Trading Grit

Published by on December 17, 2010 | 10 Responses

You’ll have to excuse this quick post, but I just picked up on this tweet from Jerry Crasnick.

The Giants and Cubs discussed a Rowand-for-Fukudome trade, said a BB source. A classic bad-contract, change-of-scenery deal.

Discussed can mean a lot of things, but it’s heartening to know that there’s a possibility that the Giants might try move dead weight, otherwise known as Aaron Rowand. On the surface, Fukudome would be an excellent fit for the San Francisco Giants Baseball Team.

Points in favor for Fukudome…

* He’s the perfect platoon-mate for Cody Ross. While Ross has roughly been a league average hitter against RHP in his career (93 wRC+), Fukudome has shown an ability to hit RHP (111 wRC+) at a better than average rate. Ross has mashed LHP (146 wRC+) over his career while Fukudome has struggled (85 wRC+) against them. It seems like a perfect match.

* Fukudome is an adept outfielder capable of playing an above-average corner outfield spot. He’s logged 2,813.2 career innings in RF with good results. Over that time, UZR has pegged him as a +5.7 run defender per 150 defensive games. Plus/minus has him at +9 defensive runs saved — keep in mind that’s total playing time, not pro-rated like the UZR/150 — and the Fan Scouting Reports like him. Even if the team was playing against a LHP, Fukudome would probably see some late inning defensive playing time if someone like Burrell was playing. In that regard, he’s like a Nate Schierholtz that can actually hit. I’ll take two. He fits the defensive profile for what kind of outfielder the Giants should be looking for.

* He’s patient — Fukudome sports a career walk-rate of 14.7% — and the Giants are still a hacker-ish team. For example, career walk-rates of a projected starting lineup:

LF – Burrell (14.3%)
CF – Torres (8.7%)
RF – Ross (6.7%)
3B – Sandoval (7.3%)
SS – Tejada (6.2%)
2B – Sanchez (4.9%)
1B – Huff (8.3%)
C – Posey (6.5%)

I think we’ll seen an increase in Posey’s walk-rate as he adjusts to the majors, but most of team has had below-average (league walk-rates tend to hover around 8%) career walk-rates. Fukudome brings a skill to the table that’s painfully deficient on the current roster.

Salaries and prospects aside, if the Giants could swap Rowand for Fukudome, it might be the biggest upgrade of the offseason.

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hitnrun
hitnrun

I would love to see this trade made. It would be addition by subtraction because not only would the Giants dump Rowand, but they would not have to waste a roster spot on a defensive only outfielder any more. Fukudome has a decent OBP, and he is patient at the plate, and he would be a much more enjoyable at bat than watching Rowand strike out on 3 sliders in the dirt, or watching Schierholtz ground weakly to second base. Sabean does need to make some type of moves this off season, it is hard enough to try and repeat when the competition is making moves to improve themselves, and you are standing still.

ldd233
ldd233

The increased pace of postings has warmed my heart, as well. I hope it continues.

PaapFly.com
PaapFly.com

A straight swap makes sense if each team is motivated to move the player - each apparently has their reasons, the Giants' is obvious. I think if the Giants send the $10.5 million Rowand is owed, it's a fair trade. As awful as Rowand was, he was still worth 1/2 a win in '10. Let's say he bounces back JUST A LITTLE - the Cubs may believe it's possible with a change of scenery - and is worth twice that, 1 win a season (2 total). Fukudome is probably worth 2 wins and has one more year remaining on his deal. They both get 2 wins, or about $10 million in value. The Giants continue to have a $24 million liability ($14 million deficit). The Cubs continue to have a $13.5 million committment, and get 2 wins spread over two seasons, while the Giants grab 2 wins over oen season. I don't see why prospects need to factor in here, it should be all about the money. And it's ideal for the Giants, because they get the perfect platoon partner for Boss. Presto! Of course, if you don't think Rowand is worth a win anymore - something that can strongly be argued - this rationale falls apart. But it's Hendry we're talking about here, he'll buy that. Might even be right.

Merkled
Merkled

Two words to add from the brain of Brian Sabean............ Expiring Contract

Otis Anderson
Otis Anderson

my question is: why on earth would the Cubs do that?

marcello
marcello

I'm hoping for the same reason they don't seem to really like Soto.

Merkled
Merkled

Because Fukudome likes to eat too?

Chris Quick
Chris Quick

Aaron Rowand once ran into a wall.

Chris Quick
Chris Quick

Seriously though, it seems that Fukudome has fallen out of favor in Chicago. There's no doubt that the Giants would have to send money/prospects in a swap.

obsessivegiantscompulsive
obsessivegiantscompulsive

Yeah, for some reason Pinella really didn't like Fukudome, he's been a platoon player for the most part with the Cubs, at best. Looking at his splits, it really just looks like he had a bad year against LHP in 2009, but was OK in 2008 and 2010, suggesting it was just If Pinella, before leaving, had really poisoned the mind of the Cubs GM against Fukudome, the Giants might be able to get away with no additional money in the deal (like how Pirates took Morris off our hands for nothing much) and a lower prospect who is in the upper minors, like Pill or Bond, maybe, or Darren Ford perhaps.