groove by adding to the bullpen or they might be a seller at the trade deadline in July.