3:42pm: There are eight teams chasing Furcal, four of them want Furcal at second base and four are interested in him at shortstop, agent Paul Kinzer told Jim Bowden (via Twitter) on MLB Network Radio.
3:01pm: Interest in Furcal is heavy enough that the veteran should be able to get a deal to play shortstop, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The Tigers, Blue Jays, and Rockies all like him at second base.
9:19am: Rafael Furcal's agent Paul Kinzer is believed to be seeking a three-year deal, reports Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, with two years and an option a possibility. The Padres aren't inclined to guarantee multiple years to Furcal, and Kinzer indicated yesterday he's open to a shorter term for a higher average annual value. Furcal did just that six years ago, taking a three-year, $39MM deal from the Dodgers when a longer term was available.
The idea of a multiyear free agent deal for Furcal at the time of his July 31st trade to St. Louis was laughable, given his health issues. 217 decent plate appearances for the Cards may have changed that, in the same way that a short stint after a trade earned Aaron Hill a two-year, $11MM contract. The Brewers have some level of interest in Furcal for their shortstop opening, and the Rockies, Tigers, and Blue Jays checked in on him as a second baseman. Regarding Kinzer meeting with the Brewers, Cardinals GM John Mozeliak said, "I'm not going to base our reaction on rumors or innuendo. But if I woke up tomorrow and he was signed I'd be a little disappointed."
Aside the situations with Furcal and Albert Pujols, Strauss says the Cardinals will look into bringing back relievers Octavio Dotel and Arthur Rhodes. The Cardinals are "apparently willing to exploit" their depth in right-handed relievers.
Soooo who is going to make this so called offer?
Id say 2 year 7MM with club option.
If the Phillies can’t resign Rollins, they most likely will be in pursuit of Furcal. I don’t know how that would pan out, but it’s like we would never lose JRoll and less money involved. The only thing JRoll has over any other shortstop available is his leadership on our ballclub, his prime was in 2007, he isn’t getting any better.
I’d rather just get Alex Gonzalez at that point and let Utley, Victorino, or Polanco lead off. Figure he can’t be worse than Pedro Feliz or Ibanez.
I don’t know how many years they would give him though because from the sounds of it they are intrigued by Galvis and he might actually be an improvement over Jimmy defensively (minus the arm), so they might not actually be in the market for a shortstop.
I can’t see him getting much more than 2 years and $10-$14 million… Unless Ruben gets involved.
He only had half of a good year.. No one is going to pay him 7 million a year
You’d be surprised… but that was my high point anyway, realistically $5-6 million per over 2 years + incentives unless somebody gets trigger happy.
This is a really bad market for shortstops once you get past Reyes and Rollins.
Agreed.. 10MM for 2 years with option is about right.
I see you dropped the “four”.. no chance Oswalts back?
I can’t see them fitting him in the budget at this point, especially if he’s looking for a multi year commitment. Besides, after the first couple of times, the “you’re going to have to change you’re username” replies were getting old, so I figured I might as well get it over with.
Too many other guys to pay that have more of an impact. Would love to see him come back but not at the expense of Jimmy Rollins or potentially Michael Cuddyer.
Yeah I dont blame ya.. There are way too many “joksters” on this website now.. Getting a bit annoying
One year deal only – If more than one, he’s on DL for half his contract – 1yr – 5M tops
haha, it’s a SS’s market though, so he’ll be able to find much more than that.
I doubt the Cardinals will get a chance to resign him.. pretty obvious they are waiting to see what happens with Albert. I dont expect Pujols to sign until Feb. I could see the Brewers overpaying for Furcal and getting hurt on openning day.
I could see 2 year deal at 8 million. If he plays in 150 games give him 1 million extra a year. Very fair offer for both sides. I would also give Allen Craig a shot at 2nd base if Albert stays with Cards. He caome up as a 3rd baseman. Keep Skip as a stong 4th outfielder.
I maybe crazy but I see Furcal getting a lot more money than 1/5MM. I’m thinking 2/16MM. Lot of teams need SS’s. If the Marlins really do get Reyes (big if), dominos could fall for him big time.
If Carrol got 2/7MM, I would think that Furcal could get 2/12MM.
The reason he is “seeking” a multi year deal in November because you can really ask for anything you want right now as a player with the market wide open. He and his agent know that a 3 year guarantee will never surface but are baiting other teams to bite on the rumors and serve up a high AVV for two years and an option
As a dodger fan, I think any team would be stupid to give furcal a multi year deal. To say furcal is injury prone would be an understatement, the guy can’t walk 5 steps without ending up on the DL.
As a Giants fan I’m very afraid Sabean is about to kick them tires.
As long he doesn’t kick too hard.
But seriously, if he can put together a healthy season, he is great. It is really sad that he is made of glass. I loved him when he was with the Dodgers.
i agree with you…and his agent should have a serious talk to him about reconsidering a move to second base to lengthen his career…he may lose some money for ‘only’ being a second baseman, but he could raise his value by actually not getting injured for any significant stretch…and may get a few more years out of his career. The guy is amazing player/competitor, almost literally a rottweiler on the infield, but it’s sad to see him play crazy amazing baseball and then go down with an injury year after year.
I know 3 years ago Wren said he won’t ever negotiate with Furcal’s agent again and it’s a shame if it’s still true because Braves need a short term SS, and Furcal would be a great fit to the lineup, specially if they trade Prado.
CF Michael Bourn
SS Rafael Furcal
3B Chipper Jones
C Brian McCann
2B Dan Uggla
1B Freddy Freeman
LF Josh Willingham
RF Jason Heyward
SP
Tim Hudson
Roy Oswalt
Tommy Hanson
Brandon Beachy
Mike Minor
In this scenario Braves increased payroll to 100 million, and traded JJ and Prado for prospects. Signed Oswalt, Furcal, and Willingham to reasonable contracts.
What are ‘reasonable’ contracts?? All 3 are going to be sought after. I can’t see any of them taking less to be a Brave.
Also. After a year with 135,000+ decrease in attendance a $100 mil payroll is not going to happen. A $90 mil one is much more realistic…
Furcal 3-4 mill, maybe a 2 year deal worth 7 million.
Willingham 3 yrs 21 million(7 per yr)
Oswalt 2 yrs 16 million(8 per yr)
With estimated arb salaries they’re at 87 million. Wren said publicly they’ll be a slight increase in payroll, and if they trade JJ and Prado they’ll be at 77.5 million.
If Furcal, Willingham, and Oswalt make a combined 18.5 million. So they need a 96 million payroll in that case.
Furcal will resign with the Cardinals on a 2 years 10 Million Dollar Contract.
Reasonable, but R.F. can pull more.
don’t be surprised if your town has to donate a fire truck or ambulance to a town in the dominican republic to show furcal that you really want him though. I think he asked for a fire truck from los angeles.
Please sign him Pirates
Hmm Furcal @ 2B, that could be interesting for the Jays. I wouldn’t give a ton of money obviously, but there aren’t too many great options at 2B for the Jays.
In other words “Furcal expecting to get injured this year”
so much so that Jamey Carroll’s contract with the twins is in large part due to Furcal and the dodgers kept around more infielders than normal teams because they knew furcal would eventually go down.
2 years, fine, but nobody’s going to give him 3 years.