All Entries Tagged With: "Kosuke Fukudome"
Cubs rumors from GM meetings
After spending the last two winters trying in vain to acquire second baseman Brian Roberts and pitcher Jake Peavy, Cubs general manager Jim Hendry hopes he can unload Milton Bradley in quick fashion. But as the GM meetings began on Monday, there was no certainty that was possible. Texas may have the most interest, but sources insisted the Rangers would only agree to a deal if the Cubs ate most of the remaining $21 million on Bradley’s contract. That’s a route Hendry seems unwilling to take for now.
Toronto reportedly wants no part of Bradley, despite a rumor on foxsports.com of a three-way deal in which the Cubs acquired Mets second baseman Luis Castillo for Bradley. New York would then send Bradley to Toronto for Lyle Overbay. Rich Harden is holding out hope of remaining a Cub. His agent, Arn Tellem, is in Chicago and plans to meet with Hendry soon. Atlanta also may be shopping starter Kenshin Kawakami, who has two years and $13 million left on his deal. Though Ted Lilly will open the season on the disabled list, Hendry said: “We don’t feel we’re going to pick up anybody in a trade better than Ted. …We’re always looking to get better on the mound, but Ted’s situation doesn’t factor in at all.”
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Lou looking for lead off man, Miles: Keep Bradley
Lou Piniella says the Cubs may be able to use a lead off man that can steel some bases.
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Cubs want Figgins to lead off? Wells wants better D
Not only did the Cubs pursue Brian Roberts to no end to solve their lead off issues, they also have coveted Chone Figgins.
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Piniella still wants lefty bat?
Carrie Muskat talks wilt Lou Piniella who says he still wants a lefty bat that can drive runs in. We guess he wasn’t happy with JIm Hendry’s acquisition of Milton Bradley. It’s doubtful the Cubs will make any moves in the outfield with the contractual commitments they have to Bradley, Alfonso Soriano, and Kosuke Fukudome.
Piniella does admit that Raul Ibanez or Alfonso Soriano both need to play left field, making Ibanez out of the question in the off season.
This past offseason, the Cubs were in the market for a left-handed-hitting outfielder who could play right field, provide some power and hit for average. As far as Lou Piniella is concerned, they’re still looking.
The three top players on the market, as most fans recall, were Milton Bradley, Raul Ibanez and Bobby Abreu. You know where each ended up. Heading into Tuesday’s game, Ibanez had 25 homers, 68 RBIs and was batting .315 for the Phillies. Bradley had six homers, 21 RBIs and was hitting .201 from the left side for the Cubs, but he was not in the lineup for the third straight game as he continued to work on his swing with Piniella.
It’s impossible to say that Ibanez would have put up the same numbers if he had signed with the Cubs, but he is doing exactly what Piniella wanted.
“The only thing I talked about last season,” Piniella said Tuesday, “was a need for a left-hand bat in a predominantly right-handed lineup who could hit the ball for power and drive in some runs. Look at our production last year, and it was mainly from the right side. We didn’t bring [Jim] Edmonds back and he hit quite a few home runs.
“We needed a left-hand bat, that’s it,” Piniella said. “That was what I mentioned, that we could use a nice productive left-hand bat in the middle ofour right-hand hitting.”
“Look,” he said, “we still need a left-hand bat who could hit in our lineup and drive in some runs.”
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Soriano move permanent?
Lou Piniella says the recent move of Alfonso Soriano could have a positive effect on the Cubs organization. Piniella likes Kosuke Fukudome in the one-hole, and Soriano says he is comfortable as well. Gordon Wittenmyer writes that Alfonso Soriano’s long slump could wind up being one of the best things that could have happened to the Cubs as they look ahead to 2010 and beyond.
That’s because it forced the move of Soriano out of the leadoff spot, which manager Lou Piniella confirmed Monday is meant to be permanent.
And that creates the potential for the team to acquire a more classic leadoff hitter without concern for the disruption it might cause by waiting until then to move Soriano out of what had been his comfort zone.”We’re talking about staying with it,” Piniella said. ”If it works out, I think it’ll probably pay great dividends for this organization.”
That’s potentially huge, considering Soriano has almost five years left on his eight-year, $136 million deal. Also huge: He he has shown signs of breaking out of his slump from the 6-hole, and says he’s fine with staying there permanently.
”It’s not a problem with me,” he said. ”I just want to help the team win.”
Already, the move has paid dividends, with Kosuke Fukudome, Reed Johnson and Sam Fuld producing a .349 batting average, .425 on-base percentage and 10 runs in 15 games from the leadoff hole this month, through Sunday.
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Soriano likes hitting sixth
Alfonso Soriano tells Gordon Wittenmyer he does not have a problem with moving out of the lead off spot permanently. The last time he wasn’t a regular leadoff hitter was 2005, when he batted mostly fifth for Texas — and produced 36 home runs and a career-high 104 RBI. Maybe Soriano realizes he can’t be the lead off man anymore that he was in 2006 with Washington, or maybe he is just saying all the right things.
”That’s fine,” Soriano said, ”as long as we play like we’re playing. If the team hits better, and we start winning, that’s fine.”
Soriano said he hasn’t been told how long his move down in the order — to sixth the last three games — would last. But the longer-term prospects arose Monday when Piniella said he plans to use Reed Johnson in the leadoff spot vs. lefties after Sam Fuld and Kosuke Fukudome handled duties there five of the last six games.
”As long as I’m in the lineup, it’s OK,” he said. ”I like six. It’s good for RBIs.”
Fukudome reached base three more times Monday night in the Cubs’ 4-2 win.
”I hope he continues doing what he’s doing; he’s doing a good job,” Soriano said. ”We’re playing better with him getting on base in the leadoff spot.”
As for Piniella’s plan to rotate Fukudome and Johnson in the top spot, Soriano said, ”Sounds good. They are very selective hitters. I’m very aggressive. With the power the team has now … the leadoff and second hitters have to be a little more patient hitters.
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Bradley to take break?
Gordon Wittenmyer reports Milton Bradley may take a few days off to work on his swing from the left side. Bradley entered the series opener against the Pirates batting .315 in 54 at-bats right-handed (.393 on-base percentage) but only .195 in 123 lefty at-bats (.331 OBP). Ironically, Bradley was brought here to help from the left side, where he has struggled.
Manager Lou Piniella dropped the switch-hitting right fielder from third to sixth in the lineup Monday against Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander Zach Duke. And Piniella might sit him the next two days, when the Cubs face right-handers, to work with hitting coach Von Joshua.
”I talked to our hitting coach yesterday on the airplane, and he wants to try a couple of things with Milton from the left side,” said Piniella, who hit Bradley sixth ”to see if we can get him to relax a little bit.”
”I feel bad because I’m not holding up my end of the bargain,” said Bradley, whose run-scoring double in the fourth inning Monday gave him his first RBI since June 12. ”I pride myself on doing my job, and I’m not doing it up to my standards.”
Bradley said over the weekend that he took so much batting practice one day last week in Detroit that he started to get a sore neck. Piniella has said more than once that he thinks Bradley might be putting too much pressure on himself.
”We’ve got about a half of baseball left,” Bradley said. ”It’s not a line drawn in the sand. There’s nothing permanent or finished. But for right now I’m not feeling too good about it.”
With Bradley sitting, Kosuke Fukudome likely will play right with rookie Sam Fuld — just called up from Class AAA Iowa on Monday — in center the next two days, Piniella said.
”We’ll see,” Piniella said. ”It’ll give Von a few days to work with Milton. Hopefully we can get him going.”
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Cubs may lose Gathright, Hendry looking for bench help
Lou Piniella wants to keep Bobby Scales up for infield flexibility, and someone has to be moved to make room for Randy Wells.
Bruce Levine says Joey Gathright may be lost in the numbers game. Gathright has mainly been used as a late inning defensive replacement, and pinch runner. Levine also reports that Jim Hendry is looking for a corner infielder to play third base off the bench .
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Line-up shuffle?
Lou Piniella is considering leaving Ryan Theriot at the two hole and Kosuke Fukudome in the third spot, after the Cubs have had more production in the offense lately. This could be an opportunity to have more on base percentage at the top of the order.
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D costs Hoffpauir playing time
Lou Piniella seemed disappointed in his statement that Micah Hoffpauir would lose playing time in right field due to his suspect defense. Piniella said that Reed Johnson would get playing time in center with Kosuke Fukudome in right, while Milton Bradley is unavailable. Piniella and his coaching staff have been impressed with Hoffpauir’s production at the plate, but can’t seem to find him at bats because of his poor defense.
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Phillips tells Piniella to not believe the tapes?
ESPN’s Steve Phillips sought out Lou Piniella to tell him not to believe what he had heard, regarding critical comments over the handling of Kosuke Fukudome. Paul Sullivan has an issue with Phillip’s apology.
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Fukudome made his own adjustments
Kosuke Fukudome may be the hottest hitter on the Cubs in the first week, something hitting coach Gerald Perry says is all on Fukudome himself. Lou Piniella says he is done taking Fukudome out for a defensive replacement as well.
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