According to Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com, a rival executive believes the Cubs will trade Kosuke Fukudome once they acquire a first baseman.

As of now, Tyler Colvin is penciled in at first base, but Fukudome would become expendable in the event that they sign or trade for a more established first baseman. Fukudome will earn $13.5 million in the final year of his contract, which includes a full no-trade clause.

Kosuke Fukudome recently bought a three-bedroom condo in Chicago for an estimated $1.32 million.

Well, it's clear Fukudome isn't letting the trade rumors affect his behavior. The Cubs would love to shed his $13.5 million salary for next season in order to upgrade in other areas, but finding a trade partner will be difficult. Only complicating matters is the no-trade clause in Fukudome's contract.

According to Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune, the Cubs are "kicking around the idea" of trading Kosuke Fukudome to the Red Sox for Daisuke Matsuzaka as part of a multi-player deal.

"Kicking around the idea" doesn't mean that the teams have spoken with each other, but the potential deal makes some sense on the surface. The Red Sox could use another outfielder, especially if the are unsuccessful in landing either Carl Crawford or Jayson Werth. Of course, Fukudome and Dice-K have no-trade clauses in their contracts, so they would both need to be on board with the idea. There's just no way to know if that will happen.

Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune writes that the Cubs might need to trade Kosuke Fukudome before they'd be able to make a run at a prominent free agent.

The problem, as Sullivan rightly points out, is that it would be tough to unload Fukudome without taking another team's bad contract in return. The Japanese import is set to earn $13.5 million in the final year of his contract. The Chicago Sun-Times has previously reported that GM Jim Hendry will go after someone like Nick Johnson instead of a bigger name like Adam Dunn.

Cubs interim manager Mike Quade suggested that Kosuke Fukudome (knee) will likely return to the starting lineup Saturday.

"If we were playing for money, he could probably tune it up for the next two days," said Quade. Fukudome took batting practice Friday, after which Quade said the outfielder would be available to pinch-hit. He missed Thursday's game due to a mild sprain of his left knee.

Kosuke Fukudome is out of the Cubs' lineup Thursday against the Padres because of a mild left knee strain.

The Cubs seem to think that the injury is minor, but it's a real possibility that Fukudome's 2010 season could be finished. He's hit .263/.371/.439 with 13 homers and 44 RBI in 358 at-bats this year and will be back in 2011 at a salary of $13.5 million. Fukudome is a free agent in 2012.

Kosuke Fukudome went 3-for-3 with two doubles, a walk and a steal Wednesday in the Cubs' 5-3 win over the Pirates.

As it turned out, Fukudome likely would have been able to help a contender down the stretch. Still, it's hard to blame anyone for not wanting to take on his contract. He's hitting .364 with four homers and eight doubles in 77 at-bats since the All-Star break, and he's now at an impressive .281/.386/.468 for the year.

Kosuke Fukudome went 2-for-5 and hit a two-run homer off Tim Lincecum in Tuesday's win.

After going more than two weeks without making a start, Fukudome has now found himself in the lineup three of the last five games. He's hitting .292 with two homers and 11 walks in 24 at-bats since the All-Star break, so the Cubs should keep penciling him in against right-handers.

Making his first start since July 21, Kosuke Fukudome singled and walked Friday against the Reds.

The Cubs only had five hits -- all of them singles -- in the shutout loss, so Fukudome was pretty much the star of the team. He's reached 11 times in 24 plate appearances and hit a solo homer in his very limited action since the All-Star break.

According to FOX Sports' Jon Morosi, the Cubs are not optimistic about their chances of trading Kosuke Fukudome.

Given that he's more of a bench player and is owed $13.5 million next season, this should come as no surprise. The Cubs have said they're willing to eat some of the outfielder's salary in any trade, but unless they're willing to eat pretty much all of it, they're not going to get much in return.

A source told FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal on Monday that the Cubs are willing to eat some of Kosuke Fukudome's remaining salary in a trade.

Rosenthal's source says that Cubs GM Jim Hendry and Co. would take care of part of the $4 million that Fukudome is owed this season and even part of the $13.5 million that he is owed in 2011. The Japanese import has hit just .257/.365/.402 in two-plus major league seasons and he's batting only .253/.356/.410 over 229 at-bats this year. Few teams are likely to express interest.

Kosuke Fukudome went 2-for-3 with his first homer since May 20 and two walks Monday in the Cubs' 9-4 win over the Diamondbacks.

Fukudome got the start today in place of Alfonso Soriano, but Soriano did come off the bench to hit a two-run homer. Meanwhile, the recent mainstays in the Cubs outfield -- Marlon Byrd and Tyler Colvin -- combined to go 0-for-9. That'll leave Lou Piniella with another tough call to make on Tuesday against right-hander Barry Enright. Fukudome has been useless as a part-time player so far, but he could always get hot again if added to the lineup regularly.

Kosuke Fukudome, held out of the starting lineup for the fifth straight game, delivered a game-winning hit off the bench as the Cubs beat the A's 3-2 on Thursday.

Fukudome pinch-hit for Jeff Baker in the eighth and singled to start a rally. He came around to score the tying run in the frame. He then got another chance in the ninth and singled in Geovany Soto to end it. One would think the strong showing would earn him a couple of starts this weekend. He's still hitting a fine .289/.379/.462 for the year.

Multiple sources tell Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com that the Cubs recently approached the Red Sox to "gauge their interest" in Kosuke Fukudome.

McAdam writes that the Red Sox have walked away from talks, at least for now, because the Cubs have refused to take on a significant part of Fukudome's remaining salary. Fukudome, 33, will earn $13 million this season and another $13.5 million in 2011. The Red Sox have a clear need for an outfielder right now, but that is a significant price to pay for a player who has batted just .261 with a 776 OPS in the major leagues. No-trade clause aside, the Cubs will have a very difficult time trading him to any team.

Kosuke Fukudome, who is mired in a 5-for-27 (.185) slump, is currently working with his personal hitting coach Kyosuke Sasaki.

Fukudome worked with Sasaki over the winter after he got into some bad habits at the plate towards the end of last season. Sasaki was so confident about the work with his pupil that he predicted in April that Fukudome would hit over .300 this season. Hopefully some additional tinkering will help boost his non-existent trade value.

FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reports that the Cubs have made outfielder Kosuke Fukudome available for trade.

A move, though, seems highly unlikely. Fukudome is owed $13 million this year, $13.5 million in 2011, and has hit just .261/.367/.408 in his two-plus seasons with the Cubs. He also has a no-trade clause and is able to block a deal to 15 of baseball's 30 major league teams.

Kosuke Fukudome went 0-for-4 with one walk and one strikeout in Friday's loss to the Rangers.

The most predictable slump in baseball is in effect right now. After hitting .344 with five homers in April, Fukudome is at .250 with one homer in May. The window to sell high is likely already closed.

Kosuke Fukudome is not in the Cubs' lineup Saturday after missing Friday's game as well.

Fukudome is much better against right-handed pitchers than lefties--.268/.378/.432 versus .239/.339/.319 for his career--and the Pirates have lefty Paul Maholm on the hill. Fukudome seems to be extending his hot April into a decent May, so it's unlikely that he'll get many days off against right-handers as long as he's healthy.

Kosuke Fukudome went 0-for-4 during a loss to the Pirates on Wednesday night.

Fukudome is one of the league's most notorious fast starters, and we suspect this season will be no different. He's hitting .321 with five jacks and 17 RBI, leaving the window to sell high wide open right now.

Kosuke Fukudome hit his first major league grand slam Thursday in the loss to the Diamondbacks.

Fukudome entered with a .350 average and five walks in 20 at-bats with the bases loaded, but he had just one extra-base hit, that being a double. Typically a fast starter, he has four homers and 15 RBI this month. It's encouraging, but that's also exactly where he finished last April on his way to an 11-homer, 54-RBI season.