According to Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald, the Cubs have a lefthanded-hitting right fielder with power atop their offseason wish list. The name that comes to mind: Kosuke Fukudome.
Is it possible that Fukudome gets lost in the winter shuffle a bit and becomes a mild bargain? Something like three years, $30MM? Problem is that if he’s only going to be a 15 HR guy, he needs to compensate for that by playing strong defense and posting a .380 OBP.
In terms of left-handed hitting right fielders with power, the Cubs could also consider Luke Scott, Ken Griffey Jr., and maybe Bobby Abreu if the Yanks cut him loose. The first two would involve intra-division trades though. Hopefully the Cubs don’t go for Shawn Green.
The Cubs could double-dip in the Japanese market, as Miles says they’ll look to add starting pitching depth. Hiroki Kuroda has been the starter connected to the Cubs thus far this offseason.
Miles adds that Jim Hendry is satisfied with Ryan Theriot as a starter. I liked the idea of Edgar Renteria, but failing that I’d consider giving Ronny Cedeno another shot.
The Cubs also seem to have some notion that they need to add speed, which seems like it could result in a bad decision similar to the Juan Pierre trade (ie, a Kaz Matsui signing or something).
