Len & Bob's baseball blog

Considering the Cubs' poor offensive showing in the play-offs, I think the addition of Mr. Fukodome is a positive move. The outfield looks good, but the jury is still out on Pia & Sam Fuld is untested. Spring training should settle that, barring a trade or another acquisition.
Billie

I like the signing of Fukudome - let's hope he can make the contributions we'd like him to.

My question is if Jim Hendry aquires Brian Roberts (Baltimore fans won't be happy) what happens to DeRosa, Theriot, and eventually Eric Patterson?

Cubs convention will be here soon - looking forward to it!

I think this is a good deal that jim hendry made on Fukudome beacuse he will like being on the chicago cubs he will have the experience being on a mlb team and a new mananger pinellia.
go cubs in 08

Have to agree with you, Len. This signing makes all the sense in the world. And I, too, have liked Roberts and his style for a long time - sort of a Theriot with a couple more years of experience.

My only concern is whether enough at-bats can be found to go around if Roberts is acquired. Seems like that would shove Fukudome into CF pretty regularly, so that DeRosa can play RF, which would negate a lot of the defensive improvement you mentioned. It would also hamper the developement of Pie and/or Fuld. Still, the offensive potential would be incredible.

I guess what I'd really like to see is for the Cubs and Orioles to emulate what the Tigers and Marlins did. Pick up both Robert and Bedard in the same trade. Pitching was relatively solid last year, but there's always room for improvement. And Bedard, pitching for a poor team, in the toughest offensive division in baseball, has put together back-to-back seasons better than anyone on the current Cubs staff. I know Roberts and Bedard would not come cheap. But the payoff could be huge.

I agree it is a great signing for the Cubs. We desperately needed a left handed bat and if eff dome is healthy after his surgery he appears to be the answer. I have a feeling that he will e a fan favorite too considering the odd name and all. Hendry has done a great job with a short leash this ofseason.

I sure hope we will be calling him KOSE-K (KOHS-K),[ like DICE-K ] because I sure don't like the smart alleck names I read on the Cubs message board. They weren't very nice and I sure hate to welcome him to the Cubs and the US that way. What do you think , Len?

Len,

I think you're dead on...the Cubs needed a guy whose OBP was far better than what they currently have...and Fukudome supposedly gives them that. Hopefully another move for Roberts or a pitcher is on the way; if not, the decision to non-tender Prior won't look too good in most fans' minds.

Nonetheless, 2008 should be a great year for this team...and let's hope we don't have to endure another first round playoff sweep (especially by the D-Backs of all teams...I still have to hear about that one from my friends on a daily basis).

We'll see you out here for Spring Training in a few months...Go Cubs!

Len, I don't know enough about the young man yet to have an opinion but he sounds good on paper.
I'm sorry for Mark Prior but happy that the Cubs have finally made the decision to let him go. This, more than anything else, tells me the powers that be are looking ahead and are serious about winning. Good luck to Mark wherever he lands and welcome Fukidome.
Go Cubs Go!

I'm a big fan of the signing so far. One thing I haven't heard people mention too often yet is the fact that (correct me if I'm wrong) the Cubs don't have to give up any draft picks in signing Fukudome. I've seen that some of his comparables in projections for production have been J.D. Drew and Bobby Abreu. With the money those guys are making, and just the additional angle that Fukudome is the first Japanese player the Cubs have signed and could open some new doors and options for the organization in the future in scouting and signing and even ballpark advertisements and international sales. With all of the above considered, I find myself pretty comfortable with the move.

I read that Mark Prior will not be a Chicago Cub next year. I want to say that I hope that he is able to successfully continue his career with another team. Best wishes to you and your family. I will miss you, Mark.

Fukudome was a HUGE signing for Hendry considering he had done NOTHING up until signing him. It makes sense now however, since it looks now that Fukudome was coming here all along. I too am excited about what he brings to the Cub lineup. A patient hitter with a good OBP. Very unusual for a member of the Cubs.

I'm having a "Burn my Mark Prior jersey" ceremony in my fireplace tonite. What a waste.

Sure would've been nice to see Hendry add another starting pitcher.

Better to be a Cub fan than a White Sox fan this offseason. The Sox have done absolutely nothing this offseason, and teams in their division have gotten much better.

I've heard Felix Pie is struggling mightly in whatever South American league he is playing in. Corey Patterson without the pop.

Can't wait to see G Soto play a full season with the Cubs. Please be as good as you look like you're going to be G.

Spring training can't get here soon enough for me.

Brad

I too don't know a lot about this guy, but my Sux fan husband was jealous of the signing, so that's a good thing. :) Welcome to Chicago!

I was heartbroken to see Prior's name in the Mitchell report....I knew he was too good to be true. :( I guess letting him go turned out to be a good thing in the end.

107 days, 18 hours and 30 minutes until Cubbies baseball!! Will it ever get here??

Happy holidays Len, BB, Bob V and all great Cubs fans everywhere!

What day is Fukudome coming to Chicago to take the physical & make the official announcement he's a member of the Chicago Cubs?

How about we call him "K-Dome".

I remember watching Fukodome play in the World Baseball Classic and wondered then when he might play in the Majors. I'm stoked about him being a Cub. And I'll tell you another thing.... as soon as I saw BIG JIM trade Jacque Jones, Craig Monroe and not re-sign ER's very own Cliff Floyd, I KNEW the CUBS had the inside track on KOSUKE. There's NO WAY he would have dumped all three guys without KNOWING they had KOSUKE in the bag!!! As for Roberts, he admitted today that he used STERIODS once!!! Sounds like he's a little pregnant, huh??? Maybe this means BALTIMORE will be more likely to move him now. He's been ANGELOS pet for a few years and the CUBS might be able to get him on the cheap.

It's time to start making fun of baseball and steroids. I found a new comedy website with a short video that does that. Check it out at www.mybluecollar.com/videos/414ed2fa78.
It's oh-my-gawd funny.

Sure, our Cubbies look good on paper. Too bad they play on grass and clay. This is just to let you know that somebody is reading your blog in the off season. Keep up the good work.

I think FUKU is a good idea but most of the players from JAPAN need time to adjust to the majors.Now we have 2 lead-off men.What do we do? If we move Sor down the order he is not sucessful or bat Sor first then Fuku second? PIN will figure it out.
Forget Roberts we don't want a JUICE problem on the CUBS
GO CUBS

Len,
WHY do the Cubs need Brian Roberts? Yeah, it would be nice to have him, but there is no room for him. Unless he can find a way to play SS and get rid of Theriot, the Cubs have DeRosa, who is a spark plug for this team, it seems unfair to put him into a utility role when there's not gonna be a hole in RF now that we have Fukudome. All of our positions are pretty much set. I will be extremely upset if the Cubs get Roberts, it's just way too unfair to DeRosa after he proved he's one of our most valuable players on this team.

Mallory, without Theriot the Cubs don't sniff first place in the NL Central last year. Gaudy offensive numbers don't judge a player's value, especially a shortstop.

But I also have some misgivings about the logjam the acquisition of Roberts would make, as much as I love way Roberts plays the game.

Forget the steroids thing. Whether it was once or not, all indications are any use he made of them wasn't recent. And I think if the entire truth came out, we'd see that a great number of players "dabbled" in steroids in small ways before the official MLB ban - most to hasten recovery from injuries. You sure couldn't claim that Roberts (or many others mentioned in small ways by the report) was using steroids to "bulk up" so he could jack a couple dozen extra homers per year.

Len,
What a breath of fresh air to hear from you (offseason blues are hitting hard this year!)

I am really excited about seeing Fukudome play in a Cubs uniform! Kudos to Hendry for going out and getting it done, again! As far as Roberts goes, it would be nice to have him, but if it doesn't get done, I'm not going to be crushed as DeRosa proved to be a solid second baseman last year. I can see where Hendry is trying to go out and get more speed at the top of the lineup, though. IF we could get Roberts, which would open up DeRosa to be inserted daily into different positions to get guys regular days off to keep them healthy, we would have a potentially dangerous lineup! I'm still not sold on Dempster moving to the rotation, however. I do think Hendry needs to go get us a solid starting pitcher...I like Demp, but I don't want to imagine 5-7 innings of his drama that he seems to give us fans in just one inning! I remember him struggling quite a bit as a starter before he moved to the pen a few years ago. Good luck at the Bash.... wish I lived closer to be able to attend! 43 days until pitchers and catchers report! It's almost there!