Rafael Furcal

        Rafael Furcal finally decided his future- he is staying with the Los Angeles Dodgers.  This is the wrong decision.  Furcal would have done the best had he signed with Oakland.  In Oakland, he could have taken his pick of which position he would want to play, which spot in the order he would bat, and even which days he would want to take off from playing in the field and just DH. By staying in Los Angeles, he has pigeon-holed himself into the shortstop role and the lead-off batter position.  I mean, don't get me wrong- even with the Atlanta Braves, Furcal was the natural leadoff hitter that they have sorely missed since his departure to Los Angeles.  And although he has had an unlucky streak of injuries recently, he still remains one of the top shortstops in the NL, and even in Major League Baseball.

Continue reading "Rafael Furcal- Playing for the wrong ..."

With Rafael Furcal turning down the A's and going to play for the Braves, the A's now have to look at other options of what to do with the money they had budgeted to signing Furcal.  M

Continue reading "Dance Over - Furcal Goes Home with ..."

It looks like the A's are once again in the hunt for Rafael Furcal.  It looks like the A's are willing to up their offer by one or two million a year up to a four year - $44 million deal, and that Furcal is considering it.  It's right in the range of figures I guessed he'd get. so if this turns out to be the final deal I'll be happy. 

Continue reading "FA Bargain Bin, Also Furcal Dance Continues"

Apparently the A's offered 4-year $40 million take-it-or-leave-it deal to Rafael Furcal, which he turned down.  This means the A's are no longer pursing him as a replacement for Bobby Crosby.  I'm disappointed by this, but I can't say that this wasn't a smart move.  I may have left the deal on the table longer, but at the end of the day, if Furcal wasn't going to accept the A's top offer they weren't going to get him.  Should they have offered more?  Maybe a million or two per year, but guaranteeing the 4th year was the big deal and if that wasn't enough to satisfy him, who knows how much more it would take?  Now the A's can take their money and spend it on other upgrades, which they'll definitely need to make to compete in 2009 (which they should since that's how long they're likely to have Matt Holliday).

Continue reading "Report: A's out of Running for Furcal...What's ..."

o the Tigers, that leaves four teams who have holes at shortstop and might be interested in signing Rafael Furcal.  The Braves, once thought to be in the running for Furcal, appear to be set, as a Furcal signing appeared to be contingent upon trading away Yunel Escobar for Jake Peavy.  Now that they've acquired Javier Vazquez, it is less likely they'll make that deal.

Continue reading "Where the A's Stand in Shortstop Roulette"

The Braves are rumored to be in on the Rafael Furcal sweepstakes because they might trade away Yunel Escobar. I don't want to make a habit of pulling out trade ideas from nowhere, but shouldn'

Continue reading "A's Bullets"

Rafael Furcal is rumored to be headed to a new team soon, with the A's, Giants, and a mystery team being the supposed bidders.  Furcal would be a great fit for the A's, replacing Bobby Crosby's anemic bat in the lineup and giving the A's a true leadoff hitter with both on base skills and speed. 

Continue reading "Furcal Bidding Wars - How High Should the A's Go?"

The A's pitching staff was the key to the team being not horrible in 2008.  They were essentially tied with Boston for the fourth best staff in the league, giving up 4.29 runs a game.  There's good news and bad news in these numbers and what they mean for the 2009 season.  First, the good news: every returning pitcher will be 31 or under next season and at least five will be under 25.  What this means is that there's likely to be some intermal improvement, without much decline.  The bad news from last year's numbers is that it includes the numbers of Rich Harden, Chad Gaudin, Joe "I Homered in the World Series" Blanton, Greg Smith, and Huston Street.  This means the A's will have to replace over 500 innings of dominant (Harden) to mediocre (Smith, Blanton) pitching.

Continue reading "A's Pitching - Where it stands now"