Fukudome?

[strawbossisevil]

Look, I'll start out by pointing out that I am well aware that he tanked in the second half. But despite that tanking he still finished the year with an OBP of .359. He hits left handed which is a plus.

 

I guess it all depends on what scouts think. If Kosuke's decline was due to scouts figuring him out and his lack of ability to make adjustments then we rightfully don't want a part with him. I imagine Fukudome was better than he showed in the second half and worse than the numbers he put up in the first half. Which means his current numbers would probably be a good guess as to where he'd end up next season.

 

But I imagine him coming rather cheaply (with the Cubs eating most of his salary). For all of the talk of Coco Crisp on this website Fukudome put up nearly equivalent numbers last season. Fukudome's OPS was a bit heavier OBP wise than Crisp's, where Crisp's was more dependant on slugging.

 

The Cubs would have to eat a ton of money off of his contract, but if we could get him for around 4 or 5 million per year or so, it might be worth a look.

[bklynbrewcrew]

Why would the Cubs eat a ton of his contract and trade him to the Brewers? I could see them dumping him outside the division just to get rid of the contract but they wouldnt trade him to us unless we picked up his bloated contract which we would never do.

[Brian the Automator]

Even if this all worked out, where would you play him?

[strawbossisevil]

He plays a capable CF and has an above average arm. As for why the Cubs would get rid of him to the Brewers, it appears that they really soured on him, and would desperately like to get rid of him and at least some of his massively bloated contract. I don't see how being in the same division would prevent them from getting this type of deal done.

 

This would free us to look into trading Cameron to the Yankees for pitching.

[BREWCREW5]

Fukudome is terrible and I will enjoy watching him suck for the cubs the next 3 seasons.

[jjfanec]

He has more value for us staying on the Cubs teams and either being a poor hitting corner OF or a below average fielding CF. He looked completely lost after the first two months of last year and I think pitchers figured out how to work him

[strawbossisevil]

False. His first three months he had an OBP over .380. His fourth month is when his numbers took a dive. This could be a situation where the the scouts and pitchers figured him out, or this could be a situation of him not being used to playing in a 162 game season. I don't believe he was no where near as bad as he played in the last two months. He probably wasn't quite as good as his first 3 months either. The truth as always probably lies somewhere in the middle.

 

He is a good defensive outfielder with the ability to play a solid CF. If he can get on at a .350 or .360 clip, he would be a wonderful option in the #2 spot in the lineup.

 

My point is, people keep plugging Crisp, but Crisp's season was no better than Fukudome's. So if we are so opposed to getting Fukudome, I don't see why Crisp is such an attractive option either.

[jjfanec]

Okay so after the first half of the season he looked lost. Batting .217 with an OBP of .314. He had 12 extra base hits the second half of the year. He walks a lot which is a plus. However, I really doubt he is a solid CF if the Cubs refused to play him out there, even with Pie struggling at first and Edmonds hurt some. I have not heard from anyone that he is a good CF, maybe I am wrong.

[strawbossisevil]

Interestingly enough. I looked at his BABIP for his last month, and it is .198. That seems to indicate that at the very least in his last 28 games, he was extremely unlucky. His second half BABIP was .248. Once again this seems to indicate that much of his second half slump was a result of bad luck.

 

If we bring that BABIP into a more average range. He becomes a guy whose OBP would probably settle around .350 or .360. He isn't the .380+ OBP guy he was in the first half, just like he isn't a .314 OBP like he was in the second. The truth lies in the middle.

[Brian the Automator]

False. His first three months he had an OBP over .380. His fourth month is when his numbers took a dive. This could be a situation where the the scouts and pitchers figured him out, or this could be a situation of him not being used to playing in a 162 game season. I don't believe he was no where near as bad as he played in the last two months. He probably wasn't quite as good as his first 3 months either. The truth as always probably lies somewhere in the middle.

 

He is a good defensive outfielder with the ability to play a solid CF. If he can get on at a .350 or .360 clip, he would be a wonderful option in the #2 spot in the lineup.

 

My point is, people keep plugging Crisp, but Crisp's season was no better than Fukudome's. So if we are so opposed to getting Fukudome, I don't see why Crisp is such an attractive option either.

I definitely don't plug Coco Crisp.

 

Japanese players only play 27 less games per season than their American counterparts. Personally, I think the league figured him out, and I disagree with the opinion that he would be solid in CF. I'd take Cameron over Fukudome in CF easily.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Maybe his low BABIP had more to do with him hitting nothing but weak grounders and popups because he was completely off balance swinging the bat than being unlucky - I live in Chicago and watched a ton of Cub games...there was nothing unlucky with his numbers. And once pitchers realized how to pitch him and attack him with strikes, his walk rate and OBP plummeted, too.

 

I want no part of Fukudome on the Brewers. Defensively he's good, but he's also on the wrong side of 30...I'd equate him to a slower version of Tony Gwynn Jr, with a better arm from the outfield.

[twobrewers]

I was wondering when Fukudome would be brought up.

 

Honestly, I think Fukudome had a very similar decline to Corey Hart last year. Sure, you can argue that the league "figured him out" - but the same can be said for Corey Hart.

 

I would expect both of them to be able to make adjustments in the off season to come back better players.

 

If Fukudome was on a different team - I would support pursuing him as a LH centerfielder. But I just can't imagine the Cub's eating enough (or any) salary for the Brewers.

[jackalope02ca]

We have capable outfielders in the minors that will be ready in the next year or two, Braun, Hart, and Cameron in the majors and where would Fukodome play? 4th outlfielder because we already have better options. You'd have to trade one of our existing outfielders to make room for him which would be a downgrade. Why would we want to do that? Personally I'd never deal with the Yankees. There players are almost always highly overrated due to the media attention they get and their minor league guys are even more overhyped.

[endaround]

I also think people might be writing off Fukudome early. I always thought the 900 OPS projections were silly, but keep in mind that in his first season Matsui hit .287/.353/.435. Not Fukudome bad but below what he hit going forward. I still think Fukudome will put up a typical .350/.450 line which while not spectacular is decent enough. Now he's likely going to be slightly overpaid.

[strawbossisevil]

This is exactly what I'm saying. The guy is probably going to average around around a .350 or so OBP. My guess is he'll be a mid to upper 700 OPS guy.

 

I think his added OBP and his Lefty bat would make him valuable enough where he and Cameron would be more or less a wash (Cameron will have more slugging and less OBP and is right handed). Defensively, while Cameron may cover a bit more ground, Fukudome has a canon for an arm. I know that Yankee prospects are sometimes over hyped, but you can never have enough cheap pitching. If we could add a player like Hughes in a deal while replacing Cameron's production with someone cheaper, I don't know why we wouldn't do it. We can't expect Cameron to keep up his production either, the guy is a year older.

 

We need lefties and solid OBP people. Fukudome is an option that provides both.

[Invader3K]

Who would we possibly trade to the Cubs for Fukudome, though? They're not going to trade him to us for Gwynn or something.

[strawbossisevil]

I can't imagine they'd want much for him. It sounds like Cubs management has really soured on him. I think they'd be happy to get half of what they spent on him back to make other deals. A moderately solid A ball player might do the trick. The alternative is to have a player with a huge contract rotting on the bench. A move like this would help both teams IMO.

[JohnBriggs12]

Don't help the Cubs out of this one. The Cubs management soured on him because he's bad. Not every Japanese star makes it. It's a completely different game over here. In Japan players play all their games home and away in the same time zone. Fukudome never adjusted to the travel. It happens.

[Invader3K]

I don't know...it couldn't be the worst move for the Brewers to make. Three bad months in the majors doesn't mean he won't bounce back next year.

[jjfanec]

Can someone tell me if he really is a decent CF? I remember when they signed him people questioned if he could play CF in the majors and nothing about how the Cubs handled him makes me think he can. He will be a guy who has value as a 4th OF but I do not see him as a an above average starter if he can't play CF well. Even if he is adequate his defense pales in comparison to Cameron and he has a bad contract. I would much rather have Cameron next year.

The Corey Hart comparisons are valid, but Hart had a very good year and a half which makes me think he slumped not that the league figured him out. That could be the same for Fukudome but he does not have a good season in the US to rest his hat on.

[sbrylski]

If he can play a solid CF and Cubs pick up some $, I'd be for it. Two sizeable ifs though.

[southpaw121505]

I have nothing of value to add to this thread, just that I got great joy watching Fukudome flail at sliders away and miss them by a few feet. He has a terrible swing/follow through

[sheetswannabe]

Hart fell off this year, and Fukudome ended up with a better year. I dont understand the Fuku bashing. Maybe because he slid away, but many rookies do that (I know he played in Japan so the rookie excuse isnt as well used) but he was still a rookie. I would love him on our team, have you seen his arm? Makes Hart look like Pierre.

Trade them Mark Rodgers or someone who could make it but most likely will be a backup and eat the salary. Then trade Hart or Cameron and have the one left over play center.

[sveumrules]

Hart fell off this year, and Fukudome ended up with a better year.

hart ops'ed 759. fukudome 738. with hart being 5 years younger i don't see how fuku had a better year last year or is a better bet going forward.

[jjfanec]

Hart fell off this year, and Fukudome ended up with a better year. I dont understand the Fuku bashing. Maybe because he slid away, but many rookies do that (I know he played in Japan so the rookie excuse isnt as well used) but he was still a rookie. I would love him on our team, have you seen his arm? Makes Hart look like Pierre.

The OPS's have already been shown to disprove Fukudome as better than Hart last year. That is great that he has a nice arm but how many times does that make a difference. Even if the Cubs picked up some of the salary we would still be on the hook for three years. Hart is younger, has more upside and has had a good full year in the majors in 2007. Hart has proven that he can hit MLB pitching for a year and Fukudome hasn't. So, why pay more and trade a player for a guy who has never been better than the guy you are already have. Not too mention if Fukudome does not turn it around the Cubs are stuck with a really expensive bench player for 3 years.