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« Mets Rumors: K-Rod, Dye, Vazquez | Main | Boras Has Offers For Teixeira »
Rafael Furcal Rumors: Tuesday
10:30pm: Ken Rosenthal reports that Furcal, his wife, and his agent Paul Kinzer met with the A's in Oakland today. He received the full tour. They may discuss financial terms tomorrow. The Giants and a mystery team are also said to be in the mix. However, MLB.com's Chris Haft learned that Kinzer hasn't spoken with the Giants in two days.
2:56pm: I exchanged emails with Yancen Pujols, sports editor at the El Caribe newspaper. He reminded me that the author of their article, Rafael Fellito Ortiz, quoted Furcal himself regarding offers from the A's and Mets. So the unanswered question here is why Furcal said these things.
9:23am: Let's sort out the facts involving free agent shortstop Rafael Furcal.
- Reports about Furcal from yesterday from El Caribe and Impacto Deportivo have been dismissed. There has been no four-year, $48MM offer from the A's, no four-year, $52MM offer from the Braves, and no interest from the Mets. MLB.com's Mark Bowman says the Braves wouldn't be in a position to make an offer unless they dealt Yunel Escobar or Kelly Johnson first.
- Three teams have made offers for Furcal, at least one of them for four years according to Dylan Hernandez. The A's and Giants seem to be in the lead, while the Dodgers are slipping out of the picture. Hernandez says they're "reluctant to even match the three-year, $39 million contract he completed this year."
- Susan Slusser expects negotiations for Furcal to drag into December.
- The third team making an offer seems to be the "surprise team." That team is not the Mets, and probably not the Dodgers, Reds, or Braves. Brown wondered if it could be the Cubs, Orioles, or Cardinals.
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Since it is pretty obvious that Furcal and Abreu and decent fits for the Cubs, what are the odds they miss out on both? Who will require the larger contract on a per year basis? Both are not young with injury concerns, so is there anyone else they might go after?
Posted by: RandomScrub | November 25, 2008 at 09:29 AM
I think the surprise team is the Expos. That would be a real surprise.
Posted by: OmegaMan | November 25, 2008 at 09:30 AM
If it weren't for the current credit-crisis, I'd take out a HUGE loan and sign Furcal myself - just so I don't have to read about "Furcal rumors" every time I go to this website.
"Furcal Rumors: 3:47pm
Richard Justice writes that Rafael Furcal is fond of Waffle House chicken. Does this mean he's heading to Atlanta?"
Posted by: thered86 | November 25, 2008 at 09:37 AM
Rafael Furcal is like a Chupacabra this offseason. Tons of rumors, very little facts/evidence.
Posted by: Garrett | November 25, 2008 at 09:37 AM
"Furcal Rumors: 3:47pm
Richard Justice writes that Rafael Furcal is fond of Waffle House chicken. Does this mean he's heading to Atlanta?"
"Furcal is in love with Canadian Bacon, so their's a chance that he will sign with the Jays."
Posted by: BravesRed | November 25, 2008 at 09:46 AM
RandomScrub, I think the odds are high the Cubs do not sign either player.
Posted by: studio179 | November 25, 2008 at 09:49 AM
The Furcal rumors aren't nearly as painful as all of the Brian Roberts to the Cubs crap over the past two offseasons.
In fact, it is painful enough that nearly every rumor on here has to eventually get tied to the Cubs by some daydreamer.
The only thing that helps me overcome the Chicago bias here is the fact that Tim runs such a damn good site. Well.... that and the fact that it is not always New York/Boston like ESPN. I guess pathetic optimism (or pesimism for some) is better than wealthy arrogance when it comes to sports fans.
Posted by: 1quik6 | November 25, 2008 at 09:51 AM
The latest....
"Furcal likes to swing from both sides of the plate, so he's heading to San Francisco."
Posted by: 1quik6 | November 25, 2008 at 09:53 AM
I'd love to see the Indians ink him. I know it would never happen, but they need a dynamic leadoff hitter to drop Sizemore down. They only have such a window left.
Posted by: Furrski | November 25, 2008 at 09:53 AM
OmegaMan I dont think Furcal fits well with Expos. HAHAHA
Anyways I do wish the Braves got him.
Posted by: ChiefTomahawk | November 25, 2008 at 10:00 AM
The Indians simply don't make sense because they already have two good options at shortstop in Peralta and Cabrera, and which ever one doesn't play short will play a different infield spot. Furcal is a good fit for them offensively, but I feel like you could say that about practically any team.
I really wish that the Cubs would go after him, move Theriot to second, move Soriano down in the order, and use some combination of Fukudome, DeRosa, Pie and Johnson in right and center. A line up of Furcal, Theriot, Lee, Ramirez, Soriano, Soto, Fukudom/Pie and DeRosa would be awesome, and I seriously doubt that they would be better off with Abreu/Ibanez/Dunn in the outfield and Soriano leading off. Doubt this is gonna happen though.
Posted by: scribbletone | November 25, 2008 at 10:01 AM
That got a good chuckle out of me 1quik... stupid quiet offices.
Posted by: Bdlugz | November 25, 2008 at 10:11 AM
furcal is gonna look good in a giants uni!
Posted by: giantsfan92 | November 25, 2008 at 12:39 PM
cub fans need to go away! so abnoxious.
Posted by: giantsfan92 | November 25, 2008 at 12:39 PM
tim dierkes is the only good cubs fsn i know!
Posted by: giantsfan92 | November 25, 2008 at 12:40 PM
why would this signing make sense for the Giants? They have Burriss who will clearly be ready in the next season or two if he isn't ready now. I don't know why they would be willing to sign Furcal for 4 years and possibly hinder his development by making him sit around in AAA or as a utility role?
I thought Renteria made sense for them cuz its just 2 years....
Of course I am an A's fan and would LOVE for Furcal to be wearing Green and Gold come April, but he also makes sense for the A's. The closest thing we've got to a Major League ready SS is Crosby, and he's had his chance. Petit is never going to start in the bigs and same with Pennington. After that you've got Cardenas and Weeks, neither of which are natural shortstops, or will be ready in the next 2-3 years...
Posted by: oaklandathleticsince88 | November 25, 2008 at 01:55 PM
Isn't this just a poor attempt by Furcal to try drive up the dollar value of contract offers by insinuating the Mets are interested and can obviously outbid most teams?
Posted by: matthew.falzano | November 25, 2008 at 03:15 PM
"The latest....
"Furcal likes to swing from both sides of the plate, so he's heading to San Francisco."
HIYO!!! Funny.
Posted by: basicslop | November 25, 2008 at 04:03 PM
It's between the bay area rivals. the a's could take a chance financially with furcal and his broken back, but it's risky. if he goes on the dl in oakland, they're going to be really crunched financially (not to metion they're a small market team). even with zito's contract in sf, i see my giants signing furcal. but if he goes down here, we're screwed.
bottom line: it's a risky move, but both teams need the offensive help, especially my giants. (may i remmind those a's fans of matt holiday).
Posted by: giantsfan92 | November 25, 2008 at 04:11 PM
Prob right about using the mets to drive up the price, but the teams in on him are not in position to get into a bidding war for his services, so it most likely will be all for not.
I still see the A's as the clear front runner, at least until the big names start moving. If Furcal signs prior to the Teixeiras, Mannys, and Peavys the big market teams wont get into the bidding war, and other than the Giants bidding against themselves again I can't see anyone else really driving up the price.
But Furcal isn't old enough to start for the Giants yet. He needs to sign with someone else, then two years in get dealt to the Giants for any minor leaguer they have of any pedigree so his abilities can decline while pretending it's halloween for the final two years hahaha Go Sabean!
Posted by: jclay | November 25, 2008 at 04:14 PM
Fual is going to wait until the Peavy deal goes through to see if he can return to Atlanta.
Posted by: Tim | November 25, 2008 at 04:58 PM
"MLB.com's Mark Bowman says the Braves wouldn't be in a position to make an offer unless they dealt Yunel Escobar or Kelly Johnson first."
Johnson played left field when he first came up in 2005, putting up some very nice defensive numbers. Escobar could move to 2B and Johnson to LF if they signed Furcal. That's not to say they wouldn't deal one of them anyway - Johnson's bat is worth a lot more at 2B than in LF - but they do have options.
Posted by: ColonelTom | November 25, 2008 at 07:29 PM
UPDATE:
Furcal and his wife met with the A's, toured the facilities, looked into communities of where to buy a house and had a two hour lunch with Billy Beane, Ken Rosenthal reported...
Posted by: oaklandathleticsince88 | November 25, 2008 at 09:45 PM
Link to Rosenthal's latest...
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8850756/Sources:-Furcal-meets-with-A's-officials-in-Oakland
Posted by: 1quik6 | November 25, 2008 at 11:11 PM
mlb.com is reporting the same. Furcal toured Oakland but didn't cross the bridge to check out San Francisco. His agent said he hadn't spoken to the Giants in two days.
Posted by: kdub | November 25, 2008 at 11:14 PM
Can Cubs fans only post in posts that MENTION THE CUBS in the OP? Where does it say the Cubs below?
Full Story | Comments (25) | Categories: Kelly Johnson | Los Angeles Dodgers | New York Mets | Oakland Athletics | Rafael Furcal | San Francisco Giants | Yunel Escobar
It doesnt, so stop posting garbage about how your team is going to get every single player available. Furcal is going to Oakland, and Im damn stoked!
Posted by: Athletic Domination | November 25, 2008 at 11:28 PM
cubs fans...when will they ever learn??? except for tim dierkes!
Posted by: giantsfan92 | November 26, 2008 at 12:53 AM
yea it pains me to say it but i think furcal is going to oaktown. Manny or Tex, welcome to SF!
Posted by: giantsfan92 | November 26, 2008 at 12:55 AM
A's can only hope that he's a for sure and this can gets settled tomorrow so we can rest easy for Turkey Day and wait to see what else Billy Beane decides to do before Spring Training. For once we might not be twiddling our thumbs come Winter Meetings waiting to see who gets dealt.....
Posted by: oaklandathleticsince88 | November 26, 2008 at 01:07 AM
And while I am clearly an A's fan and don't like the Giants I have to say it's probably the right move for the Giants to not sign Furcal. Reason being, Sabean said he would budget about $20 MM this offseason to sign guys, and with Affeldt signed, if they had given Furcal around $12MM/year, they would be left with little to no money left to fill the rest of the holes (needing a slugger being the priority). Now if they get Renteria or Cabrera at around $7-8 MM, they will still have some room to maybe sign another 2nd level guy or trade for someone available (Fielder), who can rake and is still in arbitration.
In this situation, $4 MM extra wiggle room could go a long way for SF...
Posted by: oaklandathleticsince88 | November 26, 2008 at 01:11 AM
The Full Tour of McAfee????
LOL he will sign with the Giants fo' sho!!!!
Posted by: 55saveslives | November 26, 2008 at 01:21 AM
The Chronicle reported late Tuesday night for Wednesday's edition that Haft was wrong: Kinzer did have a conversation with a Giants official Tuesday. Also, Furcal visited Oakland and not San Francisco because he isn't familiar at all with the A's whereas he already knows SF.
Posted by: Buck Henry | November 26, 2008 at 02:38 AM
"The Full Tour of McAfee????
LOL he will sign with the Giants fo' sho!!!!"
Don't forget the charm and character of downtown Oakland.
I hope he took the time to walk over the bridge to the BART station. Ahhhh, the memories...
Posted by: 1quik6 | November 26, 2008 at 07:29 AM
It seems to me like the A's are making a push to take back some of the Bay Area market.
With the Giants borderline disasterous lately (outside of their young pitchers), the A's could very easily steal back some of the market they have lost over the last decade.
I'm not saying they are going to win anything, but they are definately making a push to acquire some big names which could start to draw a crowd again.
Posted by: KangarooBoxer26 | November 26, 2008 at 07:30 AM
Nothing lures you in quite like the combination of B.O. and bum's piss.
Posted by: 1quik6 | November 26, 2008 at 07:31 AM
Does that mean they can get rid of that lame tarp covering the upper deck seats that gives them a fake "sellout"??
Posted by: 55saveslives | November 26, 2008 at 08:47 AM
The Giants already have about 3 internal SS options and should be focussed on corner INFs and a power OF bat. Why on earth are they talking about Furcal or Renteria is beyond me.....
....oh wait Sabean is a drunk so logic doesnt apply here, nevermind.
Posted by: Athletic Domination | November 26, 2008 at 10:01 AM
Maybe the surprise team is the Yankees? They were rumored to be interested in making him a CF the last time he was a free agent. It would be ironic if they did that because he would be the second superior defensive shortstop to be moved out of position for Jeter.
Posted by: cleanuphtr12 | November 26, 2008 at 11:25 AM