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Japanese OF Kosuke Fukudome declared free agency on Monday.
Last May, in a Rumblings & Grumblings report for ESPN.com, Jayson Stark quoted an MLB team official as saying of Fukudome…
“He’ll be a big name all winter. There may be more teams on him than were in on Hideki Matsui, because it was nearly a foregone conclusion Matsui was going to the Yankees. I don’t have any sense there’s a favorite team with this guy.”
…as i have written before, from what i can gather, he plays very hard; he’ll be strong defensively in left field and right field, where he has a great arm, very similar to Ichiro; he will not be a big home run threat, though he’ll hit a lot of balls in the gap; think a better version of Tadahito Iguchi during his rookie season for the White Sox, i.e., .290, 15 HR, at least 30 doubles, 10 SB, 100 K’s, etc…the early buzz from baseball expects him to ask for at least a three-year deal, while the Red Sox, Padres, Rangers, Mariners and Giants will likely show interest…
For more on Fukudome, check out his profile page at Armchair GM, complete with a collection of video.
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sign him package edge for pitching to LA or SF?
i meant OAK not LA
I’m sorry, but those projected numbers look like what I’m hoping to get from Milledge. Why trade him for a more expensive, older, untested (us baseball) version? Why not give milledge a shot. Sign ARod, sign Colon, trade Pelfrey, Humber, Gomez, and another prospect if need be for Peavy and call it a day. Next year, Delgado, Alou, and Pedro come off the books, so we’ll be right back where we started, payroll wise, after next year.
Time for those magic met talent evaluators to make a big decision. Can Milledge this year or in another year or two give us what Fokudome and is there anything else in our system that can be traded for a starter? We do have depth in the OF prospect department and while Milledge may be able to give us the most now, maybe you pay more for that position in 2008 in an effort to get pitching. But if they get Fokudome and keep Milledge in AAA, then that’s just silliness.
lastings won’t bein AAA. He either plays with the mets, or gets traded. IMHO of course!
Those projected numbers ain’t anything to write home about. Decent, but come on, Milledge has to be able to do better than 15 HRs/10SBs. 100 Ks isn’t exactly a contact hitter.
I just don’t see Fukudome being the offensive catalyst to carry them to the WS. Maybe a decent palyer, maybe along the lines of a little better defensive version of Shawn Green
Keep Edge, trade Gomez.
I have no doubt Milledge can put up similar numbers but what’s more prudent for the Mets? Sign Fukudome and not lose a draft pick while using Milledge to trade for a pitcher like Blanton? Or keep Milledge in RF, and sign a guy like Silva or Llivan to a 4-year deal and a lose a draft pick in the process? Honestly, everyone keeps complaining about Minaya’s drafts, but it’s hard to draft good players when you keep forfeiting first round picks every year … signing Fukudome and trading for a pitcher could be a way to improve the team, without sacrificing the picks.
Does anyone know the proper pronunciation of his last name? I can only get Fuk-You-Dome out of it or maybe Fook-You-Dome but if it is the former, that will be some fun stuff for the announcers to b euttering whenever he comes to the plate.
Don’t even worry about it because: 1) americans will NEVER pronounce foreign words right–Spanish is like one of the easiest languages, pronounciation-wise, yet nobody gets it; and 2) we don’t need him–he’s a decent player but the media is going to hype it up just like they did with Matsui and subsequently they (and, yes, those who just come to Shea to scream out racial slurs for attention) are going to ruin him. He, like Matui, does not have balls big enough to succeed in NY. I’d rather retain Milledge (unless he can help the Mets get Santana or Haren), because he has higher ceiling.
I just have zero faith in the numbers translation. After that Kaz Matsui debacle, I just can’t count on the projections. It seems there are far more Kaz Matsui situations than there are Hideki Matsui and Ichiro situations.
Just let Milledge play. We do after all need a right fielder.
I’m also (in a minority) all for letting Pelf and Humber pitch in ‘08. I think their growth value is higher than their trade value right now, and I;m not in love with anything being proposed in return for them. I’m not trading my young guys for folks who, having already maximized their potential, may only be slightly better than Milledge, Pelfrey, and Humber in ‘09.
(Pardon me…in ‘08.
That’s a heft leap of faith that Humber and Pelfrey are going to match or potentially outperform a Blanton, Haren, or Garland. Or even a Silva on the FA market. All four of these guys have proven they can be league average or better while supplying 200 innings and all of them are young enough to expect they can improve on some of their numbers with an NL switch and some time with Peterson. No, none are aces, but if a Milledge and a secondary prospect can net a pitcher of this caliber, you can sign Fukudome who will probably provide Milledge-like production anyway. Then you have a good, mid-rotation guy who you don’t have to overspend on or forfeit draft picks for, while still having a solid 6 or 7 hitter in Fukudome, who you will also get without forfeting draft picks.
IMO after last year if either Pelfrey or Humber start the season in the rotation, that means Minaya has failed in his mission to upgrade the rotation. It will be 2007 redux because no matter how good the youngsters are in the first half, they will both likely lose steam by July like Maine and Perez did last year, forcing us to use guys like Feliciano, Heilman and Duaner day after day in high leverage situations. Even if we have a bullpen of all lights-out pitchers, we will never survive concentrated use like that. Remember, our bullpen was actually quite good in terms of ERA and BAA in the first half last year and their slide corresponded directly into the increase of 4-5 inning stings from Maine and Perez (not to mention the injury to El Duque).
When we sign out of market Free Agents, do we lose Draft Picks and if so to whom?
no. That’s why if you can trade for a pitcher on the level of Silva or better for Lastings, signing Fokudome is at least a consideration.
The Red Sox might possibly out bid the Mets yet again? They already have a 150 million dollar payroll. Ours is under 100 million without Glavine, LoDuca at this point. When will Freddie Coupons start acting like a big market owner and open up the f’ing wallet already. Ditto for going after ARod. It’s time to win the fans back after sitting idly by after the collapse and not firing anybody or holding anybody accountable. They need to do something big in the offseason to win the fans back, instead of sitting idly by and bringing back the same exact choking 2007 roster w/ some minor “tweaks.” That would be unacceptable. Spend some f’in’ money. With all of the incredible revenue streams the Mets are seeing from the new Stadium, SNY, increased ticket prices and sales, etc., it is no longer acceptable to have a payroll that is 1/2 of the Yankees. Open up your wallet Freddie Coupons and stop acting like the Kansas City Royals.