Fukudome not terrible??

[bhogg]

Seems like Fukudome has been swinging a good stick lately. Is it a fluke? Does it make him more attractive as trade bait?

 

What do you think the Cubs will do with him?

[Old Style]

Not terrible? The dickens you say.

[UMFan83]

He's had a typical Fukudome year. At times he looks awesome, and other times he's God awful. The difference is that he lost his starting job during the season.

[Guest]

He's better than Colvin at everything but hitting the ball far.

[EhDubya]

He's better than Colvin at everything but hitting the ball far.

 

That's great, considering he makes $11.6 million more than him, I'd hope he's better than him at this stage. Is there a point you were making, or...?

[Sammy Sofa]

Sorry he wasn't as insightful as "Fukudome not terrible??"

[EhDubya]

I didn't make the original post, just confused as to why a thread about Fukudome playing well gets a response about Colvin being not as good. Hey, Brett Jackson isn't as good as Fukudome either, let's talk about that!

[Sammy Sofa]

Probably because the main reason that we haven't seen much of Fukudome is that the Cubs have been insistent on playing Colvin instead, even when it would have behooved them to have been attempting to be showcasing Fukudome for a trade if they were and are indeed (foolishly) determined to trade him.

[Rob]

I don't get the Fukudome hate. I guess it's a combination of his streakiness and the contract, but still... terrible isn't an adjective that should be used to describe him.

[bhogg]

I don't get the Fukudome hate. I guess it's a combination of his streakiness and the contract, but still... terrible isn't an adjective that should be used to describe him.

 

 

I don't get the hate, either. I hope you all didn't think I was trying to put the guy down. I just recalled a lot of distaste for him, but it looks like he's playing well.

[CUBZ99]

He's better than Colvin at everything but hitting the ball far.

 

Not true, he is a horrific base stealer 5 SB, 6 CS so far this year.

 

If both players were making the same money, then it would be a tough decision in regard to who is the better player.

 

On one hand Fukudome gets on base more frequently. Through nearly the same amounts of AB's this year both Colvin and Fukudome have nearly identical hits. (80 to 78). So Fukudome's advantage in OBP is based on the number of walks he draws. (51 to 26). I'm not discounting BB's, but when you consider that Fukudome has only gotten on base approximately 25 more times than Colvin in the same number of AB's, but that Colvin has hit 8 more HR's than Fukudome, I would take the 8 HR's any day of the week.

 

Add in the fact that Colvin is $12MM cheaper, it is a no brainer.

[Rob]

Colvin is costing us money by virtue of the fact that starting him in place of Fukudome (without any real gain in production) has completely tanked what was left of Fukudome's contract... so we'll have to eat the whole contract to move him. Is the better look we're getting at Colvin worth that money? Time will tell.

 

Colvin is paid less and is providing pretty damn close to equal production, but that doesn't mean starting him was the right move in the short term.

[JonJayCutler]

I would imagine the main knock for Fukudome would be the inconsistency at the plate and the lack of power for a corner outfielder. His defense makes up for some of that though.

[CUBZ99]

Colvin is costing us money by virtue of the fact that starting him in place of Fukudome (without any real gain in production) has completely tanked what was left of Fukudome's contract... so we'll have to eat the whole contract to move him. Is the better look we're getting at Colvin worth that money? Time will tell.

 

Colvin is paid less and is providing pretty damn close to equal production, but that doesn't mean starting him was the right move in the short term.

 

Disagree with you. Fuku's contract is a sunk cost. Colvin's contract in comparison is minimal. Colvin is younger, will be cheaper and is under team contract for longer than Fukudome. The team should be thinking about the future not this year.

[XZero771679666304]

Colvin is costing us money by virtue of the fact that starting him in place of Fukudome (without any real gain in production) has completely tanked what was left of Fukudome's contract... so we'll have to eat the whole contract to move him. Is the better look we're getting at Colvin worth that money? Time will tell.

 

Colvin is paid less and is providing pretty damn close to equal production, but that doesn't mean starting him was the right move in the short term.

 

Disagree with you. Fuku's contract is a sunk cost. Colvin's contract in comparison is minimal. Colvin is younger, will be cheaper and is under team contract for longer than Fukudome. The team should be thinking about the future not this year.

 

Colvin should be playing first, with Kosuke in RF. Nady getting ABs is what makes no sense. Getting a team to take a portion of Kosuke's contract would have been easier if he were playing as he is every day. And it is not sunk cost, or at least it didn't have to be. It's the same sort of stupidity that sending Z to the pen the second times was.

 

And what if Kosuke can't be traded? Then we have the same problem going into 2011.

[Geech]

Yeah, Kosuke's contract is only a sunk cost if the Cobs can't trade him without eating the entire thing. Since he's an overpaid player rather than a bad one it should be possible to trade him for some salary relief. If benching Fukudome in favor of Colvin made that less likely, then that is a legitimate criticism.

[Sammy Sofa]

Colvin is costing us money by virtue of the fact that starting him in place of Fukudome (without any real gain in production) has completely tanked what was left of Fukudome's contract... so we'll have to eat the whole contract to move him. Is the better look we're getting at Colvin worth that money? Time will tell.

 

Colvin is paid less and is providing pretty damn close to equal production, but that doesn't mean starting him was the right move in the short term.

 

Disagree with you. Fuku's contract is a sunk cost. Colvin's contract in comparison is minimal. Colvin is younger, will be cheaper and is under team contract for longer than Fukudome. The team should be thinking about the future not this year.

 

Colvin should be playing first, with Kosuke in RF. Nady getting ABs is what makes no sense. Getting a team to take a portion of Kosuke's contract would have been easier if he were playing as he is every day. And it is not sunk cost, or at least it didn't have to be. It's the same sort of stupidity that sending Z to the pen the second times was.

 

And what if Kosuke can't be traded? Then we have the same problem going into 2011.

 

Actually, Nady getting starts makes plenty of sense if they're thinking of bringing him back, especially if they're determined to move Fukudome. Nady's performance over the last month+ hopefully shows that he's recovered from his surgery, which would make him very valuable.

[Rob]

Colvin is costing us money by virtue of the fact that starting him in place of Fukudome (without any real gain in production) has completely tanked what was left of Fukudome's contract... so we'll have to eat the whole contract to move him. Is the better look we're getting at Colvin worth that money? Time will tell.

 

Colvin is paid less and is providing pretty damn close to equal production, but that doesn't mean starting him was the right move in the short term.

 

Disagree with you. Fuku's contract is a sunk cost. Colvin's contract in comparison is minimal. Colvin is younger, will be cheaper and is under team contract for longer than Fukudome. The team should be thinking about the future not this year.

 

Wow... what the hell were you responding to?

 

1.) I wasn't trying to say whether benching Fukudome in favor of Colvin was the right move or not, I was just laying out the financial side of the argument. So the argument regarding Colvin as younger, cheaper, etc... is responding to something I never said.

 

2.) Fukudome's contract is not a sunk cost. A sunk cost is defined when you have no ability to recover any portion of the money. Even the most enthusiastic of Fukudome haters out there have to admit that before the benching, he had some trade value. We would have had to eat some of his contract, of course. But we would not have had to eat the whole thing. Therefore, not a sunk cost.

 

3.) Playing Colvin necessitates benching Fukudome. Benching Fukudome negatively impacts his trade value. Therefore, playing Colvin over Fukudome has a cost equal to the decline of Fukudome's trade value ... in this case, certainly a few million dollars. We aren't getting increased production out of Colvin, so the only real question to ask ourselves is are we getting our money's worth by getting an extended look at Colvin + any increased trade value Colvin may accrue?

[questionmarkgrace]

Colvin is costing us money by virtue of the fact that starting him in place of Fukudome (without any real gain in production) has completely tanked what was left of Fukudome's contract... so we'll have to eat the whole contract to move him. Is the better look we're getting at Colvin worth that money? Time will tell.

 

Colvin is paid less and is providing pretty damn close to equal production, but that doesn't mean starting him was the right move in the short term.

 

Disagree with you. Fuku's contract is a sunk cost. Colvin's contract in comparison is minimal. Colvin is younger, will be cheaper and is under team contract for longer than Fukudome. The team should be thinking about the future not this year.

 

Colvin should be playing first, with Kosuke in RF. Nady getting ABs is what makes no sense. Getting a team to take a portion of Kosuke's contract would have been easier if he were playing as he is every day. And it is not sunk cost, or at least it didn't have to be. It's the same sort of stupidity that sending Z to the pen the second times was.

 

And what if Kosuke can't be traded? Then we have the same problem going into 2011.

 

Actually, Nady getting starts makes plenty of sense if they're thinking of bringing him back, especially if they're determined to move Fukudome. Nady's performance over the last month+ hopefully shows that he's recovered from his surgery, which would make him very valuable.

 

I really am hoping Nady can revert to form. I don't see why not as many guys take a while to come back from tommy john. He was quite the hitter his last year with the pirates. I still wouldn't mind seeing colvin get a start at first just to see how he looks at first just in case.

[Outshined_One]

Actually, Nady getting starts makes plenty of sense if they're thinking of bringing him back, especially if they're determined to move Fukudome. Nady's performance over the last month+ hopefully shows that he's recovered from his surgery, which would make him very valuable.

 

Another possibility could be that the Cubs view Nady as being easier to trade than Fukudome. If Nady is fully recovered from TJS, hitting the ball well, and doing a good enough job in the field, he could be enormously helpful for a contender looking for a bench upgrade. There's something to be said for that, especially since the playoff roster deadline is coming up in a few days.

 

Then again, moving Colvin to 1B and having a Nady/Fukudome platoon in RF next season might not be the worst idea in the world if the Cubs can't find anyone worthwhile in free agency.

[rawaction]

I hope the Cubs keep Fukudome and keep Colvin as the 4th OF, backup 1B, whatever. Fukudome still clearly has some value, and to me he has too much value to trade and eat a substantial portion of his contract. Playing both Fukudome and Colvin the way they have this year has led to the Cubs having the 4th most productive RF in the NL. And that includes 90 very poor PAs in RF from Nady and Baker, without which the Cubs would be top 3.

 

For all that is made about the Fukucopter, Kosuke quietly has only struck out 54 times to go with 51 walks. He gives you another guy that can get on base next year. And if things go as they have since the break, Fukudome along with Byrd, Castro, DeWitt, Soto, Ramirez, and hopefully whoever is at 1B; the Cubs are set up to be pretty good at getting on base next year with only Soriano and Colvin getting regular ABs of below average OBP.

[Sammy Sofa]

I hope the Cubs keep Fukudome and keep Colvin as the 4th OF, backup 1B, whatever. Fukudome still clearly has some value, and to me he has too much value to trade and eat a substantial portion of his contract. Playing both Fukudome and Colvin the way they have this year has led to the Cubs having the 4th most productive RF in the NL. And that includes 90 very poor PAs in RF from Nady and Baker, without which the Cubs would be top 3.

 

For all that is made about the Fukucopter, Kosuke quietly has only struck out 54 times to go with 51 walks. He gives you another guy that can get on base next year. And if things go as they have since the break, Fukudome along with Byrd, Castro, DeWitt, Soto, Ramirez, and hopefully whoever is at 1B; the Cubs are set up to be pretty good at getting on base next year with only Soriano and Colvin getting regular ABs of below average OBP.

 

Agreed. I'd much rather that they just keep Fukudome for the final year of his contract. If Colvin is the 4th OF he can still get plenty of AB's platooning with Fukudome and spelling for Byrd and Soriano when they need a day off. I'd like to see Nady brought back in that scenario as well if he keeps up his resurgence for the rest of the year.

[KingCubsFan]

2008: .257/.359/.379

2009: .259/.375/.421

2010: .269/.375/.434

 

Given how consistent he's been, I'm not sure how much playing Fukudome all year would have helped. A team that's interested in him should know what they're going to get by now, and the increased at bats likely wouldn't have impacted his rate stats very much.

[Little Slide Rooter]

My view on Fukudome remains what its been all year. If another team is willing to pick up a decent portion of his contract, or give up some good prospects, trade him, but hes to good to trade just for a roster spot.

[Sammy Sofa]

2008: .257/.359/.379

2009: .259/.375/.421

2010: .269/.375/.434

 

Given how consistent he's been, I'm not sure how much playing Fukudome all year would have helped. A team that's interested in him should know what they're going to get by now, and the increased at bats likely wouldn't have impacted his rate stats very much.

 

I didn't know a 71 point difference in OPS was consistent.