Cubs Sign Kyuji Fujikawa

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote here of the Cubs' interest in Japanese righthanded reliever Kyuji Fujikawa.

Welcome him to Chicago, because according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, he'll be a Cub in 2013:

Sources: #Cubs in agreement with Japanese closer Kyuji Fujikawa. Rival executives involved in bidding had expected him to go to #Angels.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 1, 2012

In the original article here from Nov. 17 about Fujikawa, I noted his excellent walk-to-strikeout ratio in Japan -- 207 walks and 914 strikeouts in 692⅓ innings. While Japanese pitchers have at times struggled with the transition to MLB, I think Fujikawa's command will serve him well on the North Side. There's no word about whether Fujikawa will close with the Cubs, but as noted in Rosenthal's tweet, the Angels were the favorite to sign him. With the Angels' signing of Ryan Madson, though, Fujikawa wouldn't be closing for them.

The Cubs have a closer, of course, in Carlos Marmol, but nearly traded him last month. Perhaps this signals a trade of Marmol to come at the Winter Meetings. Stay tuned.

There's no word about contract terms yet, and, of course, no word on whether this signing will make the Cubs more popular in Japan.