May 16, 2012

Breaking Tribe News: Indians On Verge of Acquiring Fukudome

July 28, 2011 By 35 Comments

This can’t be their only move. It can’t be.

Of all of the names that have been bandied about – Carlos Beltran, B.J. Upton, Ryan Ludwick, etc, the one that excited me the least looks like he will be an Indian in the next few hours.

According to various reports by ESPN.com’s Buster Olney, Fox’s Ken Rosenthal, and SI.com’s Jon Heyman, the Indians are about to acquire Outfielder Kosuke Fukudome from Chicago Cubs for two prospects. The deal is being held up until the logistics of the Fukudome’s contract are finalized. He is owed roughly $5 million over the remaining of the season and the reports say the Cubs will pay anywhere between half and the majority of the money left.  (edit – the PD’s Paul Hoynes says the Tribe is only on the hook for $775k).

The good news is they are adding a bat. That’s about all the good news there is in my opinion.

Fukudome, 34, is another average left-handed bat who has been a major disappointment since signing a four year, $40 million deal with the Cubs in 2008. The Japanese import is supposed to be a doubles machine, but has never lived up to his billing. His numbers this year have been particularly brutal.

He’s hitting .273 (a career high) with three homers and 13 RBIs. When I saw the 13 RBIs, I figured he must have missed a chunk of time due to injury. He didn’t. His 13 RBIs have come in 293 ABs. That projects over a full season to 20. Fukudome has never drive in more than 58 runs in a season.

His on-base percentage is .374 with an OPS of .743. If you expected a middle of the order bat, this isn’t your guy. He has been hitting leadoff lately for the Cubs. Kosuke can play all three OF positions in a pinch, has decent speed and is a patient hitter who draws walks.  Fukudome leads the NL with 4.34 pitches per plate appearance. he also is hitting .311 (14-45) with runners in scoring position.

I get why the Indians are making this move. They need to bring in someone, anyone from the outside that maybe can bring some life into this dead offense. But again, don’t expect this to be their “big” acquisition. I truly believe they aren’t done and Fukudome will be more of an upgrade to the Kearns/Buck platoon until Shin-Soo Choo is back healthy again.

With the off day today, expect to see Fukudome in the Tribe lineup in right field tomorrow night as they start a three-game set with the Kansas City Royals.

Filed Under: Indians Tagged With: ,
  • stin4u

    Abner Abreu and Carlton Smith. Reportedly.

  • christopher

    the only way I do this deal is if the two prospects ARE Buck and Kearns.

  • mgbode

    http://www.indiansprospectinsider.com/2007/10/rankings.html

    Abreu is our #22 prospect and Carlton Smith is a non-top-30 guy. I actually have seen Abreu play and like him, so that’s sad, but it doesn’t seem like we overpaid (even with the Cubs picking up his salary)

  • http://www.morningjournal.com/content/articles/2011/01/31/sports/doc4d463b0cd062d819200129.jpg Return of the (Alex) Mack

    another left handed bat that has no power… Id rather have Travis buck play

  • JM

    Come on guys we all new no big deal was going down.

  • JM

    I mean “knew”.

  • Jack

    @JM – Apparently @WFNYTD did not know this, and still does not know this.

    I don’t get why we’d make a big deal this year. We have zero chance of making it past anyone in the playoffs.

    Why, why, why?

  • kunal

    wow…

  • Ghost To Most

    Bastian expects us to go after another outfielder on top of Fukudome.

    http://twitter.com/#!/MLBastian/statuses/96593695213760515

    With all of Sizemores injury problems, I almost wouldnt mind if they took a chance on BJ Upton at this point. Hes still young, and he would be under contract for next season. It might make more sense than to rent a guy like Ludwick.

    And besides, if we get Fukudome, where would this second outfielder play? Weve got Brantley in left, Fukudome would play right, it would have to be a centerfielder wouldnt it?

  • http://exiledclevelander.wordpress.com AMC

    It’s hard to get passionate about this deal either way – little risk in terms of what they had to give up, and likely a small reward. Fukodome HAS to be an upgrade of the Buck/Kearns dynamic duo and brings more speed and better defense than either of those guys, plus he’s a guy you can hit towards the top of the order who can get on base.

    This move is obviously not going to make or break the Indians season, but it makes sense to me.

  • http://exiledclevelander.wordpress.com AMC

    Also, in terms of his RBI numbers – don’t forget that the Cubs are AWFUL this year. Hard to drive in runs when no one is on base…

  • mgbode

    @Ghost – Brantley can play CF, but I agree that Upton makes the most sense of who is left (if TB isn’t asking for too much)

  • 216in614

    this seems like a nice small smart deal.

    the pitch-fork-cleveland-sports fans are going to start foaming at the mouth however. if beltran wouldn’t come here why should we over pay for one of the 2nd tier OF prospects?

  • stin4u

    I can live with this I guess, purely for the fact that you need someone who isn’t Buck or Kearns because they’re horrid at the plate. We didn’t give up much, fine.

    I just think there have to be other moves coming. If not, Antonetti is going to look really bad after all the Acta talk about shocking moves. Like, really bad.

  • Ghost To Most

    What am I saying? Of course Brantley can play center!

    I guess I havent had enough caffeine, my brain isnt working.

    Still, I dont see the Indians trading for 2 30 something outfielders. I read that they had inquired about Colby Rasmus before he was dealt, it would make sense if they are also looking for a younger outfielder. Somebody who can help us in 2012-13 and not just be a 2 month rental.

    Cant say that I would be crazy about Upton, but it would make sense, and it might be worth a shot. He is only 26 and a change of scenery might do him good.

  • Garry Owen

    We’re better today than we were yesterday (the figurative “yesterday,” as it would be impossible not to be better today than we were in the literal “yesterday” – even with the lineup we had yesterday).

    What is there to complain about? If we do make another, bigger move this year, it’s unlikely that the guys we (apparently) sent to Chicago would be part of that deal.

    I’m happy, especially if we make another move (even if that means getting rid of some better known prospects).

  • Mark Whiten

    13 RBI? All in a day’s work…

  • http://twomuchnoise.com Matt

    I actually really really like this deal. I had no aspirations for Upton/Pence/Beltran, so I’m not at all disappointed in getting a top of the order hitter who gets on base more than almost anyone in the Tribe’s current lineup and plays stellar defense. And all it’s going to cost us is two middling prospects and $750K. What’s the downside? Did people actually think Carlos Beltran was coming here?

  • http://twomuchnoise.com Matt

    Criticizing his RBI totals is beside the point: Fukudome hit leadoff for the Cubs, and is not known as a power hitter. He has a tremendous ability to get on base (.374 OBP is better than any regular other than Pronk). The best way to score runs is to have baserunners, and Fukudome gets on base a ton. He is a solid defensive player as well, and all it’s costing us is two middling prospects who were not in our future plans. What’s the downside? The critics here are being pretty lazy; further, there was no way Beltran/Upton were coming here. No way…

  • Lloyd Braun

    @17 – That’s awesome. Hard Hittin’ Mark Whiten

  • Lloyd Braun

    Considering who the Tribe gave up and that the Cubs are picking up the majority of his salary – I think this is a good deal. It’s an upgrade that will cost very little.

  • MacNip

    Considering his batting average is better than the majority of our roster I will take him. We need to get guys on base to score runs as well.

  • s-devo

    Done deal according to ESPN:

    The Cubs will receive minor league outfielder Abner Abreu and right-handed pitcher Carlton Smith from the Indians.

    Abreu, 21, is batting .244 with 12 home runs and 35 RBIs with 19 stolen bases at Class A Kingston. Smith, 25, is 2-3 with a 4.50 ERA and two saves in 34 games at Triple-A Columbus.

    The Cubs, who signed Fukudome to a four-year, $48 million contract before the 2008 season, will pay all but $775,000 of the $4.7 million owed to Fukudome for the rest of the season, sources told ESPN The Magazine’s Buster Olney.

    Good cheap solution if you ask me. An upgrade over Kearns/Buck.

  • Anonymous

    i am cool with this signing because they are paying nearly none of his salary. also, this guy can play D, which the Indians need in the OF.

  • Tolbuck

    I was one of the few fans here who was hoping the FO wouldn’t do anything this week. I have a feeling the next road trip is going to be a knockout blow. That being said, I don’t have a problem with this. They are upgrading the outfield for almost nothing.

  • http://twitter.com/AndyBestgen Andrew Bestgen

    Still trying to figure out how a guy has 14 hits with RISP, 3 HRs, but only 13 RBI. The master of the clutch infield single?

  • Anonymous

    I don’t hate this deal but it screams “see we are trying to show you that we want to win now.”

    Make a bigger move and that actually says “we are trying to win now.”

  • JM

    I will say this, it seems he could be a good bat in the middle of the lineup. It would be nice to get another pitcher too.

  • Anonymous

    I like it. Despite his rep, Fukudome is a pretty solid player. (Not worth his contract, but we don’t have to worry about that.) I’m glad we picked up somebody who adds value, even if it isn’t the type of value we needed (hard hitting righty). It’s something though and we’ll have one more real player on the field come game day.

  • Believelander

    Why are people talking about 13 rbi? Broham is hitting .311 with RISP. Assume 10 non-HR rbi, he would be driving in guys from scoring position 10 times or less, which means he had a guy to drive in 32 times OR LESS. Seems more of an indicator on the Cubs. Personally, I will take a utility OF with great obp and above average OPS, put him in a more offense-friendly park, and see what happens.

  • bobby

    The good thing about him is the batting avg. If hes getting balls to land in the field the rbi’s will come. This shouldnt be the only bat they get, but I like that we finally did something.

  • Shamrock

    Yuck but hopefully it’s the last of Buck!

  • Believelander

    @TD, others: a guy who has 13 RBI this season, with a .311 BA with RISP, and has hit 3 home runs, is a lead indicator of HOW BAD HIS TEAM BLOWS more than anything else.

    Assuming all 3 home runs are solo shots, assuming none of the RBI were for guys on first (deep doubles), and assuming none of the RBI were multi-RBI hits (2nd and 3rd), he drove in 10 guys from scoring position; that is the max. With a .311 BA-RISP, that means the maximum possible number of opportunities he could have had to drive in a runner in ~300 at bats is 32(.15). Considering he leads off a lot, that’s not, uh, …yeah, that’s pretty awful.

    Anyway, a guy with a ~.275 BA, a highly respectable OBP (.374 is highly respectable) and an above average OPS is about 1 million internets better than Orlando Cabrera, who only leads the team in one statistical category: Venezualanness.

  • Believelander

    And come to think of it, Fukudome makes good sense in the leadoff spot if he can step in and continue to get on at a .375 clip, which is substantially better than Michael Brantley has been doing right now. I think an outfield rotation (assuming ~90% healthy Sizemore going into October) of Sizemore, Choo, Fukudome, and Brantley is highly respectable for a playoff contending team.

    Now if the Chiz and the Kipper start tearing the face off the baseball, we may be in serious business.

  • Believelander

    For now: CF Carrera, RF Fukudome, LF Brantley, but honestly, if I traded for another OF, I would prefer a left fielder with some smash. Fukudome can play wherever when we get Choo back, and I’m not holding my breath on Grady. But as I said, I’d rather leave Brantley in CF and get some damage potential into our lineup with a big left fielder.

    Although if they actually expect Choo and Sizemore to come back and -perform- and help us get into the playoffs, it almost makes sense to get another budget rental outfielder that we can scrap if those two come back strong.