Is  Fukudome Kosuke  now undervalued? Over the  last  two months the free agency of Fukudome has taken a backseat to that of Hiroki Kuroda, which, as exciting a player Kuroda potentially is, would have been hard to  conceive in September.

One reason for this could be that on the surface Kuroda  would seem likely  to  at least maintain  the  production he had in Japan, mostly because he played for  a bad  team in a small stadium. Fukudome, on the other hand, stands to lose some of his power by moving stateside. He was also  injured much of 2007, and  furthermore —  his team won the Japanese championship without him.

CHONE projects  Fukudome as a .283/.373/.465 player, which would lead one to believe he’d be a great fit in  a No. 2 hole. In a good lineup drop him to six or seven. Fukudome is a patient hitter and that doesn’t typically get lost in the translation. The .373 projection looks a little low to me. This is a player whose .OBP has been well over .400 in six of the past seven years and over .430 in each of the past three.

CHONE also projects Fukudome to hit 16 HRs, about half of what he’s averaged per plate appearance during the past five seasons. After Akinori Iwamura hit just seven last year,  but averaged  35 in each of the three years previous in Japan, general managers may be  skeptical.

At the winter meetings in Nashville Fukudome has been put back on the docket. He still hasn’t totally, completelyannouced his intention to play in the states, but lets put it at 60/40. His Even his agent  was recently quoted in a recent  ESPN  article:  Hunter’s signing opened up more possibilities for center fielders, that “although staying in Japan certainly is an option, it is highly unlikely.”  

In the same article Jerry Crasnick breaks down the entire crop of centerfield free agents. It’s a considerable list filled with all sorts of possibilities for teams.  Throw the  mind-boggling 5-year $90 million Tori Hunter deal into the mix and everything has been thrown into  flux.  Suddenly Aaron Rowand is talking five years and guys who seemed destined  to one or two-year  play-in deals, Andruw Jones and Mike Cameron, are suddenly looking for longer-term bigger money  deals.

Where does  Fukudome fit into this? One possibility, according to MLBTraderumors, is a “cross-town bidding war” between the Cubs and White Sox. However, with today’s trade for Carlos Quentin  the White Sox interest may have cooled.

Fukudome could become very reasonable if he’s willing to sign a 3-year deal. Four would be the absolute maximum, as will likely be the case with Kuroda. Along with the White Sox, the Rangers and possibly the Royals and Padres will have center-field vacancies. CHONE likes Fukudome in right, rating him as a +1 there, but a -8 in center.

With that in mind here’s a mostly for fun list of teams that should, might and can make a move for Fukudome.

5. Cubs -Chicago has been on Fukudome’s trail from the get go.  It’s clear the team was considering signing Kaz Matsui as unneeded luxury in order to help lure or acclimate Fukudome to Chicago and this recent Matt Murton trade chatter may stem from the idea.

MLBTR reports that manager “Lou Piniella doesn’t see why the failure to sign his acquaintance Kaz Matsui would have any bearing” on signing Fukudome. But Piniella also probably never lived outside his home country either and likely underestimates how big an issue that is for many of these players.

4. Royals - You have to wonder why the Royals are so enthralled  by Jose Gullien. One would think Trey Hillman would make a strong push at Fukudome, and the Yabuta Yasuhito  signing doesn’t hurt. But it’s pretty clear Dayton Moore has the power over personnel decisions and while they are interested in Kuroda, they haven’t said anything about Fukudome recently.

3. Padres -Unless they resign Mike Cameron the Padres will have a big hole in center. Fukudome, a line drive hitter, often to the gap (CHONE projects 38 doubles), would be a nice fit at PETCO. Assuming the Padres won’t resign Milton Bradley, they may have two outfield positions to fill. I’m a closet fan of both Cameron and Bradley, but I like Fukudome over either. Cameron is proven to be injury prone and Bradley, by hook or crook, seems good for just a max of 120 games.

2. Giants (Tokyo) -Nooooooo! You can never count out the lure of a team like Yomuiri, who are Japan’s version of the Yankees — every kid grows up dreaming of playing for them. Would the Giants offer Fukudome more money just to spite MLB? You bet they would and it wouldn’t be beyond them to read-and-react to this situation,  come in at the last minute and try to snare him from the clutches of an evil American team.

1. Giants (San Francisco) -Inexplicably, the Giants have barely tapped into the Asian born player market despite having the largest Asian population (percentage) of any MLB city. If the Giants don’t make a strong push to sign Fukudome I would be very skeptical of what Brian Sabean is trying to do in S.F.

With Bonds finally out of the picture the Giants need to turn this team in another direction. They’ve got the basis of a great staff, now they need to get the offense headed in the right direction. That would mean not resigning Pedro Feliz, and signing Fukudome.

Yesterday.

As the winter meetings kicked off they’ve already met  with Fukudome’s agent.