Kosuke Fukudome?

[Derek Jeter]

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071209&content_id=2321824&vkey=hotstove2007&fext=.jsp

According to this, Fukudome is probably going to play in the MLB next year. Do you think there is any chance the Yankees go after him?

[Yankeebiscuitfan]

Reportedly four teams are interested. The Yankees are not one of them. So I think it is no. Since we have four players who can play OF, I don't think it makes sense to sign him. Eventhough we would trade Matsui, we will get stuck with a big part of his contract. I expect that this Fukudome will cost a lot of money.

[Mattingly]

Reportedly four teams are interested. The Yankees are not one of them. So I think it is no. Since we have four players who can play OF, I don't think it makes sense to sign him. Eventhough we would trade Matsui, we will get stuck with a big part of his contract. I expect that this Fukudome will cost a lot of money.
While I don't think that this is as bad as the Yanks not bidding on Ichiro Suzuki (when a measly $13m bid from Seattle won them the player), I do think that he would be a good player from what I've heard of his offense. He could play LF for us, or we could move Abreu to LF, letting him play RF.

Since he's an FA, we could make a nice offer if the Santana thing isn't going to be done. We wouldn't be giving anyone a draft pick, and he'd only require 3 years, unlike Aaron Rowand who's looking for 5 years, very likely wouldn't accept less than 4 years.

I don't think that waiting for one of our guys to be traded makes sense, since that could take long and the baseball world doesn't stand around waiting for whatever the Yankees take their sweet li'l ol' time doing. In fact, a team could plan that the Yanks are about to trade Melky then move immediately on Fukudome, spoiling our plans, forcing us to go after Rowand.

I suggest that we go after him. As to the other guys, who do we have?

Matsui (a DH waiting to happen) can only play 40 games in the OF at best, Damon can only play 70, and then there's Melky who could be traded away. Not only do some fans consider Melky to not be a starting player, but if we trade him away, then forget about waiting for Sabata or Jackson, we'd need both Fukudome *AND* Rowand to play full seasons.

I think we need to act. We can always wait & decide upon Rowand, but when you have a player who requires only 3 seasons, then I don't see any need to wait.

[ChrisLDuncan]

YES PLEASE! Fukudome is a better player than Damon in every aspect of the game, he can be a comprable hitter to Matsui. So I'd sign him, Matsui is a lost cause in the field, and Damon might be dealt for a reliever. So I'd sign Fukudome. He's a high on base line drive power type of guy.

[ChrisLDuncan]

While I don't think that this is as bad as the Yanks not bidding on Ichiro Suzuki (when a measly $13m bid from Seattle won them the player), I do think that he would be a good player from what I've heard of his offense. He could play LF for us, or we could move Abreu to LF, letting him play RF.

Since he's an FA, we could make a nice offer if the Santana thing isn't going to be done. We wouldn't be giving anyone a draft pick, and he'd only require 3 years, unlike Aaron Rowand who's looking for 5 years, very likely wouldn't accept less than 4 years.

I don't think that waiting for one of our guys to be traded makes sense, since that could take long and the baseball world doesn't stand around waiting for whatever the Yankees take their sweet li'l ol' time doing. In fact, a team could plan that the Yanks are about to trade Melky then move immediately on Fukudome, spoiling our plans, forcing us to go after Rowand.

I suggest that we go after him. As to the other guys, who do we have?

Matsui (a DH waiting to happen) can only play 40 games in the OF at best, Damon can only play 70, and then there's Melky who could be traded away. Not only do some fans consider Melky to not be a starting player, but if we trade him away, then forget about waiting for Sabata or Jackson, we'd need both Fukudome *AND* Rowand to play full seasons.

I think we need to act. We can always wait & decide upon Rowand, but when you have a player who requires only 3 seasons, then I don't see any need to wait.

After seeing the contracts that Hunter and Jones got, just say no to Aaron Rowand, he had a great walk year sure...but look at the rest of his career stats.

[Mattingly]

After seeing the contracts that Hunter and Jones got, just say no to Aaron Rowand, he had a great walk year sure...but look at the rest of his career stats.
Rowand seemed like the great-fielding guy who had some pop, but then came out in his walk year like a slugger. He could've gotten $13-15m at best, but now likely wants $18m.

Both Hunter and Jones got really overpaid, but since Rowand is in their category and plays the same position, he'd not accept $16m, and he wants 5 years.

Had the Yanks gotten him in November, they could've likely have spent $64m/4 yrs, but I doubt that his agent would've wanted this. Just play the waiting game and he could've gotten more, I figured that the agent would've told him.

I'd take Fukudome, letting him play LF & RF. He could play anywhere in the OF, since even if he plays CF, we could switch Melky back to LF.

A 3-year deal would be nice, since we won't have to have any long-term contracts to deal with. Had Matsui's contract been up for renewal as an FA this winter, I doubt that the Yanks would've re-signed him.

Anyway, I wouldn't mind trading Damon, but I don't know if Jeter hits as well at leadoff as he does batting 2nd. We could have Abreu lead off or hit 2nd.

[Derek Jeter]

Yeah i like the prospect of having Fukudome/Cabrera in LF Rowand in Center and Abreu/Cabrera in RF and we could have the odd man out DH?

Also it would be a damn good lineup if we had:
Jeter
Fukudome
Abreu
Rodriguez
Posada
Rowand
Etc...

[ChrisLDuncan]

Rowand seemed like the great-fielding guy who had some pop, but then came out in his walk year like a slugger. He could've gotten $13-15m at best, but now likely wants $18m.

Both Hunter and Jones got really overpaid, but since Rowand is in their category and plays the same position, he'd not accept $16m, and he wants 5 years.

Had the Yanks gotten him in November, they could've likely have spent $64m/4 yrs, but I doubt that his agent would've wanted this. Just play the waiting game and he could've gotten more, I figured that the agent would've told him.

I'd take Fukudome, letting him play LF & RF. He could play anywhere in the OF, since even if he plays CF, we could switch Melky back to LF.

A 3-year deal would be nice, since we won't have to have any long-term contracts to deal with. Had Matsui's contract been up for renewal as an FA this winter, I doubt that the Yanks would've re-signed him.

Anyway, I wouldn't mind trading Damon, but I don't know if Jeter hits as well at leadoff as he does batting 2nd. We could have Abreu lead off or hit 2nd.


My ideal offseason plans would probably be: deal off Damon+ for Jenks (look a few pages back, it was rumored) Deal Matsui/Horne/someone else (maybe even Wang if we take out Horne) for Lincecum. Sign Fukudome. Lincecum's probably ready for the full 33 or 32 starts in the season. This way we get the most value out of Wang, and solidify the pen. I'd say Midseason the pitching staff would probably look like:

SP: Andy Pettitte
SP: Tim Lincecum
SP: Phil Hughes
SP: Ian Kennedy
SP: Joba Chamberlain (due to innings)

Then have Moose as a spot starter.

Pen:

Edwar Ramirez/Chirs Britton/Darrel Rasner/Steven White/Jeff Marquez/TJ Beam/what ever other crap we have
Ross Ohlendorf
Humberto Sanchez
Mark Melancon
Bobby Jenks
Mariano Rivera

Then the lineup most likely

LF: Fukudome
SS: Derek Jeter
DH: Barry Bonds (PLEASE)
3B: Alex Rodriguez
RF: Bobby Abreu
CA: Jorge Posada
2B: Robinson Cano
1B: Wilson Betemit
CF: Melky Cabrera


I'd say that team could compete with any in baseball. If Bonds is a no go make Giambi the DH and have him hit 5th and Abreu 3rd.

[Mike27]

Why are you all selling so quick on Wang? That makes absolutely no sense to deal Matsui and Wang for Lincecum. Obviously Wang is not going to be a dominating ace, but hell, I'll take 19 wins with a 3.8 ERA any year. Wang is still cheap and still young. I don't really see any reason to believe he's going to get shelled this year, like this year was a fluke or something. Lincecum will probably be a good starter, but Wang is already a good starter. I feel like so many Yankee fans turned their back on Wang after the series against Cleveland.

[ChrisLDuncan]

Why are you all selling so quick on Wang? That makes absolutely no sense to deal Matsui and Wang for Lincecum. Obviously Wang is not going to be a dominating ace, but hell, I'll take 19 wins with a 3.8 ERA any year. Wang is still cheap and still young. I don't really see any reason to believe he's going to get shelled this year, like this year was a fluke or something. Lincecum will probably be a good starter, but Wang is already a good starter. I feel like so many Yankee fans turned their back on Wang after the series against Cleveland.

He's aproaching Arb, and there is a principle of "selling high" which is what I want to do on Wang. Lincecum put up a 110 or so ERA+ in about 150 innings as a rookie, I think he'll be able to get near, if not better than Wang, next season and he has a hell of alot more potential. So yeah, I'd like to sell high on Wang.

[Mike27]

He's aproaching Arb, and there is a principle of "selling high" which is what I want to do on Wang. Lincecum put up a 110 or so ERA+ in about 150 innings as a rookie, I think he'll be able to get near, if not better than Wang, next season and he has a hell of alot more potential. So yeah, I'd like to sell high on Wang.

Is there something you see in Wang that makes you think he will decline? If not, I'd rather take the sure #2 starter, who's still relatively young, then a possible Ace/#2. We already have two possible aces, why add another, while subtracting our LFer and #2?

[ChrisLDuncan]

Is there something you see in Wang that makes you think he will decline? If not, I'd rather take the sure #2 starter, who's still relatively young, then a possible Ace/#2. We already have two possible aces, why add another, while subtracting our LFer and #2?

Matsui is really a DH at best, and he's a crappy one at that, I'd rather let Giambi DH. Wang is not an ace, he's a three starter maybe a deuce. He can't strike guys out, and is unable to pitch on the road. I'd like to sell high and get a beast like Lincecum out of the deal. The Giants GM said that he's looking to deal Lincecum anyways.

[monkey333]

125OPS+ = crappy DH? srsly?

[ChrisLDuncan]

125OPS+ = crappy DH? srsly?

I'd expect a DH to put up atleast a 120 OPS+ and that's at the worst, I'd say a good DH would be around a 130 or so OPS+

[Doctor Zizmor]

how do you all think he will go over with american women when he tells them his name is fukudome? I want this guy on the yankees almost as much as I I want bonds...Id sign him based on his name alone


FUKUDOME!!!!! Greatest name EVER

[monkey333]

I'd expect a DH to put up atleast a 120 OPS+ and that's at the worst, I'd say a good DH would be around a 130 or so OPS+I'm still not seeing how ~125 is "crappy". It's not up there in Ortiz/Thome eliteness but crappy?

[ChrisLDuncan]

I'm still not seeing how ~125 is "crappy". It's not up there in Ortiz/Thome eliteness but crappy?

I would expect a DH to put up an OPS+ atleast 120 everyseason, maybe not crappy but nothing special.

[Urbanshocker13]

It's all a moot point anyway the Yankees have shown no interest in him, I don't know why but I doubt that he will ever come close to wearing a Yankee uniform, well at least straight from Japan.

[yankeesr#1]

ok trade away cabera for santana and sigh fukudome

[Mattingly]

ok trade away cabera for santana and sigh fukudome
Yeah, and keep Hughes, Sabata and Jackson, right? I think that Bill Smith, the Twins' GM would be officially chased out of town by a riotous crowd shooting flaming poisoned arrows.



They'd probably need to call out for "reinforcements" of a higher security level for him if that ever happened.



I say that signing Fukudome is a no-brainer, since he only expects 3 years, and if we don't trade for Santana after all, Melky could stay in CF.

I don't wish to rely upon Johnny Damon's bad foot to heal before we can rely upon his bat and glove. If Damon can play 1B, then that solves two problems. He may end up being a better DH than Matsui if he puts in plenty of innings and heals well.

[sandlot]

If they acquire Fukudome, Melky would be well advised pack his bags. He has been tradeable for a long time and would almost have to be part of any package for a major trade that would not involve gutting the team of young arms. You could argue that the same could be said for Matsui, but a guy who's had 100+ RBIs every year for five seasons has got to get you something valuable in return and few teams are willing to give up a good pitcher without asking for a whole lot back. Matsui has a no-trade clause and they'd have to pay him salary. Hard to see him leaving unless someone very attractive is out there to be had. As for the Giants' Lowry, he gives up one hit per inning, and more than one walk every other inning, which means that he can be reasonably expected to allow at least two men on base every other inning. His Ks and walks were equal, so his outs are largely coming on balls that have been hit. Of course, it's not spread out that way -- he has good games and awful games. Hard to see him getting better by coming over to the AL East. What NY needs is somebody who has good games and then better games. Looks to me like growing them is maybe easier than trading for them.

Someone asked what the benefit would be of getting rid of Wang and Matsui. Good question. The one thing I can see for sure is that you'd be eliminating the only Asian players on your team. Good luck using numbers to explain that to the public, especially to people who resemble them. This, at a time when the management (and the MLB) has been saying from the top that it wants better ties with Japan, mainland China, etc. I guarantee that dumping them both would be viewed in some places as racial cleansing. Getting Fukudome might balance a little, but only a little. The Yanks have to consider realpolitik, plus all those jacket and jersey sales.

PS: Oops, forgot to mention Igawa. But it seems that often enough those who favor dumping Igawa also aren't high on Matsui and Wang, so maybe it could be a three-for-one deal.

[philipthegreat]

Yeah, and keep Hughes, Sabata and Jackson, right? I think that Bill Smith, the Twins' GM would be officially chased out of town by a riotous crowd shooting flaming poisoned arrows.



They'd probably need to call out for "reinforcements" of a higher security level for him if that ever happened.



I say that signing Fukudome is a no-brainer, since he only expects 3 years, and if we don't trade for Santana after all, Melky could stay in CF.

I don't wish to rely upon Johnny Damon's bad foot to heal before we can rely upon his bat and glove. If Damon can play 1B, then that solves two problems. He may end up being a better DH than Matsui if he puts in plenty of innings and heals well.

Nice Pictures; Facetious and Idealistic.

Fukudome would not a be a useful addition to this club because we have a boatload of players who already play in the outfield.

[Mattingly]

Nice Pictures; Facetious and Idealistic.

Fukudome would not a be a useful addition to this club because we have a boatload of players who already play in the outfield.
I was really looking for one of those "Hagar the Horrible" types of things where someone chases you out of town while holding those contantly burning things they throw at you.

Anyway, you've gotta give if you want to get, and I would never expect Santana to come cheaply re players.

If Boston wanted him so bad, then why isn't he signed already? They'd done that with Schilling after we didn't commit to trade Soriano and Nicky Johnson to the Snakes, didn't they?

Who's the boatload of OFers for 2008? Damon, Matsui, Cabrera, Abreu and who else? I see 1 guy who can start (Abreu) and 3 guys who are question marks. I'll take Cabrera, but we need at least two "starters" to play the OF, and one "pretty good" guy in Cabrera.

[DoubleX]

I don't see the big deal with Fukudome. Based on his Japanese statistics, he looks like a lesser version of Matsui - so why trade Matsui just to get someone who isn't as good (though probably better defensively)?

Matsui's OPS in Japan was 0.995. Fukudome's OPS is 0.940, with Matsui besting Fukudome in both slugging and OBP, and Fukudome having just a 0.001 advantage in BA (.305 to .304).

With Matsui we have a guy that we know can put up a 125 OPS+ in the Majors, that's nothing to sneeze at. We don't know that about Fukudome, and he projects to not be as good as Matsui, so why spend all that money on him when we could be talking about a 120 OPS+ at best anyway? Yeah Fukudome can play CF, but wasn't Matsui regarded as a decent CFer also when he came over?

[Mattingly]

I don't see the big deal with Fukudome. Based on his Japanese statistics, he looks like a lesser version of Matsui - so why trade Matsui just to get someone who isn't as good (though probably better defensively)?

Matsui's OPS in Japan was 0.995. Fukudome's OPS is 0.940, with Matsui besting Fukudome in both slugging and OBP, and Fukudome having just a 0.001 advantage in BA (.305 to .304).

With Matsui we have a guy that we know can put up a 125 OPS+ in the Majors, that's nothing to sneeze at. We don't know that about Fukudome, and he projects to not be as good as Matsui, so why spend all that money on him when we could be talking about a 120 OPS+ at best anyway? Yeah Fukudome can play CF, but wasn't Matsui regarded as a decent CFer also when he came over?
We actually have no idea how well Matsui will recover from having his knees drained. Whatever he put up over the past 3 years may not account for much if his knee still bothers him.

I say to keep Matsui, see if we can trade Moose or Damon. I'm unsure if Moose has the full no-trade that he enjoyed from 2001-06, but it's his final season here.

If Fukudome can hit almost as good as Matsui and has good defense, I'll take him. Would Aaron Rowand (contract being held irrelevant) do any better? I just think that Fukudome won't ask for more than 3 seasons.

Unless we hear anything from Cashman or Hank Steinbrenner, we may just be tossing ideas back & forth, since a few other teams have already jumped the gun, so this could be an ol' fashioned bidding war, possibly going to 4 years if necessary for the winning bidder.

Padres, Cubs, White Sox interested in Fukudome (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3149919)

[DoubleX]

If Fukudome can hit almost as good as Matsui and has good defense, I'll take him. Would Aaron Rowand (contract being held irrelevant) do any better? I just think that Fukudome won't ask for more than 3 seasons.

I don't even know if I'd say Fukudome can hit almost as well as Matsui. Statistically it's relatively close, but Matsui came over with a reputation as one of the greatest Japanese hitters ever. Fukudome does not have that reputation. And while Matsui has certainly been a good hitter in the Majors, he's been nothing close to how dominant he was in Japan, he did struggle at times in his first year adjusting to the ML game, and he's shown much less power in the Majors than he did in Japan. So if we've seen the ceiling in the Majors of one of the greatest overall hitters ever in Japan, what's the best case scenario for Fukudome? Like I said, maybe a 120 OPS+, but I'd say more like 110, and count me among those that thinks Melky can get to that figure. There was a point in August last year where Melky's OPS+ was up around 110. Melky had a terrible finish, which suggests to me that he needs better conditioning (hopefully A-Rod will give that to him), and that's not surprising given that most players his age are still developing in the minors rather than playing regularly in the big leagues. Plus, Melky's shown good defense in the Majors, is much younger, and is much cheaper. So I say just stick with Melky. I don't necessarily believe Melky will be a star, but I think there's enough reason to believe he'll become an above average to prety good all around CFer - he was through August last year - even Rob Neyer, who has been critical of Melky's ceilign, at some point last season acknowledged that Cabrera looks to be a much better player than he had thought.

[yankeesr#1]

Yeah, and keep Hughes, Sabata and Jackson, right? I think that Bill Smith, the Twins' GM would be officially chased out of town by a riotous crowd shooting flaming poisoned arrows.



They'd probably need to call out for "reinforcements" of a higher security level for him if that ever happened.



I say that signing Fukudome is a no-brainer, since he only expects 3 years, and if we don't trade for Santana after all, Melky could stay in CF.

I don't wish to rely upon Johnny Damon's bad foot to heal before we can rely upon his bat and glove. If Damon can play 1B, then that solves two problems. He may end up being a better DH than Matsui if he puts in plenty of innings and heals well.

i meant Hughes and other players not just cabera i am not stupid

[Doctor Zizmor]

this guys name gets even better.....I just found out that FUKU in Japanese means Crazy.

CRAZY DOME!!!!!!!!! priceless....Im seriously thinking about spending a summer in Japan so I can bare witness to more of these fantastic names.

[Mike27]

this guys name gets even better.....I just found out that FUKU in Japanese means Crazy.

CRAZY DOME!!!!!!!!! priceless....Im seriously thinking about spending a summer in Japan so I can bare witness to more of these fantastic names.

So, you're saying the Yanks could get crazy dome? :O

I'd agree with the signing more only if we traded any of our OF's. This guy could probably put up similar numbers to Matsui while playing a better defense. We would also get some talent in return of the OF we traded. The more I think about it, the more I like it.

[Doctor Zizmor]

So, you're saying the Yanks could get crazy dome? :O

I'd agree with the signing more only if we traded any of our OF's. This guy could probably put up similar numbers to Matsui while playing a better defense. We would also get some talent in return of the OF we traded. The more I think about it, the more I like it.

that is exactly what Im saying..I dont care if this guy makes Tony Womack look like Barry Bonds, the yankees must sign this guy for the joy his name alone will bring....the play on words are endless with this guys name.

We can start all kind of chants like

Fuku-Do Me
Fuku- Do Me

the possibilities are almost endless

[philipthegreat]

I was really looking for one of those "Hagar the Horrible" types of things where someone chases you out of town while holding those contantly burning things they throw at you.

Anyway, you've gotta give if you want to get, and I would never expect Santana to come cheaply re players.

If Boston wanted him so bad, then why isn't he signed already? They'd done that with Schilling after we didn't commit to trade Soriano and Nicky Johnson to the Snakes, didn't they?

Who's the boatload of OFers for 2008? Damon, Matsui, Cabrera, Abreu and who else? I see 1 guy who can start (Abreu) and 3 guys who are question marks. I'll take Cabrera, but we need at least two "starters" to play the OF, and one "pretty good" guy in Cabrera.

It was an exaggeration, and you are forgetting that Shelly Duncan is looking for more playing time.

This means we have two kayaks and one guy swimming behind the kayaks.

[Mattingly]

It was an exaggeration, and you are forgetting that Shelly Duncan is looking for more playing time.

This means we have two kayaks and one guy swimming behind the kayaks.
Oh yeah, I'd totally forgotten about Shelley Duncan (http://www.baseball-reference.com/d/duncash01.shtml). He could play about 50-60 games in the OF, I guess, depending upon how well he does in spring, and if he at least hits well, he could DH.

All I could previously find was another forum's threads, but in this yankees.com link (http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071210&content_id=2322161&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy), Matsui may be traded, and from what I'd heard on the radio, he'd be willing to forgo his no-trade clause, since the Giants wanted trade for him. No Lincecum, but the names Jonathan Sanchez, Kevin Correia and Noah Lowry were being mentioned.

Please check the stats of the 2007 SF Giants (http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/SFG/2007.shtml).

If Matsui is out, then he couldn't play any games if he heals his knee. This would leave us, as our staff is right now, with Melky in CF, then Damon (http://www.baseball-reference.com/d/damonjo01.shtml) in LF for about 80 games, and he'd played exactly 80 games in the OF (48 in CF; 32 in LF) last season. I'd have to see if his foot is better, since he can be a beast when his foot is doing well.

That would leave Duncan getting lots of playing team in LF if Matsui were traded. If Melky were sent away in a trade for either Santana, Bedard or Haren, then we'd definitely need to take a chance on either Fukudome or Rowand. I'd likely go with Rowand, since he's a proven commodity. He may want too many years, and with the $18m/yr CFers, he wouldn't take $16m, so the price is already set.

I doubt that the Yanks would want to afford both Santana @ $23m/yr *AND* Rowand @ $18m/yr, which is $41m on just two players over 5 seasons, *THEN* pay A-Rod $27.5m. That's about $70m just on 3 players alone, plus Giambi and Pavano add in another $30m. How about that? $100m just on 5 players, and we haven't even counted Jeter, Posada, Mo, Pettitte & Abreu yet.

[Mattingly]

I don't even know if I'd say Fukudome can hit almost as well as Matsui. Statistically it's relatively close, but Matsui came over with a reputation as one of the greatest Japanese hitters ever. Fukudome does not have that reputation. And while Matsui has certainly been a good hitter in the Majors, he's been nothing close to how dominant he was in Japan, he did struggle at times in his first year adjusting to the ML game, and he's shown much less power in the Majors than he did in Japan. So if we've seen the ceiling in the Majors of one of the greatest overall hitters ever in Japan, what's the best case scenario for Fukudome? Like I said, maybe a 120 OPS+, but I'd say more like 110, and count me among those that thinks Melky can get to that figure. There was a point in August last year where Melky's OPS+ was up around 110. Melky had a terrible finish, which suggests to me that he needs better conditioning (hopefully A-Rod will give that to him), and that's not surprising given that most players his age are still developing in the minors rather than playing regularly in the big leagues. Plus, Melky's shown good defense in the Majors, is much younger, and is much cheaper. So I say just stick with Melky. I don't necessarily believe Melky will be a star, but I think there's enough reason to believe he'll become an above average to prety good all around CFer - he was through August last year - even Rob Neyer, who has been critical of Melky's ceilign, at some point last season acknowledged that Cabrera looks to be a much better player than he had thought.
I still say that the only Japanese player I've seen who's lived up to all the hype plays in Seattle. The one who's known on a first-name basis.

Reputations? They only called him the "Michael Jordan of Baseball". Heck, you'd better just change your name to either Albert Pujols or Alex Rodriguez if that's the case. Reminds me of some 5-10 years ago when some Japanese pitcher the Mets were looking at was described as the "Japanese Greg Maddux". I still can't remember his name, but I certainly would've had this panned out.

Sometimes I wonder just how good the Japanese pitchers are. I'd have to see another year of Matsuzaka, but he seems good, despite a few failures. There are other MLB pitchers I'd rate above him, but he's been said to be about the best active Japanese pitcher when Boston got him. What I'm referring to is the average Japanese pitcher that Fukudome, Matsui and others ate up pretty well.

Haven't these guys been criticized for their delivery that MLB players eventually figured out? I figured that the Japanese sluggers must've figured them out, and that's why they have such great offensive numbers to them hear. When they come to the USA, they face a different-sized ball, 162 games instead of 140, and pitchers who throw more pitches.

I think you're very pragmatic about Fukudome, in that he doesn't *LIKELY* have the same ceiling. We may see once someone picks him up, and the Padres have made a very large offer to him.

All this stuff being scrunched into a blender, mixed around and add some fresh fruit :D, what would you say we should do about the OF? Should we go after Rowand and see if we can knock this down to 4 years? 5th year as an option year?

If Melky were traded in a package for a starting pitcher, which one of these two would you prefer the Yanks went after? If neither, would you use someone in-house, promote someone or would you go after someone else to play CF?

[Urbanshocker13]

Well end of argument he is a cub
http://www.baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?p=1067988#post1067988

[plask_stirlac]

Yeah, and keep Hughes, Sabata and Jackson, right? I think that Bill Smith, the Twins' GM would be officially chased out of town by a riotous crowd shooting flaming poisoned arrows.


I might take a player straight up if I were GM but it would be Cano.

[Mattingly]

I might take a player straight up if I were GM but it would be Cano.
I doubt that the Twins' GM would accept that deal. If it were Cano + a pitcher like Hughes, then that could be done. Or it could be Cano, Kennedy + one no-name AA player to be named later, then that would seal it.

If it were a cash dump, then I'd say Cano would do it, just as Soriano did for A-Rod, and when the Braves couldn't afford Kevin Milwood, Johnny Estrada (http://www.baseball-reference.com/e/estrajo01.shtml), a backup catcher from the Phillies who'd had 99 games to his credit, was traded. Can you imagine trading away within your own division a very good pitcher and all you get back is your division rival's backup catcher?

I'm still on the fence over this, since on one hand, I think that the Twins can ask for quite a bit, but on the other hand, the only reason he's on the block is because their FO (read, Twins owner "Carl Pohlad, a billionaire") is far too cheap to afford him. Seems like the "short arms & deep pockets" phenomena has kept them from keeping their phenom (who's definitely been phenominating the past few years).