Fukudome, good or bad move?

My apologies for not posting in a while, with the 2nd semester starting up I've been a little busy with school. That being said, we all are aware of the fact that a little less than a week ago Kenny Williams signed ex cub Kosuke Fukudome to a contract to play on the South Side of town. I noticed a lot of mixed reactions amongst sox fans after this deal went down. My question to those who are wondering why Williams did this is, why not?

I think this was a tremendous pickup, for a few reasons. The main reason being price. We signed him to a one year, 1 million dollar contract with a 3.5 million dollar club option for 2013. Not to mention that this season he's actually only making $500,000.00 with a $500,000.00 buy out. To pay 500 K for a lefty bat (career .260 hitter) who can lead off and play an above average outfield is always going to be a plus in my book. Not to mention that he has the potential to turn it on offensively.  Another reason I like it is because as much faith as I have in De Aza to perform this season, if he doesn't pan out as an every day player, Fukudome can easily step in and fill that role at the top of the lineup.

The only thing that worries me about this pickup is what role the White Sox have in mind for Kosuke. I think he should be a 4th outfielder who sees the field when someone in front of him needs a day off, goes down, doesn't pan out. If the Sox plan to stick him in front of De Aza or Viciedo, I am gonna be pissed. I say, we give the young guys a chance to make an impact before we throw them on the back-burner for yet another season. Let them play their way out of a spot before we hand it to a 34 year old .260 hitter. I just see a lot of potential in Viciedo and De Aza and I think they're hungry to prove what they can do at the major league level.

Like I said, there is always that chance that Fukudome could come out of nowhere and really turn it on, its a long season and we'll have plenty of time to see how it pans out and how our outfielders settle into their roles. I'm really hoping Rios will play with some personal pride this year instead of just collecting a paycheck. The unfortunate thing about Rios is that no matter how awful he is, he's most likely going to see the field because of the huge amount of money that we're paying him. I'd be all for putting Kosuke in front of him.... but thats another discussion for another day.

So those of you ripping Williams for this pickup need to review the contract. Thats like buying a used 03 convertible for 200 bucks. Just thank God we didn't pay him 12 million dollars a year like the cubs did because he is no where near that kind of a pay day. But that of course is vintage Chicago cub baseball.... also another discussion for another day.

By the way, it took me a while to find a picture of Fukudome without an Indians or a Cubs jersey on, you'll never see that trash on this blog.