Cubs Willing To Offer $50MM For Fukudome?

I could see Fukudome insisting on three years, it just makes good business sense. If he proves he can be Ichiro-like star, then in three years he can set himself up for an even bigger payday.

Why lock himself in for an extra year or two at a lower price, especially considering how the market might expand three years from now...

Never mind! I just missed it when I read this article earlier this morning.

If it is indeed "final"; Cubs should at least eliminate the Pads pretty quickly.

However, there is a degree of "desperation" behind the bids of teams like the White Sox, Rangers & Giants! Any one of these could produce a surprise kick in the pants for the Cubs!

I have a feeling that Pagan get some starts against lefties...

or Fuld if he makes the team

I actually think thats a good idea...Murton needs to get some ABs or we need to trade him. He is too good to just be sitting right now.

Give him 5 years...thats fine with me...I have a good feeling on this guy...

His hitting might not translate, but there is no reason that he defense won't, and that is very important for the Cubs as well. He is also a very patient hitter known for his high OBP. That should translate for the most part, I don't see him coming over and swinging at everything. Like I have said before, even if he only hits like .270, he should still have at LEAST a .350 OBP...which would great for the Cubs, especially with good defense.

Save the money for another starting pitcher and get Teahen from KC for RF..The Cubs are just not going to win a playoff series with Lilly as your #2 starter... I would rather see the Cubs focus on a blockbuster trade with Balt. that would include both Roberts & Bedard.

If cubs sign him they still need pitching.. the white sox would be a great team, him and J-Dye next to each other would be great...KC is brutal they can sign a-rod and they would still suck

I really liked the idea of 3 years because it's just not long of a contract. There's a lot of hype around Fukudome, and I really want the Cubs to get him. It makes sense for a lot of reasons. His defense in one of the toughest right fields in the majors and his OBP are two of them. After he gets acclimated to MLB, he sounds like he'd be perfect for the #2 hole in the lineup. Plus, with a 3-year contract, it's just not as damaging if he gets hurt or doesn't adjust well to MLB. Going 4-5 years is getting into dangerous territory, especially since it's almost a sure thing that Hendry will backload the contract and the Cubs don't know anything about their payroll past 2008. With 3 years, the Cubs could've just gone with a relatively low-risk contract along the lines of Furcal's.

P.S.-To whoever said that Fukudome didn't even hit .300 in Japan -you need to look over his stats again. It looks to me that, outside of his rookie season, anytime Fukudome reached 500 PA, he batted well over .300. On top of it, his OBP will drop some with the transition, but I believe it'll stay in the high-.300's.

Jose Guillen carries more baggage than Bill Gates' wife on a shopping trip to Harrod's.

but they're not in the AL, so there pitching staff and lineup can contend in the NL Central.

Weren't they 6th in mlb, too?

LOL, yeah the Cubs and their 4th in the MLB ERA are so god awful.

Marshall and Gallagher are a year older and even Kevin Hart might start. I'm not counting on it at all but Samardjiza could even be ready by August. I wouldn't bet a penny on it, but don't rule it out either.

Zambrano is an injury waiting to happen, Lilly overacheived last season and will come back down to earth, as did Marqis if that is how you spell it which he did in the second half, Hill might be a halfway descent but gives up the longball to much and Dumpter, Hart lol. They got hart from the orioles for freddie bynumm. A team that is starving for young pitching. If he was any good they would have held on to him and if they needed a scrubb utility man that bad they should have hit up waivers, You might have found a better option there!

I look forward to the great Chicago firesale of 2008-9.

Fukudome is going to be bringing Japanese ads to Wrigley, paying for some of his contract himself. Chicago firesale? Has that EVER happened? That was a dumb comment.

good point teetz.
if the rumors are somewhat true about the reds interest, and they are talking about votto and homer bailey in the deal, the cubs dont have any prospects that match those two.

i agree that the cubs' rotation is not that amazing, but it is great for the league now. Murton is a great prospect, though i agree that pie is overrated. we need more talented pitching. our farm pitching is great, but it will take a season or two for it to mature. if we do not land an outfielder, we will be in more trouble than not having pitching.

For years, the Cubs were a team that played low run games. We had pitching that was typically great, when we had Wood, Estes, Prior, and Zambrano was still a minor-leaguer. We need to get back to that level, but have an offense. Back then, we had Sosa and a bunch of failure fielders. We also had Alfonseca back then, and he was great.

Marmol is not fully matured yet in my opinion, and i could see him being even better this year than he was in 07. In my opinion, we should keep Prior and let him rehab, then bring him back and let him achieve the massive potential he showed years ago.

A rotation would look like this:
Zambrano
Lilly
Hill
Marquis
Prior

That would be hugely powerful in today's NL Central. Also, we could deal Murton and a couple other minors players for more middle relief and another starter if needed.

If anybody could be sacraficed for a bit of trade bait, it would be Ryan Dumpster. he is awful, and it hurt me every time they put him in to close out a game last season because he always gave up a run.

Fukudome would add unbelievable depth to the Cubbies bench. I think we should even look for another center fielder to platoon with Pie. Pie needs another year to mature, but i could see him being great in a year or two

Estes, Alfonseca......REALLY??

Pie is going through growing pains, but has killed the ball at every level he has gone through and is still young. He has raw talent and has a decent shot into becoming very good.

Murton is a good player and a good trade chip that could be used to acquire a pretty good player. No one is saying that we would be able to use him as a center piece in a Bedard or Santana deal.

The best part about your post is the Marmol comment. I love how everyone just looks at other teams best young players and make the statement "The league will adjust to him." Lol, maybe did it occur to you that the guy is just good? I don't care what you say, baseball players wont adjust to hitting a slider that can nearly curve around your bat when he is throwing it well. If the league just adjusted to every player in the league over time the whole league would just be mediocre and that doesn't happen, some guys are just better than others, and if you had time to watch Marmol make nearly everyone he faced last year look silly, you would realize that your probably just upset that your team doesn't have a guy like him.

My bet is that you are unhappy that the Cubs will outbid your team for Fukudome. Sorry, if that happens, your going to have to live with it because that's why being in a large market in baseball is nice.

My prediction for the Cubs lineup next year:

2B. Brian Roberts
SS. Ryan Theriot/Mark DeRosa/Ronny Cedeno
1B. Derrek Lee
3B. Aramis Ramirez
LF. Alfonso Soriano
RF. Kosuke Fukudome
C. Geovany Soto
CF. Felix Pie

I think it would be better to have Kos-K bat 2nd and then the Theriot spot 8th, or 7th if Pie is somehow not outhitting Theriot, but I don't see this happening because Lou and Jim get aroused when the see the order say R/L/R/L instead of L/L.

Has all of this Kos-K talk made everyone forget about Prior's big day tomorrow? Or did he sign and I missed it? In any case, how exciting is it to think of Santo trying to announce "Fukudome"? I can already feel myself laughing.

Yeah, my name isn't showing on my posts for some reason..

If the cubs sign fukudome, no fan of theirs can ever make fun of the yanks for buying championships (if they can even win one)... i cannot wait too see how they deal with the backloaded contracts myself.
If they want bedard and roberts, they're risking their not so distant future. As a sox fan with a sad farm system, we're feeling it now, better to try and develope players, than go for a quick fix that doesn't pan out.

When will Eric Patterson be ready?

Also, while I think Lilly "overperformed" last year, it wasn't inexplicable. He transitioned well from the AL to the NL Central, and there is no reason this would change other than the central catching up to him (like the Comedy Central is going to catch up to anyone though).

Here's something I find entertaining... Rich Hill or older than Zambrano. Yep, look it up. And while Z certainly has a lot more service time, there is no reason to think he can't maintain his current skill level. He has high endurance and has pitched 200+ innings the past five years. Both Hill and Zambrano are great, and Lilly should be able to pitch at around the same level at age 31.

Between Marshall, Gallagher, and Prior, the Cubs could have a great rotation. At the very least, it will be one of the better in the National League. One day some Cubs-hater will realize that a team in the NL needs only compare themselves to the NL... If you want to say that the Red Sox or the Tigers are the favorites to win the World Series, I'm astonished at your creativity.

@Dave
who do the cubs have that would entice baltimore for bedard and roberts? just curious on your opinion. im not sayin they dont have talent in the minors, but from all indications on this site, the orioles are looking for ML ready top prospects for bedard.

CUBS=NOTHING, you are a joke, your entire happiness in terms of baseball is directly correlated to the Cubs success, and your a White Sox fan. Get a hobby other than being jealous of the Cubs. This is the perfect example of how 75% of White Sox fans follow baseball which just furthers my belief that they are the scum of baseball fans and don't deserve to follow a team. When the Sox won in '05 more Sox fans rubbed it in my face that it wasn't the Cubs than the fact that it WAS the Sox. Go away, you should be embarrassed that you are part of the worst group of fans in sports, thanks.

Two trades & one signing: 1) Get Teahen from KC for Murton & Fox.. 2)Get Roberts for Pie, Marshall & Hart or Gallagher if necessary... 3)Sign Fukudome..
1B Lee
2B Roberts
SS Theriot/Cedeno
3B Ramirez
LF Soriano
CF Fukudome
RF Teahen
C Soto

SP Zambrano,Hill,Lilly, Demptster & Marquis

RP Wood,Howry,Marmol,Wuertz, Ascanio & Lahey

Look for one trade in June for good starter...

You should be embarrassed for beiing part of the worst team in all of sports. I am just stating my opinion. My entire happiness is alot more than just baseball, but I do get a laugh out of the cubs year after year.

Everyone else's farm systems must be outstanding if the Sox system isn't that bad because the Sox are about to be ranked 29th by Baseball America. And the Sox had the fourth highest payroll in baseball last year. 4th place. Talk about money well spent.

Nothing, you weren't laughing last year when we swept you in your own house.

right, i just kept reading other people putting gallagher, marshall, pie, cedeno, etc. out there and i didnt think those types would be enough.

by the way, I forgot Wuertz...who somehow might be the most under rated reliever in the NL

Pie contributed to the cubs sad 85 win division title? if you say so. The Brewers bullpen contributed the most to the cubs division title by blowing a major league high 25 games or so. What I am trying to say is that cub fans can go in to an offseason knowing there team has a better chance a getting a "big Fish" then we do. I am not complaining or anything I wouldn't be a Cubs fan for all the beer in wrigleyville.

""As for you Sox Win...LIKE I SAID, what does it matter when you got them? Does it matter that you resigned them or got them via FA? The Cubs have guys like Zambrano, Hill, Pie, Soto, Marmol, Theriot, Marshall, Fontenot...and others that contributed to a division win that they have had since the farm....so now they are the yankees because they got Sori, Lilly, Marquis, and DeRosa? Whatever...those were all good moves except maybe the Marquis signing, but even he has earned his money so far. Then they have guys like Lee and Ramirez, who they "resigned", just like the Sox so wonderfully did. What are you even talking about???""

I must have misunderstood what you said.

1. Whoever told me that Fukudome hit .300 is right. He is a career .305 hitter. I was making wide generalizations about stats I only remembered off the top of my head. My bad. BA can be misleading anyway (Juan Pierre).

2. The term fire sale is a colloquialism. (you can use dictionary.com if you don't know what that means)

3. Nobody wants to listen to you two bicker about which Chicago team sucks more. It's the Blackhawks.

4. Am I alone in thinking that Fukudome isn't worth nearly this much?

"You should be embarrassed for beiing part of the worst team in all of sports. I am just stating my opinion. My entire happiness is alot more than just baseball, but I do get a laugh out of the cubs year after year."

I'll start by saying that you don't know how to read, because I said "in terms of baseball" not your happiness in general.

And here is to argue with the other thing you said:

Team (Years) W-L WP Pennants-WS Champs
Chicago Cubs (1876-2007) 9985-9459 0.514 16-2
Chicago White Sox (1901-2007) 8372-8182 0.506 6-3

I think statistical data ONLY between the White Sox and Cubs would disagree. Way more pennants and a better winning percentage for the Cubs, the only advantage the Sox have is WS wins and they only have the advantage by a single one. You lose. Your a moron, do us all a favor and stop voicing your opinion, because they are not only annoying, but usually wrong and you have sunk to the point of zero credibility. I am amused by your stupidity though, that's the only reason I don't think you should stop posting.

Ugh, this website is weird, my name only shows up sometimes...This is CubsFan1654. I was the one who posted those three posts in response to yours where i said marmol is just good and the cubs lineup one where i say i think Kos-K should bat 2.

"just looked at teahens stats...
why dont the cubs pursue him instead of spending 50 mil on fukudome. they are very similar players.
any thoughts?"

If we knew that Teahen would hit like he did his 2nd year then the Cubs probably would go after him, but from his 1st and 3rd year stats that 18hr short year in 06 looks like he over performed a bit. I think the Cubs are betting that Kos-K has a higher power ceiling than the 7 jacks Teahen has hit in 2 of his 3 seasons. It's weird that Teahen's most impressive numbers came in a short year while his two mostly full years (rookie numbers you just don't know so don't know if we should consider them as telling as the other two years) his stats weren't nearly as good.

"You should post less, seriously. KC is not that bad - they're better than the White Sox with a much less payroll, tool. As far as the Cubs needing pitching, I didn't know being 2nd in the league in pretty much every important pitching stat and leading the majors in K's for like the 8th straight year meant you needed pitching."

Hmm, call me crazy but I think 72-90 is better than 69-93, so I'm not sure wher you are getting your ideas from unless you have a crystal ball where you can foresee baseball standings for the next year.

"LOL yeah 2nd in the NL with a team era in the 4's, in the NATIONAL LEAGUE."

Are you joking me? Way to make yourself lose all credibility that you once might have had. Thats just something a retard would say. I guess an ERA that ranks 6th in ALL OF BASEBALL is just bad then, huh? Hey, how was your offense last year???

Not to mention the fact that Bill James projects them to be right around there yet again next year....but like I said earlier...

Who likes facts and projections anyway?

please explain how the white sox are the joke of baseball right now.... id like to hear your opinion because if its because they didnt get ALL the players they targeted this offseason, then there is about 29 other jokes out there.

Look...I'm a Cubs fan..but I actually root for the Sox in the AL. I don't really understand the hatred between the fans...never really have. I have happy for the Sox. There are fans that are going to ruin it, and thats what everyone here seems to be doing. The sox fans here are being ridiculous, and the Cubs fans in the other thread were out of control. Just keep it to facts and hot stove talk and don't throw things out there like being 4th in baseball in ERA makes you a terrible pitching staff. You just lose every ounce of credibility, if you ever had any at all.

You know, its so funny that every single time the Cubs are mentioned on this board there is a fight. Really, every single time… You don’t see this happen between Dodgers/Giants/Padres/DBacks/Rockies fans... You don’t see this between Indians/WhiteSox, or White/Sox, or Indians/Twins or the Tigers replacing any one of those… You don’t see it with Angels/A’s/Rangers/M’s fans... You don’t see it in Mets/Phillies/Braves threads… Doesn’t show up between Cards/Brewers/Rats/Reds/Stros fanes… You don’t even see it with any of the AL-E teams other than the Yanks VS BoSox bickering… Yet every time the Cubs are mentioned there is a problem! Wonder why that is; I guess it really must be all the other 29 teams fans, huh… :\

No the reason is just that since it is the Cubs everyone loves to take advantage of all the potential low blows. It gets annoying having to defend the Cubs every time some moron comes in to just pick on us because they havent won a series in a while. It's almost like any time that a team is going through some tough times the fans of those teams find it very convenient to have one team they can vent against, that happens to be the Cubs. It's just funny that the Cubs can win a division and still get told by other teams fans that they suck more than any other team even when you have teams like the Rays, Royals, Pirates, Nats, Marlins, White Sox this year, the list goes on of teams you could pick to attack but the habbit is to pick the Cubs, and they will be a target until they finally break through with that World Series win, whenever it may come. Another thing is that I honestly believe there is no greater hatred, in American sports at least, than the White Sox fans towards the Cubs, yeah, even greater than Bears-Packers, Sox-Yanks, OSU-Mich, and so on. The worst part about it is that that level of hatred is, for the most part, a one way street. Sure most of us dislike the Sox, but our happiness isn't at all based on their success or failure. We care about OUR teams success, not other teams failures. For the majority of White Sox fans, at least the outspoken ones, their happiness correlates directly with the success or failure of the Cubs. I'm not saying that all of them are because I know they all don't, having friends who are White Sox fans who don't hate the Cubs at all, but for most of them it's like any time they see anything that could be a good thing for the Cubs, they have a fit and flip out and are very outgoing with their hatred. From self experience, we Cubs fans have the worst attitude in baseball towards our team because we are used to failure, but we are pretty knowledgeable and friendly. Don't even consider counting the drunk morons in the bleachers because they aren't fans, they just come for the good times. I would assume that most people who actually register to a place like this and post are real fans, and most of us are nice, so I don't think that it is us who cause the problems.

"Remember when the Fukudome talks started and involved the Cubs as suitors? Im not sure when that was but I am pretty sure that no one was throwing these crazy $14-16 mill a year around as what it would take to get him."

This happened with Dice-K and will start to happen with anyone who comes from Japan who has any chance of being a legit player over here. Go back to last year when at first I recall people thinking 25-30 millionish would be enough for the posting fee. Basically when it comes to Japanese players in the future, anytime that the player is pretty good take the original estimates and multiply it by 1.5-2 times and thats about what it will really cost. These guys better be something special because I think it's nonsense to pay unproven players this much. Honestly I don't think Japanese numbers are even as reliable as AAA numbers anymore, you just can't tell.

Well its almost 11:00 in the morining in Japan. I think its time for Fukudome to announce he is coming to Chicago.

"Does anyone know why Iwamura got 3 years and $7.7M and Fukudome will get something like 4 years and $50M even though their numbers are fairly similar?"

If you watch videos of them Fukudome looks like he has more of a real power hitters swing. Iwamura hit a lot of low line drive home runs, Fukudome hits towering blasts, he's a more legit power threat