Rafael Furcal Rumors: Wednesday

The mystery team may be the Royals.

How about the Cardinals as the mystery team?

They tend to do conduct their business under the radar.

White Sox.

I 'second' the Royals guess. GMDM came over from the Braves, and may be partial to Furcal. Snagging Furcal would allow the Royals to shift Aviles to 2B.
Hopefully, they could then trade one of their excess 1B/OF/DH types (like Teahan or Butler) to Tampa Bay for Jackson or Sonnanstine.

I should start by saying that I am not fully aware of all the teams already discussed.

What about the Red Sox? They work under the radar and may not be content with Lowrie as a full time SS. Perhaps they see him more like a replacement for Cora who can play 3b, ss and 2b as a super sub (ala Chone Figgins).

He is a switch hitter, would fill the lead off position, and provide superb defense.

Do the Twins want to sign someone like Furcal who has a significant injury history? I just can't see the Twins puling this one off.

mystery team is for sure, the Jays.....

I always thought that, in general, the mystery team is a marketing ploy bu agents to get teams to negotiate against themselves when there is, in reality, no competition for the players services, or to make it seem like there is more competition than there really is.

Really though, the Twins have the money for both. They'd probably be about an $18 M commitment annually combined. The Twins definitely have that room in the budget this year. And then some.

I believe the mystery team doesn't exist. Agents pull this garbage every year just to drive up the price of their players.

Tim,

I think you got the division right. I will be so bold as to say the mystery division is the AL Central.

But that's if this "mystery team" actually exist.

I've thought all along that the Sox would make a run at Furcal, especially if they feel Ellsbury can't handle the leadoff spot. Lowrie is solid, but he has no power, no speed, and fairly limited range. Furcal would offer the speed and the great range, plus he's only 31.

I don't see the Sox at all. Lowrie is a stud. And he's only going to get better. He's going to hit a LOT of doubles in that park, just like Pedroia.

Hey, that whole "mystery team" thing is my idea. F you Kinzer.

I've said it forever. It's the Indians! It just makes too much sense.

1. Keep Asdrubal at 2nd. Middle D would be outstanding for ground ball pitchers Laffey, Carmona, Westbrook, etc.

2. Move Peralta to 3rd.

3. FINALLY move Grady down in the order.

4. Give them someone that can actually steal bases. Right now all they have is Grady. Asdrubal is slow, Choo and Guit could get 10-15 in a season, but they are never straight steals.

5. Shapiro promised to be active in the market, this is the only move that makes sense.

Grady doesn't have to move down the order though. Soriano has been there for a number of years and his teams do just fine. Tribe also just traded for Brantley who they see as their future leadoff guy (from the CC trade). Still a possibility....

But the more I think about it, the more the Angels do make sense. They could then trade Kendrick to Colorado with a pitcher for Atkins (or something along those lines) and let Figgins play 2B. If they resigned Teixeira (which I know is a big if) they would have an infield of Teixeira, Figgins, Furcal, and Atkins.

They could also trade Figgins instead of Kendrick....

And the Angels did seem to come out of nowhere with the Hunter signing last year.....

The Giants better either sign Furcal because i can already imagine Sabean getting crazy and overpaying for Renteria

I can't decide if this "mystery team" thing is getting annoying or the most exciting thing in a dull FA news cycle.

I'll modify my previous bland and adventureless prediction and say that of the two "mystery teams" atleast one of them is in the AL Central.

** Teaser: remember when everyone found out that the Royals were in on Torii Hunter last year, and practically no one had them as serious canidates??? Perhaps...

If no one guessed it yet it would have to be some off the wall team no one would think of. Maybe the guy who said the Rangers is right ? They would have the money IF they knew they had a Young trade ready, and if they knew no FA pitchers were willing to sign or they didn't think they were worth it.

That would leave the question of why someone would trade for M Young instead of just signing Furcal themselves though ?

Alot of the guesses are fairly logical and decent wel lthought out ones. I will take the road less travelled and go totally off the wall - its the Yankees. Perhaps they will move Jeter to CF ala Robin Yount - or perhaps they have a deal to ship Cano out and put Furcal at 2B and move him to short when Jeter can no longer play there? Maybe they sign Furcal and trade Damon for pitching. Its all basically throwing crap against the wall to see if it sticks but man o man will i look like a genius if it happens lol

Tim,

How about one of those cool surveys like the one for Type A free agents, for where people think Furcal will go and who the mystery team is?

That'd be cool.

I believe the White Sox are a "mystery team" and the move they have to wait for is for Cabrera to decline arbitration or sign with another team.

Andrew that wouldn't make sense. Alexei Ramirez is at SS with Gordon Beckham probably to take 2B at mid season.

So Tim, what are the names the Reds are supposedly in on? We Reds fans are curious to know! thanks

Sorry Tim; link still doesn't work at my end-no big deal.

Let's see what Kinzer has in his hands Monday morning.

"I always thought that, in general, the mystery team is a marketing ploy bu agents to get teams to negotiate against themselves when there is, in reality, no competition for the players services, or to make it seem like there is more competition than there really is"

Normally I would agree but if there are 3 teams already trying to get this guy I just don't see the point of an agent saying there is a mystery team involved.

To the guys who mentioned the Pirates all I have to say is it would be funny to watch these message boards blow up with "Why would he sign with them?" "They are terrible" and "What a stupid decision". Maybe they should sign him and trade him to the Dodgers haha. Seriously though not happening.

Teams that can't be involved:

Angels: They have to try to get CC and Tex before they worry about anyone else.

Mariners: No way they can afford to take on his salary. He won't make them a playoff team they need to rebuild.

Pirates: I don't think I need to explain this one.

Mets: They would have to use him at 2nd and he said he will not play 2nd.

Yankees: Could work by moving Jeter to 1st a move everyone knows is coming one day but doubtful for next year.

Red Sox: Again possible but if they are giving out a 10MM+ contract I think they would be better served going with a pitcher.

White Sox: Definatly need a 2B or SS but with Getz/Nix there and Beckman coming I doubt they shell out a 4 year deal Furcal wants and probably will get.

Rangers: Just don't see them trying to get anything but pitching right now.

Teams that make sense:
Twins: Seem to be most likely and an obvious fit.

Indians: The Perralta to 3rd move Grady down idea is a good one.

Royals: Need to aquire replacement for Grudz. Aviles moves over and there you go.

Orioles: I think they are going to try to make an all or nothing play for Tex but Furcal certainly would be a nice combo with Roberts and would still leave them with some money to get a pitcher.

"Did the A's front office win the lotto or something? What happened to Moneyball? Last I knew, they were a small market team that drafted smart and sold off their expensive talent for prospects, now they trade for Holliday and have the money to at least almost sign Furcal. Did I miss something?"

2004-2007, their payroll was in the 55-70MM range (it was 79MM in 2007 though, but that's an outlier). With contracts coming of the books, and very few players on the current team arbitration eligible until after the 2010 season(when Chavez will be off the books). The only big money players on the books right now are Holliday, Chavez, Ellis, and Crosby.

Remove Holliday, and the A's have roughly 30MM committed. With Holliday, that goes up to about 43-44MM. Even Furcal at 15MM/yr (which he probably won't get), will keep the A's under 60MM. Still a low payroll team.

If I had to wild guess the mystery team, I would have to say Indians.

Twins- I don't see the Twins sinking big money into another injury prone player. But then, I said the same about the A's.

Indians- Makes sense, moving Peralta to 3rd, Cabrera to 2nd, and Furcal at SS.

Orioles- Damn, those AL East pitchers are going to have their hands full with the running game in that division. I could see it, although I think the money would be put to better use spending it on a pitcher/Teixeira.

Or Braves/Cubs, pending a Peavy deal of sorts.

Defense. Ellis, Chavez/Hannahan(both are top defenders), and Barton are all very good defensively. Ellis is actually the best defensive 2B in the AL(yes, Pedroia won a GG, but you have to remember that McClouth and Young won them as well). Defense makes their pitchers look better than they are. And, the A's have depth, although they don't have that "ace" type.

I'd think that Gallagher can put up a season similar to the one he was pulling with the Cubs/first few starts after the A's trade, before all the injury mess started.

Duke I think will put up #2-numbers, and the bullpen is a strength, and should be used to limit Duke's innings.

After that, its a roulette wheel, but as long as the pitchers keep the ball on the ground, they'll be moderately successful.

I think the Royals are the mystery team because they are quietly building an AWESOME team.

If there was a sleeper I think it would be the Blue Jays because they NEED some offense especially in the middle infield.

Braves, do NOT get Rafael Furcal. Yunel Escobar is a young SS that needs some time to grow, but he will be a good SS. I don't understand why the Braves would pursue a SS when they have a good one. The fact that the so called "experts" are calling Yunie incumbent makes me doubt their expert status.