Old Time Family Baseball

(Photo by EMR) 

In an attempt to keep pace with the Tigers (who are currently interested in Jason Marquis because he is a proven winner), the Cleveland Indians acquired Kosuke Fukodome from the Cubs for two minor leaguers. 

After losing out in the Carlos Beltran sweepstakes, Indians fans can only hope that the wheeling and dealing isn’t done. Fukodome, while a nice guy and a decent platoon bat, has been a decidedly average Major Leaguer, posting a 101 career OPS+. He’ll be a slight boost to the lineup, but when the Indians postseason chances are currently pinned on a second-year catcher, an oft-injured centerfielder, a piecemeal rotation, and two rookie infielders, the team could really use someone who provides a little more middle of the order thump. Of course, for a team expected to be in the early stages of a rebuilding campaign, there isn’t much to give away without severely handicapping their chances in the immediate future. Hedging bets isn’t the best way to be a popular GM, but Chris Antonentti has probably done about all he can to give the Indians a decent chance to win this season without burning a hole through Cleveland for the next half decade. 

As for the Cubs, they added two great names to the farm system in Carlton Smith and Abner Abreu. Carlton Smith will really come in handy during Fresh Prince of Bel Air giveaway days, while Abner Abreu will certainly help the Cubs out on early-1900s throwback uniform days. I certainly can’t claim to have any great knowledge of either player, but according to John Sickels, Smith has a decent shot of carving out a career as middle reliever while Abreu is a toolsy hitter whose abilities have yet to translate to skills.