Fukudome Signs with Cubs for 4 years (MLB.com: $48 M)

[BCVM22]

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but:

 

Williams understood that the White Sox made the highest offer among the interested teams. Fukudome simply wanted to be the first Japanese player for a particular franchise

 

I found that pretty interesting.

 

He also wanted to play his natural position of right field, whereas the Sox had him penciled in as either a left fielder or a center fielder and he didn't want to displace Jermaine Dye from right field. I like what I hear about this guy - has a ton of confidence in himself, wanted to play in a big city like Chicago to show the world what he can do and wanted the distinction of being the Cubs' first-ever Japanese player. If he can back up the talk with his play on the field, I think we're gonna enjoy having him on the team.

[Mephistopheles]

However, Cubs fans booed Jones for his first season hitting:

 

.285/.334/.499 27 HR

 

That said Fukudome has been projected to hit

 

.289/.401/.504 15 HR

 

 

and everyone is thrilled.

 

its old, but no one called you out on it. You basically took a guy who is in the 90th percentile among guys at their position for OBP, and compared it to a guy who is in the 30th percentile in OBP at the position (give or take). 70 points of OBP is enormous. The difference between Fukudome's and Jones' OBP is about the difference between Jones' OBP and Wyatt Toregas.

 

Yes, Wyatt Toregas

[UMFan83]

However, Cubs fans booed Jones for his first season hitting:

 

.285/.334/.499 27 HR

 

That said Fukudome has been projected to hit

 

.289/.401/.504 15 HR

 

 

and everyone is thrilled.

 

its old, but no one called you out on it. You basically took a guy who is in the 90th percentile among guys at their position for OBP, and compared it to a guy who is in the 30th percentile in OBP at the position (give or take). 70 points of OBP is enormous. The difference between Fukudome's and Jones' OBP is about the difference between Jones' OBP and Wyatt Toregas.

 

Yes, Wyatt Toregas

 

Yeah seriously, not to be the OBP police, but we have a lot of hitters on this team that are capable of hitting for power. What we lack are hitters who can get on base consistantly to make those HR hitters matter. Thats been our key problem the last few years, and its finally being addressed. A 70 point boost in OBP is tremendous. A 70 point boost in OPS is tremendous too. Not to mention hes quick, plays great D and has a great arm (think of how many extra bases won't be taken on his arm). This is why we are much higher on Fuk than we were with Jones.

[abuck1220]

but they have the same batting average.

[BCVM22]

I saw this on Cot's Baseball Contracts and hadn't seen it anywhere else.

 

Contract includes clause requiring club to sign Fukudome to an extension by 2011 or release him, allowing him to become a free agent.

 

http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2005/01/chicago-cubs_112114177768677294.html

 

So if I'm reading this right, the Cubs are required to either extend him prior to the '11 season or void the last season of the contract and let him become a free agent? Is that accurate?

[Butterscup1679666578]

I saw this on Cot's Baseball Contracts and hadn't seen it anywhere else.

 

Contract includes clause requiring club to sign Fukudome to an extension by 2011 or release him, allowing him to become a free agent.

 

http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2005/01/chicago-cubs_112114177768677294.html

 

So if I'm reading this right, the Cubs are required to either extend him prior to the '11 season or void the last season of the contract and let him become a free agent? Is that accurate?

 

That would make sense, considering all reports said he only wanted a 3 year deal, but then why sign him to a 4 year deal at all? Strange.

[Rob]

I saw this on Cot's Baseball Contracts and hadn't seen it anywhere else.

 

Contract includes clause requiring club to sign Fukudome to an extension by 2011 or release him, allowing him to become a free agent.

 

http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2005/01/chicago-cubs_112114177768677294.html

 

So if I'm reading this right, the Cubs are required to either extend him prior to the '11 season or void the last season of the contract and let him become a free agent? Is that accurate?

 

I'm not sure if the extension has to be done before 2011 or not, but it's a fairly typical clause for japanese players coming over. It's how they avoid being under club control after their initial contract has run out. Not many veteran players from there would be too happy coming over if they had to sign a six year contract... and not many teams would like to risk that many years on imports.

[BCVM22]

I'm not sure if the extension has to be done before 2011 or not, but it's a fairly typical clause for japanese players coming over. It's how they avoid being under club control after their initial contract has run out. Not many veteran players from there would be too happy coming over if they had to sign a six year contract... and not many teams would like to risk that many years on imports.

 

Ah, that does make sense. I forget sometimes that despite being big free agents, the Japanese players are technically rookies and subject to the rules of service time and such. Thanks.

[Vanilla Ice]

This is a dumb question, but I've never really bought a customized jersey shirt off of MLB.com before. The lettering on the back is red with white outline, right? I got one for Christmas last year from Wrigleyville Sports I think it was, and the name/number were just white (like the customization preview on mlb.com is). Just wanted to make sure before I asked for my Kosuke jersey shirt for Christmas.

 

Nope. What you got from Wrigleyville Sports is identical to the custom t-shirts MLB.com sells, with all-white lettering and a stock typeface. The red-with-white lettering is done only on the mass-produced shirts like this one.

 

With that said, you know the Cubs are going to promote the hell out of Fukudome. Very doubtful if they'll be available before Christmas, but I'd be very surprised if a mass-produced KOSUKE 1 jersey shirt weren't made available relatively soon. Keep an eye on CubWorld, as they have some player shirts that I rarely see elsehwere, like Murton, Hill, DeRosa and Theriot.

 

No Soto jerseys :(

[BCVM22]

No Soto jerseys :(

 

GEOVANY SOTO

 

If you meant a jersey shirt, I imagine they'll start showing up in select outlets once the new season starts and Soto (possibly/hopefully) adopts a new uniform number. This season was the first time Soto had made any real impact on the team, and with him penciled in as the starting catcher next season, I'm sure he'll get a shirt, even if it is hard to find. I've seen authentic-style Fontenot, Marmol and Theriot shirts in some places around Wrigley; if a backup second baseman, a middle reliever and a glorified utilityman can get shirts, I'm sure the starting catcher can.

 

...Geovany Soto

[Roast]

This is a dumb question, but I've never really bought a customized jersey shirt off of MLB.com before. The lettering on the back is red with white outline, right? I got one for Christmas last year from Wrigleyville Sports I think it was, and the name/number were just white (like the customization preview on mlb.com is). Just wanted to make sure before I asked for my Kosuke jersey shirt for Christmas.

 

Nope. What you got from Wrigleyville Sports is identical to the custom t-shirts MLB.com sells, with all-white lettering and a stock typeface. The red-with-white lettering is done only on the mass-produced shirts like this one.

 

With that said, you know the Cubs are going to promote the hell out of Fukudome. Very doubtful if they'll be available before Christmas, but I'd be very surprised if a mass-produced KOSUKE 1 jersey shirt weren't made available relatively soon. Keep an eye on CubWorld, as they have some player shirts that I rarely see elsehwere, like Murton, Hill, DeRosa and Theriot.

 

No Soto jerseys :(

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/KingJME/Jersey.jpg

[Vanilla Ice]

No Soto jerseys :(

 

GEOVANY SOTO

 

If you meant a jersey shirt, I imagine they'll start showing up in select outlets once the new season starts and Soto (possibly/hopefully) adopts a new uniform number. This season was the first time Soto had made any real impact on the team, and with him penciled in as the starting catcher next season, I'm sure he'll get a shirt, even if it is hard to find. I've seen authentic-style Fontenot, Marmol and Theriot shirts in some places around Wrigley; if a backup second baseman, a middle reliever and a glorified utilityman can get shirts, I'm sure the starting catcher can.

 

...Geovany Soto

 

Guess I didn't look hard enough :oops:

[Mizzou]

Not sure if this has been discussed, but I was curious about the park that Fuku called home in Japan? Was it hitter or pitcher friendly? What would it compare to in MLB? Anyone have any idea?

[nilodnayr]

Not sure if this has been discussed, but I was curious about the park that Fuku called home in Japan? Was it hitter or pitcher friendly? What would it compare to in MLB? Anyone have any idea?

 

 

http://www.baywell.ne.jp/users/drlatham/baseball/yakyu/stadium/dragons.htm

The playing field: The dome's snow cone-shaped outfield wall stands nearly five meters (16 feet) tall (one of the highest in Japan), and lies 122 meters (400 ft.) from home plate in center, 116m (380 ft.) in the power alleys, and 100m (328 ft.) down the foul lines. The distances are not printed on the outfield wall. With these "Major League" dimension, don't expect to see many home runs.

[Roast]

Not sure if this has been discussed, but I was curious about the park that Fuku called home in Japan? Was it hitter or pitcher friendly? What would it compare to in MLB? Anyone have any idea?

 

 

http://www.baywell.ne.jp/users/drlatham/baseball/yakyu/stadium/dragons.htm

The playing field: The dome's snow cone-shaped outfield wall stands nearly five meters (16 feet) tall (one of the highest in Japan), and lies 122 meters (400 ft.) from home plate in center, 116m (380 ft.) in the power alleys, and 100m (328 ft.) down the foul lines. The distances are not printed on the outfield wall. With these "Major League" dimension, don't expect to see many home runs.

 

That's refreshing- the park is roughly the same size as wrigley, bigger in the alleys shorter down the line.

[Mephistopheles]

Not sure if this has been discussed, but I was curious about the park that Fuku called home in Japan? Was it hitter or pitcher friendly? What would it compare to in MLB? Anyone have any idea?

 

Its the most pitcher friendly park in the league

[Vinestal]

Has anyone heard a firm date for the press conference yet? Wasnt it suppose to be sometime this week? Was his baby born yet? Babies are a hard thing to schedule around lol...

[WilcoFan]

soo..has anyone had any success orderng a jersey or t-shirt yet??

 

I ordered a custom 'Fukudome' jersey shirt from the cubs.com store last night. Since he plans on going with 'Kosuke', I wasn't sure they would allow it for much longer so I didn't wait to get an order in. :D

 

can you send a link?

 

 

Here's the link -- Click customize, add the name and number, and click preview.

 

danke

 

 

Unfortunately, I just got a cancellation notice for my order. $*&%&*(^()

 

I guess the Cubs and Fukudome want to prevent anything other than 'Kosuke' on official merchandise.

 

Just thought you'd want to see this:

 

http://www.wrigleyvillesport.com/istar.asp?a=6&id=53861!MAJ&utm_source=wvs&utm_medium=blog

[Tyrant]

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but:

 

Williams understood that the White Sox made the highest offer among the interested teams. Fukudome simply wanted to be the first Japanese player for a particular franchise

 

I found that pretty interesting.

 

Well thank goodness we didn't sign Kaz Matsui.

[Post Count Padder]

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but:

 

Williams understood that the White Sox made the highest offer among the interested teams. Fukudome simply wanted to be the first Japanese player for a particular franchise

 

I found that pretty interesting.

 

Well thank goodness we didn't sign Kaz Matsui.

Looking back at this, Hendry would have unintentionally screwed us over by signing Matsui, and not because he would have sucked.

[jersey cubs fan]

I saw this on Cot's Baseball Contracts and hadn't seen it anywhere else.

 

Contract includes clause requiring club to sign Fukudome to an extension by 2011 or release him, allowing him to become a free agent.

 

http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2005/01/chicago-cubs_112114177768677294.html

 

So if I'm reading this right, the Cubs are required to either extend him prior to the '11 season or void the last season of the contract and let him become a free agent? Is that accurate?

 

That would make sense, considering all reports said he only wanted a 3 year deal, but then why sign him to a 4 year deal at all? Strange.

 

That language suggests the contract is actually a 3 year $48 million for all practical purposes. If "before 2011" means there is a deadline of December 31, 2010 to sign him to an extension, and they don't extend him by then, they would have to "release him", which requires them to still pay him the money. In a sense, that's just an extremely backloaded deal that will pay him $12m, $12m and $24m, in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

 

It will be in Fukudome's best interest to not sign an extension, take the last $12m owed to him for 2011, and go through free agency in the winter of 2010/2011. It doesn't say anything about voidable years, or an opt out by the player. "Before 2011", "release him" and "free agent" are the key words. The way it's presented on the website, if it's accurate, would mean the Cubs are going to have to offer him a fairly large extension in 2010 to have any hopes of keeping him and not losing him.

 

Although one thing that would be confusing is how the waiver system would work in any such release. Could a team claim him and then get their own window to negotiate an extension, removing the financial obligation for that "release money" from the Cubs.?

[1908]

The way it's presented on the website, if it's accurate, would mean the Cubs are going to have to offer him a fairly large extension in 2010 to have any hopes of keeping him and not losing him.

That reads like a preliminary listing to me. Fukudome's contract details are pretty spotty compared to the others listed on that page. I wouldn't worry about it until more information on the agreement is made available. During the conference call to announce the signing, Joe Urbon stated that Fukudome would be in Chicago for a least the next four years, and no mention was made of an out clause after three.

[jersey cubs fan]

The way it's presented on the website, if it's accurate, would mean the Cubs are going to have to offer him a fairly large extension in 2010 to have any hopes of keeping him and not losing him.

That reads like a preliminary listing to me. Fukudome's contract details are pretty spotty compared to the others listed on that page. I wouldn't worry about it until more information on the agreement is made available. During the conference call to announce the signing, Joe Urbon stated that Fukudome would be in Chicago for a least the next four years, and no mention was made of an out clause after three.

 

It took a while for things like Ramirez's original out clause to become public knowledge, it wouldn't surprise me at all if this sort of clause existed without being reported until after the official signing. With reports that Hendry was toying with the idea of going up to 5 years at $15m per year, and his obvious tendency to hand out player friendly clauses and highly backloaded deals, I think this could be a realistic scenario.

 

But obviously the details aren't fully available right now.

[craig]

Thanks for note about Fuku's home park dimensions. That's encouraging. 16-foot walls, that's pretty high. And the impression I've gotten is that he's a gap hitter. So perhaps he'll get some HR's into the shallow Wrigley alleys that would not have cleared in Japan.

 

I'm cautious on the Prospectus projection for him. Projecting any hitter is hard, but even more so a switch like this.

 

I'm a believer that HR's are a huge factor in batting average and OBP (every HR is a hit) and in slugging (every HR contributes 4 total bases). The difference between hitting 30, 25, 20, 15, or 10 HR's, large differences in hitting stats even if all other aspects of hitting are the same. I'd think it will be awfully hard to have a .401 OBP and .905 OPS if he doesn't hit 20 HR's. There's lots more to offense than HR's, but they are an extremely efficient way to score runs and to build positive statistics. Whether Fuku hits 25 or 15 will significantly impact how all his hitting numbers, OBP included, play out.

[Mephistopheles]

Thanks for note about Fuku's home park dimensions. That's encouraging. 16-foot walls, that's pretty high. And the impression I've gotten is that he's a gap hitter. So perhaps he'll get some HR's into the shallow Wrigley alleys that would not have cleared in Japan.

 

hes hit 30 hrs there twice, he wont hit 30 here.