Kosuke Fukudome: 0% Chance of Returning in 2012

Kosuke Fukudome was supposed to be an offensive star for the Cubs when they signed him to a 4 year, $48 million contract before 2008.  So far, he has come nowhere close.  The only reason Fukudome still gets in the lineup consistently is because of his above average defense and patience at the plate.  But his poor hitting probably makes him worth a couple million instead of the $14 million he makes this season.  Here are the top five reasons why Fukudome has very little to no chance of coming back to the Cubs in 2012:

5. The Age
At 34, Fukudome is no kid anymore.  He had already enjoyed a good career in Japan when he came to the US and he was never expected to be some kind of franchise player for 20 years.  That also means that when the Cubs signed him, they knew their wouldn't be much upside to Fukudome over the years.  Unlike a young player like Starlin Castro, he's not going to get better each year.  Because he was a veteran at signing time, it was actually expected he would get progressively worse.  To some extent this has been true, but the bottom line is that he definitely isn't going to get any better than he is now.

4. The Fans
After all, this is a business.  And businesses strive to make money.  Especially this business, where money means better facilities and personnel which means winning which means more money.  And right now, Fukudome isn't helping the Cubs get more money.  Sure, the Cubs sold a bunch of those Fukudome headbands and jerseys with writing in Japanese back in 2008 which have all not-so-mysteriously disappeared, but attendance has been down a lot because of the Cubs' lack of passion out of the field.  Fukudome sure has plenty to do with that.

3. The Salary
Fukudome's unsightly salary is no secret in this town.  He's regarded as one of the most overpaid players in the league, earning $14 million a year for a guy whose production deserves barely a few million at best.  If the Cubs were shortsighted enough to hand him that kind of money, well I guess you can't blame him for taking it.  But the Cubs definitely could do a lot with that money once its off their books, which it will be after this season.

2. The Logjam
It's crowded as it is in the Cubs outfield.  There are four players who either perform like starters or are being paid like starters for three spots.  In theory, Alfonso Soriano and Fukudome would be best served platooning against lefties and righties, respectively, but the Cubs aren't going to pay two guys a combined total of over $35 million to swap playing and warming the bench every day.  Tyler Colvin and Marlon Byrd play well enough to start, but Colvin has trouble getting the at-bats he deserves.  The only reason Fukudome is useful at all on offense is because of his patience at the plate which makes him a sorta-useful leadoff man.  The thing about Fukudome leading off, though, is that he doesn't possess base stealing speed, so he just waits there on first for something to happen.  So taking him out of the lineup doesn't really hurt it at all, it's not like he's giving us anything there that Jeff Baker can't leading off.  Heck, I would rather Alfonso Soriano lead off.

1. The Youngsters
I'm not going to remind the audience of the Cubs' recent past of failed outfield prospects.  So I'm not even going to bring up Corey Patterson, Matt Murton or Felix Pie before bringing up our (knock on wood) future stars.  Brett Jackson comes as a Marlon Byrd's eventual replacement probably after this season or the next; a solid Major Leaguer who has decent skills in all five tools.  Matt Szczur (relax, you can pronounce it Caesar) comes a little later, but is a terrific athlete and good baserunner.  Reggie Golden was just drafted in 2010, but projects to be a dynamic five-tool outfielder.  Golden is an exciting player and hit a home run that landed just short of Waveland while playing in a scouting game at Wrigley back in 2009.  Video evidence of said blast is here.  He's only 19 now (meaning he hit that homer at 17!), so he won't be playing at Wrigley until 2013 at the earliest most likely.  With these promising outfielders waiting in the fold, resigning Fukudome wouldn't make much sense.  There's already that logjam in the outfield; why compound the issues by keeping the logjam in effect until it's time for youngsters to come up?