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Hendry, Cubs' deep pockets just too much for Sox to overcome
Bang-bang. Just like that, Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome jumped at a four-year offer to make Chicago his summer home Tuesday, meaning the Cubs landed the one player they were pursuing this winter and the White Sox watched another door slam in their face.
Cubs general manager Jim Hendry is riding a major hot streak that dates to October 2006. That's when he bagged the most coveted manager on the free-agent market in Lou Piniella, sparking a startling string of yeses. Sox general manager Ken Williams has swung and missed on free-agent center fielder Torii Hunter, power-hitting third baseman Miguel Cabrera and now Fukudome.
A year ago, Hendry's free-agent wish list was topped by three other names: Alfonso Soriano, Mark DeRosa and Ted Lilly. Each time the Cubs came courting, the player said yes. About the only no fired from a free agent came from pitcher Gil Meche, who was leaning toward a four-year offer last winter from the Cubs when the Kansas City Royals swooped in with a five-year deal.
Hendry was in a hospital, recovering from an angioplasty, so he can be excused for that swing and miss.
And when the Cubs' brain trust plotted their course for this offseason, the strategy was similar to the campaign to woo Soriano: shock and awe.
It was clear the San Diego Padres were bracing for what their top officials were calling a record-setting deal for Fukudome, and the Sox were itching to do something big. So the Cubs had to do what they did with Soriano: present such an appealing package that the only answer could be yes.
This is easy to do when your pockets run so deep. But it is also a remarkable run of good fortune.
Whether you believe Fukudome is a savior or a bust doesn't matter so much. The Cubs believe he is the one piece they needed most this winter. Hendry and his staff played it cool during the winter meetings last week, placing all other deals on the back burner to await Fukudome's decision. Had he opted to stay in Japan or take one of the other offers, Hendry could have been burned.
In the Cubs' mind, it was worth the gamble. Fukudome brings a .397 career on-base percentage, but he also boasts the solid fundamentals that manager Lou Piniella is insisting become part of the Cubs' new culture.
Down on the South Side, the Sox are running out of letters to attach to their latest plan after Plans A, B and C collapsed. Losing out on Fukudome was bad enough; losing out to the Cubs certainly carries a deeper sting.
Look for the Sox to make a strong push to re-acquire center fielder Aaron Rowand, who is drawing increased interest from the San Francisco Giants. The question is whether Rowand wants to be a consolation prize in his old stomping grounds. To get him now means to overpay for a player the Sox weren't even expecting to pursue.
Still, the more distance the Sox put between themselves and their 2005 World Series title means a few more empty seats at U.S. Cellular Field. If Williams knows anything, he knows the Sox must make the biggest splashes to sway some of that attention from the Cubs. More empty seats means less resources.
And a drop in resources means hearing the word ''no'' too many times.
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