Well, that's that!

"Ron, how do you pronounce the new Cub centerfielder's last name?"

Hopefully worth the money. I'm happy.

What a weird sentence by Hendry:

"I think we're all in the same boat," Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said earlier Tuesday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. "We're hopeful that the player chooses our place."

"We're hopeful the player chooses our place?" Why not "we hope the guy chooses our place to play the sport in the structure"?

I hope he works out.

I was hoping the Padres would get him. I figure this means Cameron comes back for sure. Fukudome will help the Cubs.

Fukudome

This will also be the name of the Marlins' new indoor stadium.

So what is next for the Cubs?

Does the Roberts trade get announced tomorrow?

"We're hopeful the player chooses our place?" Why not "we hope the guy chooses our place to play the sport in the structure"?

Fukudome stokes the stilted fire that burns within Hendry's soul.

So what is next for the Cubs?

Does the Roberts trade get announced tomorrow?

This is what's really eating at me. I figure that if Pie doesn't become an Oriole in exchange for Roberts, he will be in centerfield come April.

Pie is not getting traded for Roberts unless something else is coming back with Roberts.

Pie is not getting traded for Roberts unless something else is coming back with Roberts.

Corey Patterson?

Does the Roberts trade get announced tomorrow?

Roberts trade announced on Wednesday, Roberts named in Mitchell report on Thursday?

I still don't understand why we'd trade for Roberts instead of Tejada. Although Roberts is actually a pretty good player - he just feeds that damn fetish of Hendry's is all.

Oh, well. I'm glad the Cubs got [forget]-udome.

Which of the Japanese imports will have the best year?

How exactly are you supposed to pronounce Kosuke?

Is it like Kos-K? (Daisuke, Dice-K?) Or is it like Ko-Sook. Or something.

So seriously, how do you say that last name?

foo - koo - doe - may

is how I've heard it

Yes, it's Kos-K, very similar to the way Daisuke is pronounced.

Watching DN Angel comes in useful with some of these Japanese players that come over. :)

Costco?

Glad to hear it. I, for one, hope Pie stays in CF.

Interesting.

Will the Chunichi Dragons accept Jason Marquis as compensation... even if no compensation is owed?

Costco?

Welcome to Costco. I love you.
Welcome to Costco. I love you.
Welcome to Costco. I love you.

So seriously, how do you say that last name?

CFiJ will be able to tell us.

In my mind this puts them back to even with the Brewers in the NL Central race. I had them a few games back before this. Unless the Reds make anotehr big move I think this is a 2 team race though, the Cardinals, Astros and Pirates have no shot at this point.

If Soto pans out and Soriano and Ramirez stays healthy this could very well be a top 5 offense this year, even with a sinkhole for SS and CF. Pitching keeps it together (no sure thing of course) and you are looking at a team that should win 90+ games. I think that would be good enough to get into the playoffs.

In my mind this puts them back to even with the Brewers in the NL Central race. I had them a few games back before this. Unless the Reds make anotehr big move I think this is a 2 team race though, the Cardinals, Astros and Pirates have no shot at this point.

Hopefully the Brewers find a way to move Braun to LF, which could mean adding talent at 3b or CF. A new CF could mean Hall is back at 3b. All of this would especially help the pitching and D get outs.

###!

If Soto pans out and Soriano and Ramirez stays healthy this could very well be a top 5 offense this year, even with a sinkhole for SS and CF. Pitching keeps it together (no sure thing of course) and you are looking at a team that should win 90+ games. I think that would be good enough to get into the playoffs.

I don't know about that, this was a poor offensive team and fukudome is the only real upgrade other than maybe soto. I think an average offensive team is as likely as a top 5 one.

So seriously, how do you say that last name?



#### you, do me.

The Cubs scored 750 runs last year while getting below average production from C, SS, and CF. While also having Soriano hobbled and or out for good chunks of the year.

I'd say an improvement of 50 runs is possible if Soto works out okay (I'm not asking for greatness), Soriano can play 155+ games and Fukudome works out.

I don't know about that, this was a poor offensive team and fukudome is the only real upgrade other than maybe soto. I think an average offensive team is as likely as a top 5 one.

Cubs catchers hit .239/.304/.369 last year.

#28, true. but Avg. offense + great D = above average starting 8. The Cubs D was excellent last year, and it should be pretty good next year as well.

The Cubs D was excellent last year, and it should be pretty good next year as well.

It should improve. The bulk of the catching was done by Barrett and Kendall, Jacque Jones was a capable centerfielder who will be replaced by an elite defender in Pie and Fukudome is supposed to be a plus rightfielder who will be replacing the likes of Murton and Cliff Floyd.

#28, true. but Avg. offense + great D = above average starting 8. The Cubs D was excellent last year, and it should be pretty good next year as well.
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Yep I agree, i think they are as good as any NL Central team for sure. I just don't buy that this pushes them into a top 5 offensive team. They need to keep playing good D to win games and fukudome is going to be a good defensive OF regardless of how long it takes to adjust offensively imo. If the Brewers had the Cubs defense I think they are a 90+ win team without question, defense is what won the division last season and it is what will win it again if they do win it.

Cubs catchers hit .239/.304/.369 last year.

And at the age of 23 Soto put up a .269/.351/.383 stat line in AAA(his 2nd year in AAA). I think that is the safer expectation for his first full season in the majors and while it is an upgrade it is not a huge one.

And at the age of 23 Soto put up a .269/.351/.383 stat line in AAA(his 2nd year in AAA). I think that is the safer expectation for his first full season in the majors and while it is an upgrade it is not a huge one.

No, but if he can throw out more than 2 of 52 attempted base stealers, he'll be an upgrade over Kendall.

No, but if he can throw out more than 2 of 52 attempted base stealers, he'll be an upgrade over Kendall.

Which doesn't matter since Estrada was worse than Kendall last year at throwing out runners, Estrada is worse offensively, Estrada called a worse game and Estrada was worse defensively. Kendall may not be a top end C but he is better than the starter last season.

Will Fukudome be wearing #1? any word on this yet? i want to get my customized t-shirt asap.

If the Cubs end up with an outfield of Soriano/Pie/Fukudome, it'll be great news for Lilly & Hill. Lilly was one of the most flyball-heavy starters in the league last year, and Hill wasn't too far behind. I remember watching a couple games last year when the Mets had an outfield alignment of Endy/Beltran/Gomez and thinking how it almost wasn't fair to the opposing hitters. I'd love to have that same feeling about the Cubs outfield defense this year.

Japanese is a super easy language to pronounce. Unlike English, the vowels are always pronounced the same--similar to Spanish.

The vowels are あ、い、う、え、お
A= "ah", I="ee", U="oo", E="ay", O="oh"

Then you just add a consonant sound to the front to make a character. After the vowels, the next row of characters is the "K" row:
か、き、く、け、こ
Ka="kah", Ki="Key", Ku="Koo", Ke="Kay", Ko="Koh"

The only difficult ones are, Shi="She", Tsu="Su" with your teeth pressed together. And the whole R-row, Ra, Ri, Ru, Re, Ro which is an "R" sound with your tongue on the roof of your mouth like an "L".

Then the compounds are a little tricky like "Rya", "Ryu", "Ryo".

So with any name, just break it into syllables:
Ko-su-ke Fu-ku-do-me

In more natural speech, some syllables are contracted: Ko-ske

Long vowels are just held longer: Ishi=Ishii except the "i" (ee) sound is held for twice as long.

Hope that helps!

If Soto pans out and Soriano and Ramirez stays healthy this could very well be a top 5 offense this year, even with a sinkhole for SS and CF.

First, you should never expect an entire team to be healthy. Someone vital should be expected to go down.

Second, that's still crazy talk. Last year the Cubs were eighth in runs while playing in a hitters park. Phillies scored almost a run more per game. The Braves and Mets both scored about a third-of-a-run more per game while both playing in pitchers' parks. Milwuakee, with a very young team, also easily outclassed their offense. San Diego scored almost as many runs while playing in an extreme pitchers' park. Then there's Florida and Cincy.

While you're looking at teh positives, let's look at the negatives:

- DeRosa's very likely to drop off this year.

- Last year both Fontenet and Theroit had stretches where they played way over their heads. Shortstop could be much worse this year.

Cubs SS last year hit .254/.309/.331. I hammer away at Theriot on a daily basis, but I have a hard time not seeing him matching those numbers. In order for shortstop to be much worse we'd have to bring back Enrique Wilson.

Hope that helps!

Very helpful. Thanks!

re: Soto, sure, but at 24 he put up a .353/.424/.652 line, which is enough of a jump to expect a bit more power than his age 23 numbers indicate. word was that he worked harder on preparation and conditioning last offseason than before. While I hardly expect an OPS in the 1000s, i would expect more power than his 23 year old line of 269/.351/.383. Or at least that's my fervent prayer.

and i do hope we target tejada rather than roberts now, since we have our left handed bat. derosa should handle second just fine.

I'm just going with KFuk ... wonder how the nanny feels about that.

Second, that's still crazy talk. Last year the Cubs were eighth in runs while playing in a hitters park

Yes and I am saying that they will move up to the top 5. Not exactly crazy talk to say the Cubs can move up at least 3 spots. Last year the Cubs experience a power outage, should we expect that to continue next year? I don't think so. Soriano pulled up lame at the start of the season and it hampered him the rest of the way. Should we expect that to happen again? I don't think so. So what is left on the injury for hitters? We have the ticking time bomb of Aramis and his crotch. I understand that which is why I said if Soto pans out and Sori and Aramis stay healthy the Cubs offense is in the top 5.

Soriano pulled up lame at the start of the season and it hampered him the rest of the way. Should we expect that to happen again? I don't think so

On the other hand, when their core guys will all be 30+ next year (Ramirez actually doesn't turn 30 until June, though), such things can't exactly be ruled out (in general). Offensively, the Cubs aren't exactly a young team.

Just a further note on E-X's fine explanation on Japanese names.

In general, between two unvoiced consonants, "u" and "i" become unvoiced. Hence, Dais'ke, read similar to Dice-K. So here, Kohsuke becomes Kohs'ke, similar to Kohs-K.

Incidently, this also means that "Fukudome" is essentially pronounced F'kuudohmei (with the vowels slightly clipped). Which is one reason I'm just not on the "this guy's name is funny!" bandwagon. I look at the name and it just doesn't suggest any obscene words. Sorry, fellas.

It does remind me of back when I was posting on MSNBC's baseball boards (before 9/11 crashed them). I wrote out a long, detailed post about attending Game 1 of the 2000 Japan Series in the bleachers with the cheer groups. MSNBC just ate the post. Crestfallen, I tried again. Again it ate it. Then I realized that the board's super-nanny was rejecting "Fukuoka", as in Fukuoka Daiei Hawks. Man, was that annoying.

I'm really pleased that the Cubs have finally gotten a major Japanese player. And what's more, the guy played for the Chunichi Dragons, located here in Nagoya where I live. He has lots of fans, so the availability of Cubs merchandise should skyrocket, and I should actually be able to catch some Cubs games on TV. I really hope he does well. Unfortunately, many of the folks I know here are still sad that he's leaving, so they're not exactly happy he's joining my favorite team...

While they weren't far off spot wise, the Cubs were a full .3 R/G back from the 5 spot in the NL.

On the Cubs age, of course they look older, you're a Brewers fan. Some of us aren't so lucky to have had competent drafts and development. That said they aren't a young team, but they're not an old team either, assuming Hendry follows through on his obsession with marginalizing DeRosa, every starter will be 32 or under. Not expecting a lot of development out of those types, but not exactly declining injuries waiting to happen either.

So is he going to play CF or RF? I'd think CF in Wrigley is about as small as it gets and where you might put a tweener.

The plan right now is Felix Pie in CF, Fukudome in RF. There have been minor rumblings about getting Figgins to play CF, but that's the only other OF I've heard connected to the Cubs. I guess it's possible they trade Pie and sign their backup plan to Fukudome(Jenkins or Green...ugh) to play RF and slide Fukudome over.

While they weren't far off spot wise, the Cubs were a full .3 R/G back from the 5 spot in the NL.

Yes 50 runs, which is what I believe having a healthy Sori, Ram, Soto&kFuk;working out and the unusual power outage to be a one year aberration will get you next season.

Or just play Murton in RF and Fukudome in CF? Hey it wouldn't be worse than Grieve-Long-Stairs...

Murton committed the cardinal sin of being right handed. The best position he'd have on the Cubs is the right handed half of a platoon. It's a damn shame.

On the Cubs age, of course they look older, you're a Brewers fan.

:P

"Don't trust anyone* over 30!"

* unless they're a catcher, because pickings are slim at that position

and sign their backup plan to Fukudome(Jenkins or Green...ugh) to play RF

Defensively, Jenkins in RF < Jenkins in LF for whatever reasons. Still would be much, much, much better than what I saw of Murton in RF, but he would be better off signing w/ one of the teams interested in him as a LFer.

That (Jenkins/Murton) would be a RF platoon of two guys really far better off playing LF.

Which is why I don't understand why the Cubs won't move Soriano to right.

pulled this off Gaslamp

I side with the other Gaslamp Ballers on this one. That dude is a f_cking Cub now. Hope he enjoys America. Hope he hates his time in f_ckin' Cubbie blue. The Padres are Cub Busters and it's our sworn duty to dislike the Cubs. 1984, #######!

It looks like the Dodgers signed Kuroda.

wow isn't that odd

Fukudome
Gooch
Kuroda ..

all on the same day.

Daily Herald:

The Cubs general manager confirmed late Tuesday night that his team had agreed to a four-year contract with Japanese right fielder Kosuke Fukudome.
...
"He's a Cub, he's a Cub," said Hendry, who sounded as relieved as he did happy after the long pursuit of Fukudome finally ended.

When Opening Day rolls around March 31 at Wrigley Field, look for Fukudome to be decked out in uniform No. 1.

"He answers so many questions for us," Hendry said. "He's left-handed. He has a high on-base percentage. He's a great defender with a great arm. He can steal bases. He can hit anywhere in the lineup -- three, two or five."

Nate Silver has Kosuke's pecota projection: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=699

He's everything the Red Sox wished JD Drew could become...

"While you're looking at teh positives, let's look at the negatives:

- DeRosa's very likely to drop off this year."

Why is this so? His OPS+ this year was actually lower than it was in 06 and right around where it was in 05, so theres a three year trend of being a solid hitter there. Plus he increased his walks and cut his Ks from 06 to 07. His year was not a fluke.

Nate Silver has him getting on base 40% of the time? Facing pitchers he has never seen before ..
wow.

so much for an adjustment period ..

I wonder which counts as more clutch:

Fukudome's 3 run shot against BHK, or JD Drew's slam against Carmona.

I've never used the Ignore feature before, but I just did it for Gambling Rent and the thread (and all subsequent threads) just improved 100%.

62- I don't think Pecota is modelling the adjustment period. It's reasonable to view Pecota as what he'd do without an adjustment period, and then add the period on top of that. However, although Matsui famously struggled after coming over, Ichiro, Kaz, Iguchi, Shinjo, Taguchi hit (or didn't) from day one, so I wonder if Matsui's "adjustment" was just a bad year.

That Pecota seems way on the optimistic side to me. I posted this exactly one month ago:

Fukudome projection

I called for a 4/45 contract, just a little off.

I take that back. I had him projected at a neutral site, going to the NL Central and Wrigley he should hit a bit better than what I had posted, though the Pecota still seems high.

I wonder what's the biggest adjustment, league quality-wise:

AAA to Japan
Japan to NL
NL to AL

I wonder what's the biggest adjustment, league quality-wise:

AAA to Japan
Japan to NL
NL to AL

NL to AL is not that big. There is a difference in league quality but I don't think it is anywhere near as big as you think it is.

I've never used the Ignore feature before, but I just did it for Gambling Rent and the thread (and all subsequent threads) just improved 100%.

It's often referred to as "The Kevin Button."

I wonder what's the biggest adjustment, league quality-wise:

AAA to Japan
Japan to NL
NL to AL

AAA - Japan = about 8 - 10%
Japan to NL = about 10 - 12%
NL to AL = Don't know, seems about 5% now?

For more on Japan MLE's, see:

The Japanese are Coming

Second, that's still crazy talk. Last year the Cubs were eighth in runs while playing in a hitters park

Yes and I am saying that they will move up to the top 5. Not exactly crazy talk to say the Cubs can move up at least 3 spots.

Note the underlined part. Eighth place while playing in one of the more hitter friendly environments means they're more like the 10th or 11th best offense in the league last year. They have to vault one-third of the league. And, as noted elsewhere, the top 4-5 offenses were very far ahead of the Cubs.

If everything goes right - all hands healthy, and it turns out all the 30-somethings with power slumps were just having a bad spell instead of getting older - then they can make the top five. A lot of teams could have a top five offense if all goes well. Seldom does all go well.

was it something I said? lol !

Note the underlined part. Eighth place while playing in one of the more hitter friendly environments means they're more like the 10th or 11th best offense in the league last year. They have to vault one-third of the league. And, as noted elsewhere, the top 4-5 offenses were very far ahead of the Cubs.

Geezus okay fine. In terms of total runs for the season the Cubs I think will be in the top 5 if thing go the way I mentioned in my post. If you want to quibble and say that the Cubs could finish in the top 5 of runs and not be a top 5 team that is fine. Personally I'll take a 800-690 team that you or anybody else says is really a 780-670 team.