within your post. He doesn’t have any trade value right now. Marquis, for all of the crap that was spewed about him here — had value. He gives plenty of innings. He’s never hurt.

The Cubs wouldn’t get anything for ’Dome. And, right now — I doubt if anybody would want him.

Right now, Fukudome is not worth anything close to what he signed for. However, I believe that first season was more ‘educational’ for him than anything else. I really think he turns himself around — but he’s got to stop those daily press briefing for the Japanese media. He’s got to just be another ‘guy’ and forget everything else.

I think an undue anount of pressure — self-imposed — was there to perform. Once he got into a bad situation, there was no one to turn to for guidance, and the situation worsened.

so there’s your answer. Besides, it’s too early to give up on him anyway. You wouldn’t get anything now, so it’s best to give him another shot.

1.) Fukudome has little value to other teams given his current salary. Why trade for Fukudome when you can get Burrell or maybe even Dunn for less?
2.) As mentioned above, he has a no-trade clause (i think).
3.) He can actually hit for a little pop. I realize he didnt hit a ton of bombs (or much of anything in the 2nd half) but he’s still capable of a big dinger, something that Pie, Johnson and Gathright arent. You’ve got to keep Fukudome to keep a little pop coming out of center.
4.) If you trade Fukudome you trade a solid defensive Plan B if Bradley needs a day off.
5.) If we trade Fukudome what would those goofy venders sell outside of Wrigley? You cant tell me you didnt like the headbands…

To dragonfantastic, anyone know??? I enjoyed his offseason updates last year. And as stated above I to think that Dome will turn it around and have a productive year for us upcoming!!

I think he’ll settle in somewhere b/t the lofty expectations of last winter and his performance last year. He can still run the bases well, field well and throw exceptionally well, so if he has to be the #8 hitter and play CF, then so beit. We all saw what he was capable of in the first half, so after a year of experience and acclimation, perhaps he can get back to that.

But I dont know how they would trade him without taking on a lot of his salary

Lou knows the cultural insult that would be to KF to trade him. I think we need to give the guy a chance. He came to a new country without his new born baby and wife ( who has now joined him), no one except a translator could speak his language (except a little from Lou, Soriano, and D.Lee). I think he will be pretty nice for us this year, so nice that I have a feeling Bradley will be platooning with Johnson in center throughout the year.

…is when I read late in the season that, after watching him for a few games last Spring, warning bells went off for Pinella re; Dome’s swing.
I mean, Hendry and his people scouted this guy forever and nobody seemed to notice what Pinella did pretty much right away?
i really hope I’m wrong about this and that he turns it around this year but I’m not optimistic.
But, yes, all of the talk about homesickness and problems with his translator sruck me as a desperate attempt to spin about what looks to be a very bad signing.
Hopefully our radically lowered expectations will benefit him in ‘09. I hope so because it looks like we’ll be stuck with him for a long time.

I wasn’t trying to make excuses. I was thinking of what it would have been to be in his shoes. I agree that I feel that pitchers started filling up their books on his style and tendancies. I’m just really hoping he can repeat that first 2 1/2 months for the entire season. Crap, the remaining of his contract.

I do remember seeing him in the WBC though…he was a beast.

SO TAGUCHI! AAAAAAH!

Let’s see what Dome does this year, especially in Spring Training and the first few months. I’d be VERY interested to know what his training regimen was over the off-season.

…about trading Kosuke. IIRC, the Royals were proferred as one possible target. As others have driven home, however, the talk was largely theoretical. Dome’s contract makes him next to impossible to move and I guess he does deserve a second shot at putting together a consistently decent-to-good season. My hope is that both he and the Cubs coaching staff learned many lessons last year, and they’ll put those lessons to good use in ’09.

I may be weird but I feel he’s going to have a good year this year,

Can the Cubs restrict their access? Tell them Dome needs to focus as it proved too much of a distraction last year. It would take the pressure off him to do good by his country, not just his team, and allow him, as mentioned before, to be one of the guys.