WGN Radio says 4 years, $50 million.

and sign with us tomorrow.

This is what happens when big payroll teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Giants, Dodgers completely overpay for ALL of their players. The drive the market up so high that only the big market teams can have the all-star players. It doesn't always work out for them though. The Yankees haven't won a World Series since 2000. The Cubs spent 300 Million dollars last offseason, barely snuck into the playoffs in the worst division in baseball, and got swept by a much much lower payroll team.

1951 Stop calling everyone and their mothers bandwagon fans. I know most of the people around hear and I can tell you that they are NOT bandwagon fans at all. You want to know why we want him to tank? First we hate the cubs, second we offer the guy one of the "two are three" highest contracts in Padre History and the Cubs sign him for pocket money. 4 Years 50 Million for a guy who has never seen a major league pitch and plays in little league fields? Well I'll say it right now. I hope he sucks too. I hate the Cubs and their Fans.

WG also said we got Iguchi. Thats awesome news. It also sounds like we are going to probably resign Cameron. Worst case scenario, Hairston was a freaking beast in LF last season if ya'll don't remember. I don't want to hear all these fatalist viewpoints. Kevin Towers is the best GM in baseball and I have full confidence that he will field a great team next season. Keep the faith and experience the offseason. ITS THE FRIAR BITCH!

It wasn't about the money. Apparently the Rangers offered the most money, the White Sox matched the cubs, and the Padres were close. The guy just wanted to play for the Cubs. I find it harder to root against him anymore than any other Cub now that I know it wasn't totally about the money.

I was reading an article about how the Cubs are planning to market Fukudome.

One of the points was that the Yanks are able to successfully market having Matsui because a lot (if not all) of their home games are broadcast back to Japan, hence allowing them to sell advertising space in the ballpark to Japanese corporations.

This is similar to what the Cubs are apparently planning on doing via WGN, and having their signal broadcase VIA SATELLITE back to Japan.

Which leads me to my point.... I think the Cox Channel 4 deal has tied the Padres hands yet again.  Perhaps if the team knew they could've brought in some revenue with this sort of advertising, they would've been more willing to offer more than the reported 4 years $40 Million.

BUT, since Cox WILL NOT broadcast their signal via satellite AT ALL, this is impossible to do.

I don't know, maybe it's a shot in the dark, but when it comes down to dollars (especially in a big deal), you gotta figure that teams look at a player's impact not only from a performance standpoint on the field, but also his marketability and their ability to recoup some of their investment.

Even though many of us lose sight of it quite often, baseball is a business just like your neighborhood grocery store, gas station, restaurant, etc.  Owners want to make money, and they're always looking to have the biggest ROI(return on investment).