| 2012-05-17 13:00:00 (link to chat) | Name a handful of current bench players you see carving out a role and producing fantasy worthy numbers?
(Ridin'thepine from Splintersville) | Obviously things would have to break right for each of these guys, but here goes: Jeff Keppinger, Kosuke Fukudome, Brent Lillibridge, Tyler Flowers, Johnny Giavotella, Dave Ross, Juan Francisco, Tyler Moore, Adrian Cardenas, Chris Snyder, Allen Craig, Wilin Rosario, Nate Schierholtz (Derek Carty) |
| 2010-10-14 13:00:00 (link to chat) | Any thoughts/insights on where Kosuke Fukudome ends up next year, and in what role? He has pretty good value in OBP-based leagues and sims -- if he has an everyday job.
(Dan from Brooklyn) | $13.5M in 2011 makes him tough to move, since he's never performed at a level that made him deserve that kind of cash. The OBP is nice, but he has no power, especially not for the position, and he's not a great defender either. That makes him kind of stretched as a starter but also difficult to use as a fourth outfielder since he's not much of a defensive replacement. He's more valuable in an OBP-based fantasy league than he is in real life. (Marc Normandin) |
| 2010-08-02 13:30:00 (link to chat) | The Nats could take on salary if a team tried simply to get rid of a contract. Is there any NL player that they could claim with their advantageous waiver position that might be worth paying a large part of an excessive contract? Off the top of my head, someone like Kosuke Fukudome for instance? Might be a bad choice, but you get my point, I hope.
(HalfStreet from Fairfax VA) | Actually, a year of Fukudome at the top of the Nats' order would be sort of fun. But generally speaking, there aren't a lot of guys who match up nicely with the Nats. Sure, someone like Carlos Zambrano or Carlos Lee might be out there, but I can't see that fitting all that neatly. (Christina Kahrl) |
| 2010-06-18 14:00:00 (link to chat) | Do you think Kosuke Fukudome is actually underrated because people focus on what he isn't (a power hitter), instead of focusing on what he is (good defensive RF who gets on base)?
(MJ from E-town) | In a word, yes. But to an extent. I mean, if he can consistently be in the .370/.450 range, that's one thing, but I'm not a huge fan of LF or RF who get on base, but show no power and who aren't absolutely excellent defensively or on the base paths. Fukudome seems to be a solid defender and an adequate baserunner, but I'd like to see his SLG in the .440-.470 range for another year before I officially opine on the matter. (Eric Seidman) |
| 2009-05-21 14:00:00 (link to chat) | Generally: to what degree can plate discipline be a teachable skill and/or contagious across an entire team? Specifically: The Brewers seem to have discovered the power of the walk en masse—does history suggest an entire team of reformed hackers can maintain this walk rate across an entire season?
(david from madison, wi) | I thought Wade Boggs had a similar effect on the Yankees, especially Don Mattingly and Paul O'Neill, when he joined them. I believe I touted a similar effect last year, when Kosuke Fukudome arrived in Chicago. Having good ABs strikes me as something that can be influenced by an atmosphere that values that kind of thing, although I'm not sure it can be quantified. (For a converse, think about the Angels' often-successful approach, centered on contact hitting.) (Joe Sheehan) |
| 2009-05-18 14:00:00 (link to chat) | Looks like the Ricketts family has three banks lined up to finance $450M of the $900M needed for the Cubs. They say it could go down in 30-45 days. How would that affect the Cubs immediate financial flexibility?
(Gray from Chicago) | Swell, they'll be able to afford paying off Kosuke Fukudome in full. ;)
I'm more interested in seeing if the Ricketts take a page from the playbook that's been run on Fenway, and the organization builds onto Wrigley up by Clark and Waveland in a way that gets the players better clubhouses and adds on some improved amenities and maybe even the museum. (Christina Kahrl) |
| 2008-11-14 13:00:00 (link to chat) | I've been looking everywhere for something, anything, on why the Cubs would not pursue Ichiro. I really don't know whether he's a free agent or not, but with the M's in rebuild mode, and Ichiro not getting any younger, as in 36-ish, where's the rub? He played for Lou in the past, he speaks Japanese, so he could be a help in the Kosuke Fukudome crusade, he's a lead-off guy who could give lessons in it, has WONDERFUL offensive numbers, a Howitzer from right field....wait, maybe that's what's wrong. Hendry isn't used to solving so many problems at the same time, never mind all with the same guy. Still, a nice package o' kids should get this done. What do you think?
(RenalGland from Calumet City, IL) | RenalGlad? Maybe I should go by ThyroidGland. I worry, though, that eventually be answering questions from UndescendedTestile, so maybe we should leave that alone. So here's the thing about Ichiro. He's fun, but he's more fun than good in offensive terms. He's certainly not WONDERFUL. This year he had almost a Matty Alou year, all singles and little else. He doesn't walk much, and his power doesn't exist. He hasn't hit more than 30 doubles since his first year, hasn't hit ten HRs since 2005. The baserunning is great. The bat-handling is great. The defense is very good. To spend good prospects on that package, given that the feller is also going on 35, seems like a potential for huge, huge disappointment... And even if it could be done, even as the M's rebuild, I'd be surprised if they sold a guy who is so popular, such an easy marketing hook. (Steven Goldman) |
| 2008-08-22 13:00:00 (link to chat) | After finally, sadly, coming to the conclusion that he was killing my fantasy team's slim chances at post-season glory, I cut Kosuke Fukudome this week. It's an 8 team NL only league with 4 OF spots. Do you think he'll have any value next year? He's fallen off a cliff for two months...
(Stan from Chicago) | He was very reliant on Wrigley when he was good, and he hasn't been good anywhere lately. He's an interesting player with potential to do better than this due to his patience, but he needs to work on hitting major league pitchers more consistently before you run out and grab him right away. (Marc Normandin) |
| 2008-04-25 15:00:00 (link to chat) | I promise I do not play the "no respect" card, but the Cubs are quietly dominating right now. With this lineup, maybe the best 7,8,9 innings bullpen, is it possible the Cubs actually run away with the Central? Milwaukee's bullpen is awful and St. Louis is going to slide shortly.
(Gray from Chicago) | Nothing quiet about the Cubs' domination so far. They're second on today's Hit List, atop the majors in scoring, and leading the league in OBP and SLG. I don't think they're going to have seven guys with .380 OBPs all year long, but with Kosuke Fukudome looking like the real deal, they're a stronger teeam than some of us thought at the outset of the year. (Jay Jaffe) |
BP Annual Player Comments
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