06-22-2010, 05:32 PM
Fukodome himself isn't the problem. The problem is that our manager sees him as one of 3 RF candidates, essentially relegating Colvin to the role of a very part-timer. As long as Fukodome is on the roster, Lou is going to be giving him at least 1/3 to 1/2 of the starts. We know that. Trying to trade him for anything but another bad contract is going to be close to impossible, but JH has pulled off miracles before. In the meantime, it is up to JH to have a pow-wow with Lou about how he sees Fukodome's role on the team.
I've always said that Fukodome is by far the most fundamentally complete player on the team. He bunts, runs smart on the bases, takes pitches, plays solid OF defense, and he has a lot of intangibles. While all of this is true, he is not going to be the future of this ballclub. Colvin in less at-bats has more extra base hits, he has a higher batting average, his .OPS is 165 points higher than Fukodome's, and he's got better speed. If salary wasn't an issue, Colvin would have already been starting now for at least a month.
Our outfield rotation in general is hardly the problem in any way on this team. Even Soriano's defense has been fairly steady since the first 2 weeks of the season. Dealing Fukodome isn't about getting rid of a bad player in any fashion; it's about 2 things... (1) freeing up even a portion of his salary for off-season flexibility, and (2) removing an obstacle from Colvin's path to starting the majority of our games in RF.
Ricketts said he's committed to developing from within. We've already got Castro playing SS (a bit premature in my opinion, but what the hell do I know), Cashner and Stevens in the bullpen (and Russell will be back, as well), and Colvin waiting for AB's in at least 1/3 of our games. Before long, Colvin will be gettiing the overwhelming majority of AB's IMO, even if Ricketts has to pull a Steinbrenner and order him to play Colvin (again, just my opinion). For what it's worth, if we do manage to move Fukodome for even an average prospect and wind up eating $10-12M worth of salary, it's worth it. It will still free us up of approximately $6M in payroll for next season... add that to Lilly, Lee, and Nady's salaries, and we've got the coin to add either a major piece at first base or in the rotation, as well as upgrade from Howry in the pen. Throwing away so much money is hardly good business, but it makes sense for the direction of the team... and let's face it, Fukodome was NOT even remotely productive in any month of September or the post-season when we got there. And Sam Fuld is a more than adequate 5th OF in the meantime. I hope JH can get it done, and I hope we can move Fukodome to a team in contention (like the Yankees or Red Sox, where they're desperate for a solid feilding corner OF).
I've always said that Fukodome is by far the most fundamentally complete player on the team. He bunts, runs smart on the bases, takes pitches, plays solid OF defense, and he has a lot of intangibles. While all of this is true, he is not going to be the future of this ballclub. Colvin in less at-bats has more extra base hits, he has a higher batting average, his .OPS is 165 points higher than Fukodome's, and he's got better speed. If salary wasn't an issue, Colvin would have already been starting now for at least a month.
Our outfield rotation in general is hardly the problem in any way on this team. Even Soriano's defense has been fairly steady since the first 2 weeks of the season. Dealing Fukodome isn't about getting rid of a bad player in any fashion; it's about 2 things... (1) freeing up even a portion of his salary for off-season flexibility, and (2) removing an obstacle from Colvin's path to starting the majority of our games in RF.
Ricketts said he's committed to developing from within. We've already got Castro playing SS (a bit premature in my opinion, but what the hell do I know), Cashner and Stevens in the bullpen (and Russell will be back, as well), and Colvin waiting for AB's in at least 1/3 of our games. Before long, Colvin will be gettiing the overwhelming majority of AB's IMO, even if Ricketts has to pull a Steinbrenner and order him to play Colvin (again, just my opinion). For what it's worth, if we do manage to move Fukodome for even an average prospect and wind up eating $10-12M worth of salary, it's worth it. It will still free us up of approximately $6M in payroll for next season... add that to Lilly, Lee, and Nady's salaries, and we've got the coin to add either a major piece at first base or in the rotation, as well as upgrade from Howry in the pen. Throwing away so much money is hardly good business, but it makes sense for the direction of the team... and let's face it, Fukodome was NOT even remotely productive in any month of September or the post-season when we got there. And Sam Fuld is a more than adequate 5th OF in the meantime. I hope JH can get it done, and I hope we can move Fukodome to a team in contention (like the Yankees or Red Sox, where they're desperate for a solid feilding corner OF).
"Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods." Albert Einstein