The Fukudome Situation

If the Cubs can get ANYTHING for him I would support it. But there's no way some team is eating that contract.

I think he has nowhere to go but up. Not sure what his BABIP was, but that second half surely wasn't indicative of what he is capable of. I really have no issues with a Fukudome/Johnson platoon.

Stupid Cub fans telling me the Astros wasted 3.5 million dollars plus incentives on LaTroy Hawkins. How much does Fukudome make this year as well as last? That's right.

I agree, theres nothing wrong with that platoon in CF, besides the money of course. But this will be his first full offseason to make adjustments and work with the cubs staff on pulling the ball with power like hes capable instead of bailing out of the box and slapping the ball. Plus whoever we get to play RF doesnt look like they will be very good on defense so the ability to slid him to RF and bring in reed to play CF in the 8th/9th inning in a nice luxury. The problem is now that hes moved to center the cubs have no choice but to trade pie whos still young and has tons of talent no matter how most cub fans feel about him.

Can't see the Cubs moving Fukudome AND Pie. Who would be in CF? (Unless I guess we keep Edmonds)

Fukudome turned down higher offers to come to the Cubs.

That being said, his style would probably work pretty well in San Diego, which is why Towers wanted him in the first place.

I'd bet the dollars and the Cubs not wanting to eat any of them is the real problem.

K-Fuk probably wants to prove himself to Chicago, though. He takes a lot of pride in his work, and I can't see him accepting his performance this year as acceptable.

EVEN IF THE CUBS ATE HALF OF THE SALARY

Funny, when you're hot at the beginning of the season and slump at the end you're called a failure, but when you slump at the beginning and get hot toward the end you're an MVP candidate. Just ask Met fans.

You know, Fukudome wouldn't be a bad addition for the Angels if they don't resign Anderson. Perhaps a contract for contract swap with GMJ, who would provide a LH/Switch bat for power and the ability to play CF and RF for the Cubs? Fukudome would have a field day in LF and could spell Hunter in CF and Vlad in RF once in a while. His OBP would be a nice addition to the Angels.

"I love the idea of a contract swap between the angels and cubs. But then we lose another LH bat. However i believe Fukudome make more than GMJ so maybe that would free up enough money to get Abreu and still trade for roberts or some other lefty stick in the MIF. Tim call Hendry and tell him please!!"

Remember that GMJ does power in his bat and would probably benefit from not being asked to be a big power threat.

It's hilarious what a 'curse' can do to your fanbase. Fukudome was an above average RF this year, whether you like him or not. He was worth 24RAR, thats more than Xavier Nady, same as Ordonez, 2 less than Abreu and 3 less than Dye.

Find a different scapegoat.

nrmax88 - His overall input to the team over replacement player (aka runs above replacement) was 24...that's above league average, which is around 20. See in my last post the guys that were around him and you get a clue about how valuable his defense was.

"Personally, I do not want to see Fukudome in CF in a platooon situation where he is average at best defensively. "

Fukudome isn't merely average defensively. There is a reason he won 4 Golden Gloves in Japan. Also, he has all the skills necessary to play CF in MLB, especially in Wrigley where CF is easier to play than RF. This is actually where hanging on to Edmonds would make sense. Platoon Edmonds in RF instead of CF and have Fukudome play CF. Edmonds has to cover less ground while still using his same instincts and strong arm. That actually helps the Cubs defensively.

"Fukudome was NOT above average. Not even close.

A trade with the Angels is interesting. GMJ could certainly do a better job defensively. Offense - well that's another question."

Actually, just going by plus/minus can lead one to think GMJ was a terrible CF in 2007, when he played there full time. This is why you can never rely on one statistic to judge defensive value.

Anyway, Fukudome has a better arm, about the same speed and is less prone to injury. GMJ is certainly an acrobat and has enough arm to play any OF position, but I don't think he is as good a defender.

bjsguess - His defense definitely was above average, well above average. Not sure what defense metrics are you using. This just goes to show how a player with below average bat and great defense often is more valuable than guys with good bats and below average defense...

Defense is incredibly underrated

I'd like to see the Cubs give him another shot but if we could include him in a Peavy deal, eating some salary, perhaps we could still sign Dempster, Wood, and a RF upgrade. Try to trade Marquis for a decent bullpen guy.

Peavy
Zambrano
Dempster
Harden
Lilly

Doh!!!

Wood
Marmol
Samardzija
LHP for Marquis
Gaudin
Cotts

Trade for Roberts and move DeRosa to RF. Sign Furcal. Keep dreaming. I love the hot stove.

Roberts
Furcal
Soriano
Ramirez
Lee
DeRosa
Soto
R. Johnson/Platoon

I just came in my pants.

"Fukudome isn't merely average defensively. There is a reason he won 4 Golden Gloves in Japan. Also, he has all the skills necessary to play CF in MLB, especially in Wrigley where CF is easier to play than RF."

I was pointing out his defensive abilities in CF, not RF...way different. He won those GG in Japan playing where? Exactly. He himself has said he is better in RF than CF. But the team has to play him because of the contract. There are other factors in why I would rather he not play CF. He will have to cover a lot of ground between Soriano and whomever they get in RF...most likely for his bat, not glove. I understand why the Cubs are going to have to do it.

The Padres picked up Giles and his option to keep him in SD. He is going nowhere.

Not sure if the Cubs would consider Edmonds again. I kind of doubt it, but don't know.

I think if the Cubs called the Yankees and said they would take Igawa and Damon, the Yanks would gladly take the rest of the Fukodome contract.

Hell, they'd probably take him straight up for Igawa.

Can someone explain to me (and I don't mean that sarcastically) how it is known that Fukudome's problem was a lack of adjusting to the pitchers after they "figured him out" and not fatigue-related in his first year? Or maybe a bit of both? There is a lot less travel in Japan, he was constantly hounded by the media and their season is shorter too so I don't think it's a leap to think that could have contributed to his decline. Is it possible he might improve next year? Or is this just wishful thinking?

"Fuku sucks. His defence wasnt anywhere as good as you would have us believe. If your not going to hit your weight, you better be Willy Mays out there."

1) Its Willie Mays (even a casual baseball fan should know that. 2) His defense was excellent and was probably undervalued in the same way Ichiro's is.

G"ive Fukudome a break, out of all the foreign Asian players that have come over, not many have been very successful in their first year."

Actually, I think that trend is more the opposite. Nomo, Ichiro, Saito, Kuroda, Iwamura, Iguchi, Soriano (look it up), Hasegawa, Sasaki, etc. were all effective in their first full seasons.

"Besides, at the end of the day, stats are for nerds. Anyone who watches the Cubbies regularly understands Fukus terrible. You can bring me all the stats you want that say he isnt as crappy as he looks, but MLB RFs have to hit."

Actually, it is the stat heads that are more likely to have an issue with Fukudome. Anyway, the fact that he put up that kind of OBP says just what Fukudome can bring to the table.

"Can someone explain to me (and I don't mean that sarcastically) how it is known that Fukudome's problem was a lack of adjusting to the pitchers after they "figured him out" and not fatigue-related in his first year? Or maybe a bit of both? There is a lot less travel in Japan, he was constantly hounded by the media and their season is shorter too so I don't think it's a leap to think that could have contributed to his decline. Is it possible he might improve next year? Or is this just wishful thinking?"

I think it is very possible Fukudome can improve, because he showed he can hit and walk in Japan. As for fatigue, I don't think that was a factor. The Japanese season is shorter, but not THAT much shorter, and his numbers started declining before that would have made a difference. As for the travel, given the luxury MLB players travel in, I don't see how that can be a factor.

Um, yeah, Alfonso Soriano played in Japan before he played in MLB.

"Soriano? Rafael? Didn't know he was Asian! "

Alfonso Soriano was initially signed by Hiroshima Toyo Carp out of the D.R. (was a teammate as a rookie with Hiroki Kuroda). He came up through the Japanese minor leagues and crafted much of his game there. He got out of his contract by pulling a Nomo and retiring from NPB to sign with the Yankees.

"I just thought that Kosuke needed a year to adapt."

I think the real issue is that he didn't make the adjustments. He didn't seem to get that he can't just swing for the fences here and that contact has real value when you are playing in a bigger park and the pitchers are throwing different pitches.

"You know, it'd hilarious if Cubs trade him while eating half of his salary or something and he then hits .300/.400/.430 while playing great defense"

Tell me about it. I think Fukudome absolutely has that in him. He is easily a 15-20 HR, 40-50 2B kind of player.