If you had to put one Cubs player at the top of the "rumored to be traded" list, it would be outfielder Kosuke Fukudome. But who pays attention to trade rumors anyway? Apparently not Kosuke, who, according to Chicago Magazine's website, just bought a three-bedroom condominium in a new building along Lake Shore Drive for roughly $1.32 million.
The Cubs still owe Fukudome $13.5 million on the four-year deal he signed with the team in Dec. 2007. The contract came with a no-trade clause and, if Kosuke's real estate deal is any indication, he could be a tough negotiator about waiving it.
The chicagomag.com post reveals:
The condo that Fukodome [sic] bought had been the building’s sales model; it was already finished with assorted upgrades from the developer’s standard offerings. Fukudome negotiated to get those thrown in along with a reduced price for parking, in all shaving about $120,000 off the listed price of $1.44 million.
The unit also features:
... a stretch of windows 27 feet wide looking east over Lake Michigan and another 25-foot stretch looking north up the lakefront.
Sounds like a great setting for pondering one's destiny in Major League Baseball. Indeed, it's hard to say what this might say, if anything, about Kosuke's future with the Cubs. Is he that confident he'll be staying with the team for the final year of his contract? Does he and his wife love the city so much that they intend to stay here long-term no matter which team he plays for? (How could they not?) Is it an investment property? Only time will tell, we suppose.
In other real estate news, former Cubs and White Sox pitcher Neal Cotts has also purchased a home in Chicago. BlockShopper Chicago recently reported that the southpaw reliever bought a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom condo in East Ukranian Village for $425,000. Cotts was in the Sox bullpen for their 2005 World Series championship season. He also threw for the Cubs in parts of the 2007, 2008 and 2009 seasons.
Cotts spent most of 2010 in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization recovering from an injury. He's now apparently a free agent, and one would assume his agent's phone number has appeared on the respective cell phones of both Jim Hendry and Kenny Williams.