Now that Xavier Nady is signed and has passed his physical, the last piece of the puzzle has been filled in for the starting position players. So let's discuss right field.
2009:
Ok...look...right field in 2009 basically consisted of Milton Bradley. Fukudome played some out there, as did Micah Hoffpauir, but the real story was Uncle Milty. And I'm not going to repeat what has been said a million times before about him. So simply, Milton got off to a slow start, but picked up his hitting after May to put up some not too horrible numbers. But he was brought here to hit right handed pitching, and he really didn't do that. The stats, .257/12/40 in 473 at-bats, with a .378 OBP.
oops
2010-What to expect:
So Milty didn't work out and he was basically run out of town. It was announced that Kosuke Fukudome would be the new right fielder (or old right fielder). The thing is, Bradley was brought in because the Cubs didn't think Kosuke got the job done in 2008. Why put him back there? Well, that's where Xavier Nady comes in. The Cubs signed Nady to a one year contract, and it is assumed the Nady will actually play as a platoon with Kosuke in right field. Kosuke has hit right handers much better than lefties, while Nady has very good stats against lefties.
Here is the gotcha: Nady's stats against right handers are almost as good as Fukudome's. What does this mean? Well, if Nady is indeed healthy, he could end up playing right field every day.
"I once caught a fish this big."
So what should we expect out of these guys this year? Let's assume Kosuke and Nady split time evenly in right field, and also assume Nady is indeed healthy. Kosuke will put up an average of around .265 with an OBP of .370, 8 to 10 homers and 50 RBI. Nady will hit around .285, OBP of .330 with 15 homers and 65 RBI.
That would be some really good production out of that position. (But realize, both Nady and Fukudome will likely filling in center field, left field and first base occasionally.)
Doc's comments
Nady is signed for one year. If he is indeed healthy, then the Cubs could be in a position to actually upgrade in the outfield...well, not exactly upgrade, but to upgrade contracts. Fukudome has two years left on his contract, including this year. Soriano still has 5 years left on his contract. And there is a lot of money tied up in those contracts.
Yes another ex-Pirate on the Cubs. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images North America)
If Nady is healthy, the Cubs should consider trading Fukudome or Soriano in the middle of the season and give Nady a longer term deal of 2 or 3 years. Since I'm expecting big things out of Soriano this year, that basically means the Cubs should look to trade Fukudome. Yes, they will have to eat some of that contract, but in the end, it will give the Cubs more payroll flexibility that they are so sorely missing right now.
If Nady is healthy.
