"In barely six months, he went from hero to goat -- from T-shirts, headbands, a Sports Illustrated cover and the All-Star Game to a .217 hitter in the second half, a bench player in September and the target of boos in October.

But even as he prepared to head home to Japan, with his starting job in doubt and his major-league status being questioned, outfielder Kosuke Fukudome said Tuesday he has no regrets about signing with the Cubs last winter.

''Not at all,'' said Fukudome, whose four-year, $48 million contract still has three years and $38million to come.

If he can't reverse his stunning four-month slide that became a tailspin in the final two months of the season, he might not feel so sure about that by April.

Fukudome's struggles already have forced the Cubs to put another proven left-handed hitter on their shopping list this winter to guard against their doubts.

At the very least, that means Fukudome, a former most valuable player in Japan who hit .257 with 10 home runs as a major-league rookie this season, will go to camp next spring without being assured of a starting job.

''I could care less,'' he said.

Come again?

''If it means there will be competition to who's going to start in right field, then all I have to do is win that competition,'' he said, speaking through team translator Ryuji Araki.

So he does care. And he seems to have maintained a healthy level of confidence for a guy who looked about as helpless as a veteran player could look at the plate during the final weeks of the season.

But general manager Jim Hendry, who was to meet with Fukudome late Tuesday to discuss the issues and possible solutions to his second-half slump, held out optimism that Fukudome's track record in Japan and strong two-month start with the Cubs told more of the truth about him as a hitter than the four baffling months that followed.

That doesn't mean Hendry is counting on anything after watching the season unfold -- and unravel."