posted on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 3:04 AM
by
Jim
Waiting for Fukudome
Ever get the feeling that this offseason is merely the newest interpretation of
Waiting for Godot?
Imagine Kenny Williams as Estragon and Ozzie Guillen as Vladimir on the side of the road, waiting for a guy who will make their lives meaningful. It works in a few different ways:
No. 1: Word of his appearance ends up unsubstantiated. At least once, and perhaps twice, Williams and Guillen have been led to believe the Sox's version of Godot was coming, only to find out that he's not.
No. 2: They don't know what he looks like. Vladimir and Estragon couldn't agree about Godot's physical traits; meanwhile, the Sox's primary target has shifted from African-American to Venezuelan to Japanese.
No. 3: Their thoughts often turn morbid. Kenny offered an honest appraisal of life in the American League to USA Today's Bob Nightengale:
"If I ever leave this job or if I ever get fired," Williams says, "I'm
not coming back to the American League. I'm going to the National
League. You've got a fighting chance over there."
I'm expecting Samuel Beckett to write the ending, too. Soon, I fear, Williams and Guillen will receive word that Godot will not be coming that day either, and Kenny will end up with his pants around his ankles.
Waiting for Godot has been described as the play "where nothing happens ... twice." That seems like a good summary of the White Sox's offseason to date. If nothing else, I've had the urge to hang myself with my belt watching all this unfold. Anywhom....
In your daily Kosuke Fukudome update, the San Diego Padres
are making a hard charge for Fukudome, having lost
Milton Bradley to the Texas Rangers. The Sox, meanwhile, continue to hover on the periphery.
I like Ozzie's quote:
"He's a great player," Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said in Nashville. "Some people say he's between Ichiro and one from the New York Yankees, (Hideki) Matsui. That's a pretty good combo."
One of those "people" is
Lou Pinella, and these quotes crack me up because it's basically the equivalent of saying that a player is somewhere between Jason Bay and Carl Crawford -- two vastly different players with vastly different purposes on a big-league club.
If anything, Fukudome seems to be sort of an
Alex Rios, with a little less speed and a better eye. They'll hit for a good average and a decent amount of power, strong defense in right field with the ability to handle center. But, of course, Rios isn't Japanese, so they're nothing alike.
Speaking of Rios, Joe Cowley reports that
the Sox have an interest in his services, but they don't have the pieces to match. I think that ship sailed last year, when the Blue Jays were reportedly looking for a No. 2-3 starter for Rios, and the Sox had a guy or two that could fit that description. Nothing ever materialized, so who knows how much of that was true. Either way, the Sox were better trade partners then than they are now.
A couple of other links:
*At the Hardball Times, Chris Jaffe dubs Game 4 of the 2005 World Series as
the sixth-best Game 4 in World Series history. It's actually tied for No. 5 in the article, but
he admitted an oversight and put the 1957 World Series' Game 4 in that spot.
*Fox Sports' Dayn Perry calls the Scott Linebrink signing
the second-worst signing off the offseason so far. The top slot goes to the Houston Astros for Kaz Matsui's three-year deal.