Chicago Cubs: Trade Alfonso Soriano and Focus on the Future

Alfonso Soriano is open to being traded to a contender, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.

That is great in and of itself, but the $18 million question is whether or not any team is going to want to take on his contract in that amount.

In fact, Soriano is due to earn $18 million for the next two seasons as well. If the Cubs are not willing to throw in any money, trading for Soriano would be a huge financial commitment.

That being said, his new team will would at least get a decent return on their investment. So far this season, Soriano is batting .267 with eight home runs and 31 RBI. Perhaps that production isn't worth $18 million, but it is definitely worth something.

If that production continues and he does have some trade value, it would be in the Chicago Cubs' best interest to trade Soriano now. Even if they do have to eat a large portion of his salary, they won't need to eat the entire thing because obviously their trade partner would pay some percentage of it.

Any money that the Chicago Cubs save by trading Soriano could be reinvested into making a better future in the Windy City.

They have some talent, but quite honestly they are probably not going to bounce back in the National League Central this year. Therefore, this is a perfect time to rebuild.

Soriano will quite frankly not be a part of any long-term plan given the fact that he is 36 years old, but there are plenty of teams out there that want his bat if the Cubs are willing to absorb some of his salary.

In return, the Cubs will at least free up a little bit of their payroll to focus on that long-term plan and create a better baseball team in Chicago.

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