I'm really sick of how many chances Fukudome is given. I know he's signed for 4 years and making $12 million a year. But you know what, it doesn't matter. You have to know when the investment hasn't paid off and be able to cut ties in some way.
If the Cubs could actually trade Fukudome and get some decent talent for him, that would be my ideal option. But who would want to not just take on his way too large of a contract but even wanna use him anyway. I mean the fact that he's a pretty good outfielder doesn't make up for the fact that he is completely uncomfortable and inept at the plate. So I honestly don't see the Cubs being able to trade for him and find a team that would actually want him on their team.
My best guess is they are gonna keep him and give him another year to develop. But at this point the Cubs can;t afford to have that happen. His contract cannot be the deciding factor in whether he is playing or not. It was inexcusable that he started the 1st games in the playoffs, batted 2nd in game 1 and then when Pinella claimed he was not gonna play him, he was the replacement in centerfield for Edmonds when he was taken out. What's even worse is that Reed Johnson a huge pickup and a huge bright spit for the offense this year did not have one at-bat. Just inexcusable.
Bottomline is the Cubs screwed themselves by giving Fukudome way too high of contract and like every team when they overpay a player feel they have to keep playing him no matter how awful he is. Like I said, if some team is stupid enough to trade for him, then the Cubs have to listen since he still has 3 years left on his contract. But at the very least they need to put him as far down on the bench as possible. My guess, they keep him and give him another year to improve which means he will keep being an everyday player. Not a good way to try to break what will now be a 101 year streak of not winning a championship.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
We'll see if Pinella has ball next year. I would start Fukudome the first month of the year and see if he improved over the offseason. If he still can't hit to save his life and tries to bat like Ichiro then he should be benched, period. I want to see more of Reed Johnson. I would have liked to see Edmonds and Johnson in the same outfield. Johnson is a spark plug, and he definetly should have played in either game 2 or 3.
I completely agree--I think it was a mistake to sign him for that much money in the first place. He needed time to develop into the MLB, which is completely different from Japanese baseball. I do have to kind of sympathize with him tho, our season is so much longer than what he is used to...but man did he struggle. And man was it pathetic to watch.
Post a Comment