Yankees Sign Kosuke Fukudome

The Chicago White Sox added Kosuke Fukudome as outfield depth, and over limited playing time he accomplished pretty much nothing. An injury sent Fukudome to the disabled list, and then he was cut by the White Sox during a rehab assignment instead of brought back to the majors. That made Fukudome freely available, and now, a couple weeks later, he's been snapped up:

From the Yankees: OF Kosuke Fukudome signed to a minor league contract. He is anticipated to report to Triple-A SWB over the weekend.

— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) July 13, 2012

What's the point? It's all about insurance. The Yankees have run out nine different players in the outfield in 2012, and Fukudome's a lefty who's probably still capable of posting a decent on-base percentage. More meaningful than his 36 OPS+ over 51 plate appearances this year is his 105 OPS+ over 1,032 plate appearances the two years previous. Fukudome can do some things, and there's no harm in using the minors as storage. There's literally no harm. Not one bit. So.

Kosuke Fukudome Designated For Assignment

The Japanese outfielder came to MLB in 2007 with much hype. He never lived up to it.