Cubs Willing To Pay $12-15MM Per Year For Fukudome?

Im ok with them going that high if its for only 3 years or so. He certainly seems like the best fit for the cubs and Hendry isn't shy about paying out the money.

Hard to imagine interest in A. Jones was so minimal.

"a winter of Roberts and Fukodome would be outstanding!"

It would be but I don't see them getting Roberts. I think the only trade that makes a lot of sense for both teams is Murton/Fox for Teahen. Then if Hendry could sign Fukodome we'd have a pretty nice outfield with a balances lefty/righty lineup.

If it takes $15M per, that's fine. I just hope we bid against the Pads and Royals. If Hendry gets all "Ned Coletti" on us and decides he needs to outbid himself for a CF (see Jones, Andruw; especially see Pierre, Juan), then I'll be mad.

PS: Has anyone else realized that unloading Dempster and Marquis could do wonders for this roster? They're huge monetary commitments and they're blocking Marshall/Hart/Gallagher from their shots at the rotation. Argh.

I can't imagine any team would be dumb enough to take Marquis at full salary. The Cubs would have to eat a significant portion of it....say 50%??? On top of that, the Cubs probably wouldn't receive much in return.

Poor Andrew Jones. I'm not a AJ fan by any means, but that's amazing how the might fall sometimes. Picked an extremely bad moment to have a career low year. Hopefully he'll do great stuff for the Dodgers, who won 82 games with a rag tag bunch of hitters. Is Schmidt coming back in 08? That team could actually be good, esp in the West.

Giants should make this deal...

West coast team. SF has the 2nd largest Japanese population in U.S. We have the money and it wouldn't cost us ANY pitching!

Marquis is not a bad No. 4/5 starter. He eats innings and keeps you in games. As for Dempster, I don't think the rotation talk is serious. The non-closer talk is though. I think they are saying Dempster is a starter for 'marketing purposes'. While being terrible, he could be a sweetner for a team DESPERATE for pitching. I could see him being added to the O's. He's only signed for one more year and doesn't cost a ton. Hell, we'd probably eat his salary.

Kenny needs more help than just Fukudome...he needs a miracle. He is going to be a bitter, bitter man next year after losing out on Tori Hunter and then getting one upped for Cabrera.

Agreed Robert. I don't hate Marquis...but we could get his production from others. I don't know if Marshall can withstand 180 innings though...it would be tough to count on that out of him as he has never done it before. Gallagher probably could though

"That team could actually be good, esp in the West."

Toshiro, are you mental? Last time I checked the NL West is the best division in the NL! The NL central is the worst in ALL OF BASEBALL.

The Cubs can pay 40-45 mil from an unproven player, that's fine. I would be pissed if the pads dropped 36 mil since we don't have the payroll. Cubs can just continue to have 120mil+ payrolls with no outcome, fine with me.

He ain't my friend, he ain't my homey, so just say no to Fukudome!

"He ain't my friend, he ain't my homey, so just say no to Fukudome!"

I can't believe I just read that....

"Cubs can just continue to have 120mil+ payrolls with no outcome, fine with me."

They have never, ever reached 110...where do you get 120?

Hey Tim, better question, what are the top 2-3 contracts ever given by the Padres?

That offer could still be only around 10MM/year

They just gave Peavy a deal that would give him something like 17MM/year for three years, the Maddux deal...it isn't out of the question that they could sign him.

My question is why, though? Put Headley at third, move Kouz to left and use Bradley and Hairston in CF, maybe even Cameron.

Soon Fukudome will be bleeding Cuddie Blue. Why wouldnt he want to play in Chicago? He is going to be a great #2 or #5 hitter for us (depending on Roberts). Imgine if we land him and this deal goes through for Roberts, which it sounds like it has a good chance.

Soriano
Roberts
Lee
Ramirez
Fukudome
Soto
DeRosa/Pie
Theriot

I hope Pie can make the necessary adjustments to his offensive game to be competent at the major league level, and the Cubs can give DeRosa at short.

*give DeRosa a shot at short

I wouldnt be oppossed to giving the cubs a shot at short, but with the offense we could have, we should put the best defense on the field that we can. I would put Theriot at short over DeRosa

I really can't see the advantage of putting DeRosa at short, while Theriot's contributions last year don't necessarely show up on his stat line, the little things he was able to do in order to help the team win are undeniable. Theriot is a solid defensive shortstop and proved invaluable in the lead-off spot in Soriano's absence.

"the little things he was able to do in order to help the team win are undeniable. Theriot is a solid defensive shortstop and proved invaluable in the lead-off spot in Soriano's absence."

Sure that is deniable. Extremely deniable. Ryan Theriot did do a lot of little things. Unfortunately, he didn't do any of the big things, like get on base or hit for power. Big things wins baseball games. And you are correct about him doing a great job in Soriano's absence. He had one great month. Too bad the MLB season is 6 months. Him batting leadoff had nothing to do with it.

Swisher would be a horrible #4 hitter for us and DeRosa #2??? Swisher is going to hit .260 and 25 HRs. Have have Ramirez that will hit for AVG and power. DeRosa doesnt take a lot of pitches and hit into to many double plays. He would be a good 6-7 hitter. You would see Fukudome in the #2 spot, which would still give us the left handed hitter at the top of the order and from what I hear he takes pitches and walks.

Soriano
Fukudome
Lee
Ramirez
Swisher
DeRosa
Soto
Crosby

I would trade Pie by himself for Swisher and Crosby

uww1, no more posting for you
Swisher is a stud, learn this stat called OPS

Also, Theriot is not, I repeat, is NOT a good defensive SS, his Rate2 is below average, he's highly overrated on D

I would absolutely love Swisher but at this moment I'm pretty sure he's not available and even if he is, he's pretty much for poster boy for Beane ball, so I'm sure he'd have to be overwehlmed.

yeah i was gonna say, what the hell are you talking about uww1?

Who the hell cares that Swisher bats .260? He'll get on at a .380 clip at least, and since he's a lefty, you would have a Lee-Swisher-Ramirez 3-4-5 thats right-left-right, plus with Swisher getting on so much that could just be more RBI oppurtunities for Ramirez.

And also in case you didn't notice while you were getting drunk at Cubs games instead of watching, Mark Derosa actually put up a very impressive .371 OBP last year, which would make him a fantastic hitter in the 2 hole if he could repeat that.

And one last thing, you're a moron for not trading Pie for Swisher and Crosby. What has Pie done at the major league level as a hitter that would make you think he'll be an above average hitter? I know he's a defensive ace in center but I question whether his hitting will ever be that good. If Beane said he'd give up Swisher and Crosby for Pie, Hendry would probably get all giggly

and that post about getting Swisher and Crosby was from me and not uww1, he's not that smart

"that's not the only stat that matters. He is an Avg player with no arm in the Outfield. That is why he played first base. He hit over .260 once. He strikes out a ton. You better do your research before YOU talk. There is more then just OPS"

So Adam Dunn is just an average player because he hits .260 and strikes out a ton? and OPS is a fantastic way to judge hitters, and at no point did i ever reference OPS you prick

How familiar with shortstop is DeRosa? While i am myself a big fan of DeRosa and his willingness to take on several positions, i'm not so sure shortstop is right for him

I agree with you...If we didnt get Roberts I wouldnt be upset. He has played a few games, one for us last year which was just two innings long. He played more in his younger years with Atl. He hits a lot of ground balls is his only problem with runners on first. Leads to a lot of double plays. But I do like DeRosa.

Mike, DeRosa has played quite a bit of SS in his career, he came up as a SS.

He's played 138 games at SS in his career, compared to 207 at 2b and 184 at 3b.

His fielding percentage at SS is .974, .001 lower than Theriot's and just above league average of .970.

DeRosa's limit at SS is his range. It's worse than Theriot's. DeRosa's range factor over his career at SS is 3.23, the lg avg during his career is 3.97. Theriot's RF is 3.56, the lg averaged 4.00 last season. Range Factor is how many balls/plays a defender gets to per game, on average, at his position.

I would be fine without Roberts, thats why I think we should stick with Derosa at 2nd and persue a different need like in the outfield. There are some good decent young guys out there that could be tempting, guys like Mark Teahen, Nick Swisher, Andre Ethier, etc. that would look real good in Cubbie blue.

Anddd not to mention I think Derosa wished he was in the company of the guys who grounded into the most double plays. Thats a list of pretty much only stars.

As far as Dunn, his fielding hurts you more than his hitting. Yes, his low batting average is a major concern, but he works the count and draws a lot of walks, which is rare for his free swinger type of player. Being a Cubs/NL fan, I haven't really had a chance to watch Swisher to make a comparison and can only go by his stats, but his fielding percentage and range factor are far better than Dunn's as an outfielder.

I'm not crazy about .240-.260 hitting players, so I'd rather see them sign Fukudome or deal for someone else. I'm not crazy about Ibanez either because of how slow he is. I personally love speedy guys, so if you have a shot at a player who hits for average, with some power, and runs well, even if they aren't a basestealing threat, then seek those guys out first. Fukudome seems to fall into that prototype perfectly.

Agreed. Too many Cub fans seem to give up on Pie. I wouldn't mind moving him, but his value isn't anywhere near it's peak and he could net us something much bigger than 2 years of Brian Roberts. Swisher I love but I doubt Beane would be all that interested in Pie, he'd probably be more into Colvin.

Pie, if he busts, is probably comparable to Corey Patterson, but if he maxs his potential he's Carl Crawford, only probably a few more homers and bit less average.

I would like to see Pie in CF next year with a nice bunch of players around him, so there is not pressure on him to do well. He isnt going to hurt up playing CF and Fukudome is better suited for RF, from what I know about him. You could even play a lineup with Pie batting ninth, that way after the first time around Pie would be hitting before Soriano.

Soriano
Fukudome
Lee
Ramirez
DeRosa/Roberts
Soto
Theriot
(PITCHER)
PIE

You could prolly move around Fukudome/DeRosa/Roberts/Soto depending on who is in the game.

WHY WAS THERE ONLY LIKE 2 UPDATES TODAY.. NOT COOL.. I CHECK THIS SITE EVERY 5 MINUTES AND DIDNT SEE CRAP... CMON TIMOTHY YOUR LEAVING ME HANGING

Dude you act like teahEn (learn how to spell) will be cheap.. i live in kc and love the royals.. we wont give him up easily he is a big part of our future.. and matt murton sure as hell isnt gonna send the deal off bud

Cedeno lit it up down the stretch. I think he could beat out Theriot if he puts together a good spring. There is no question he's more talented than Theriot, but he's yet to put it all together at the major league level.

Roberts, if we acquire him, would hit 1st or 2nd. He should hit 1st but who knows with Soriano.

Also Pinella has said he wouldn't hit a position player 9th. And doing it to a guy like Pie isn't exactly a confidence builder. If you want someone in front of Soriano, you move him down in the order.

Iwamura and Fukudome are 2 different players and two different people, so that argument is moronic. And not to mention those stats are from an injury shortened season, rendering them worthless.

Hitting Pie 9th was just an idea that only a few coaches have done. It might be ok in a few situations. Soriano is going to leadoff and its a mistake if he doesnt. Thats where he hits the best and thats why we are paying him $136 mil. Yes Roberts should hit 2 if we acquire him. Heres an idea Roberts and played some (very little) SS. That might be an answer hahaha

Out of contention? They were making their playoff push.

.......

If we're paying him 136 mil to hit solo homeruns than we're retards. His OBP is around .320, way too low for a lead off guy. The only benefit from it is that he says hes more comfortable leading off. He needs to stop being a bitch and just hit 2nd or 5th, where he'd be a much more valuable asset to the team, and likely drive in 100 + runs perennially.

Settle down, Royals fan, I didn't mean to insult the cornerstone of your beloved franchise, by spelling his name wrong. But I made no indication that he would come cheap...however, we are talking about the Royals, so Henry could probably get TeahEn for bag of seeds and a Pabst.

My point here is that as much as I would like to see Roberts playing second for the Cubs, I believe the price for the two time All-Star will be too steap.

Defense should take a backseat at any position if the hitting difference is significant. Theriot is one of the worst hitting regulars in baseball. The Tigers won 95 games in 2006 with, arguably, the worst fielding SS in baseball. Theriot is below average defensively and so will Derosa, why not let a guy who is WAY better at hitting play there instead? Theriot's OPS+ was 72 last season. Here are some other awful baseball player's OPS+ to compare with from last season:

Aaron Miles: 76
Rob Bowen: 76
Ryan Freel: 67
Juan Pierre: 75
Corey Patterson: 80
Omar Infante: 74

Roberts will play SS

Remember a guy named Ricki Henderson? He was a scary guy to come up to the plate before anyone else.

So, is there any chance Henry puts a package together for Roberts and Bedard? If MacPhail is asking for three players for Roberts and four players for Bedard...would it be worth it?

If DeRosa moves to ss, who will take over 2b? I don't see Roberts and Fukadome coming the Cubs way

Yeah, Fukodome and Iwamura are two different people... Iwamura is younger for example. But both played in the same league, so their numbers do translate. Yes, Fukodome was injured (that's always a plus, huh?), so maybe his slugging percentage might have been a bit higher...but his OBP would have likely been lower (he never posted one that high before).

To pay a Japanese offensive player $12-$15M when he's never played at this level is insane. You're guessing at his production here and Japan is not the equivalent of the major leagues. If you strike it rich, you get a player comparable to Tadahito Iguchi...who still isn't worth $12M-$15M per year...and if you DON'T strike it rich, you get Jacque Jones, er, Akinori Iwamura.

Hendry's been given his dad's credit card and hasn't a clue how to use it properly.

Roberts hasn't played SS since his rookie year, if it was between Roberts or DeRosa it'd pretty certainly be DeRosa moving to short.

As for Roberts price, it seems fairly reasonable - Gallagher and either Colvin or Murton and possibly a 2nd tier type prospect. He's worth that. Teahen wouldn't be much less, though he is an outfielder which I'd rather have than another middle infielder.

"A #2 hitter needs to be able to draw a walk and put down a bunt when needed"

You got half of that right. Bunting is stupid histrionic B.S. that needs to be curtailed. If you have any kind of decent hitter at bat, you should never think about bunting. I once though Soriano should stay at leadoff because he just gets more fastballs there and hits .220-ish career on breaking balls; however, he will hit for power anywhere in the lineup. They just can't jerk him around all over the lineup in the middle of the season. He doesn't seem to have the psyche for it.

uww1, are you Dusty Baker? Do you like for your baseball players not to create runs? Does getting on base suck?