A yen for change: You might have missed the fact the Chicago Cubs , stung by their early exit from the National League playoffs, began their offseason chores recently by firing Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome's English translator. Honest! But ChicagoSports.com's Steve Rosenbloom took things a little further. "Seeing as how Fukudome hit about .200 over the last three months, I expect the Cubs to fire the left-handed batter's box next, and the pine tar is certainly on notice." Firing Fukudome might have been a better solution, but, of course, that would have meant eating much of his, dare we say it, ridiculously huge contract. We are so cynical.