with the signing of Kosuke Fukudome official today it got me wondering who, if anyone, is a japanese born player that is a free agent.  after looking I found that indeed three are available, and two could help and the third wouldnt be bad on a minor league deal as a just in case.  They are So Taguchi, Akinori Otsuka and Tomo Ohka.  The only reason I suggest any of them would be to make Kosuke's transition easier by having a fellow japanese speaking teammate.  so the question is do you want any of those three on the 2008 cubs team.

I think Taguchi would be a great fourth or fifth outfielder and can play all three spots and has some good speed.  I think if the price is right an arm like Otsuka could be a valuable pen arm, even if he misses some early time from healing the injured elbow.  And finally Ohka as a minor league arm with major league experience helps Iowa, helps Kosuke during spring training, and helps the cubs if they are faced with a major injury or huge hole in the rotation.  

I would imagine that So and Tomo could be signed to deals for a combined 2 million with So getting 1.3 or 1.4 of that and Otsuka could be had for maybe 2 years 4 or 5 guarenteed with all sorts of options obtainable plateaus.

i wanted to have another diary at the top so we could tlak...we need to get toghether soon guys...this is killing me...the waiting is the hardest part...

any how...ive been listening and watching to highlights all nite and i am jacked up now. i want to make sure we pick a place, since we cant be in wrigleyville, we will make it as good as we can.  i want to go nuts with guys in blue for at least a few more weeks....so Kev, pick a place and tell us to be there and we will follow you there

Go Cubs, NL Central Champs 2007

after having spent the weekend in chicago this weekend and going 0-2 i was disscussing with some friends the cost they were willing to pay for the future.

it basically came down to this, if i told you that i could gaurentee the cubs would win the world series but every prospect except three, any three, would be gone from the system and every piece that was acquired had no gaurentee of being able to be back next year, final year of the contract type of deal, would you do it??  

is a gaurentee at the good stuff worth knowing that the next few years would prolly be the worst we had seen in a while?  i honestly dont know what i think...but i do know how much winning one would mean, and how much we have lost and been bad already, so what is a few more years of that if you can gaurentee the big W?

does anyone know where i would be able to find stats by position...for example what cubs players have done offensivly when they play first or left field or a reds second baseman...im not looking for specific players...i just wanna see the numbers put up by position...

any ideas???

thanks sniddly