Furcal to Cardinals (2yrs-$14m)

[uwgb96]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/st...ar-deal-worth-14-million

 

The St. Louis Cardinals have reached agreement with shortstop Rafael Furcal on a two-year deal worth about $14 million, a baseball source told ESPN.com.

 

 

The deal is pending completion of a physical exam this week.

Furcal, 34, is a .282 career hitter with the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers

and the Cardinals. He hit .255 in 50 games with St. Louis after coming

over from Los Angeles in a July trade deadline deal for minor leaguer

Alex Castellanos.

Furcal is a former Rookie of the Year and

two-time All-Star with 302 career stolen bases, but injuries have

limited him to 97 and 87 games played in the past two seasons,

respectively. He struggled with the Cardinals in October, hitting .194

(15-for-77) in the playoffs and the World Series.

Furcal recently

underwent an appendectomy, according to reports, but he is recovering in

Florida and expects to be ready in time for spring training.

Furcal is the third free agent shortstop to go off the board this week. Jose Reyes signed a six-year, $106 million deal with the Miami Marlins this week, and Alex Gonzalez reached agreement with the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday.

The Furcal signing officially removes St. Louis as a potential destination for free agent Jimmy Rollins. Rollins' agent, Dan Lozano, was scheduled to talk by phone Saturday with Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr.

[Trombone482]

This just reeks of desperation. I think Furcal is a good player, but certainly not worth that kind of money. Its like what happens when a guy gets dumped and he jumps on the very first girl he saw.

[TooLiveBrew]

Furcal will make more money while on the DL than Alex Gonzalez will make for his entire season or two seasons with the Brewers.

 

But I still like him as a player... DM just got a steal with Gonzo.

[BrewerTerp]

That looks like a really bad deal. Furcal is not a 7mm a year player anymore.

[uwgb96]

To be fair, we don't yet know the terms of the Gonzalez deal, and the source says about $14M for Furcal. Suffice it to say, I think Gonzo will indeed be much better value.

[jjfanec]

If Melvin would have paid him that i would have irate. Even as a Cardinal he only had a .735 OPS to go with his 10 errors in 49 games. I know he made some nice defensive plays but he made some really bad one too. Gonzalez is a better fielder and over the course of the year hit the same as Furcal. Not saying he is better than Furcal but he is a much better value and less of an injury risk

[Invader3K]

Let's face it though, if Furcal is terrible or gets hurt, eating that salary isn't that big a deal for the Cardinals.

[The Truth]

If the Cardinals weren't going to break the bank for Jimmy Rollins, then it was either Furcal or Betancourt or someone like Cedeno. The Cardinals were somewhat forced to overpay for Furcal

[uwgb96]

If the Cardinals weren't going to break the bank for Jimmy Rollins, then it was either Furcal or Betancourt or someone like Cedeno. The Cardinals were somewhat forced to overpay for Furcal

Which is why I'm glad the Brewers weren't put in that position. Gonzalez isn't a flashy signing, but a solid one that was sorely needed.

[The Truth]

The more I think about it and considering every factor, I'd rather have Gonzalez than Furcal. Granted Furcal has more upside, but Gonzalez is a better fielder than Furcal and has a much much better chance of staying healthy all season. (And is much less expensive).

[joepepsi]

This signing and Reyes' really makes the Orioles signing of Hardy last summer look brilliant. Wasn't that 3 years/$21 million?

[Hate those Rodents]

It depends on Hardy. He was poor the two previous seasons but did well last year. Still, he's good defensively and it seems a good gamble that he will hit enough to make that contract look good, provided he can stay on the field.

[PKBadger]

For what it's worth, somebody asked Keith Law about Furcal 2/14 and his response was "solid".

 

I think some people need to re-calibrate their perception of the market. Even his pedestrian .735 OPS with St. Louis was good for an OPS+ of 104, due to the fact that most shortstops are god-awful hitters. He also posted an excellent 400 AB sample in 2010.

 

I don't think the Brewers were in a position to make this kind of offer because of their roster circumstances, but I also don't necessarily believe this was an overpay.

[Oldcity]

Yeah, considering the Cards' budget and the fact they can absorb it if he is injured, I like this move for them.

[TheCrew]

The time to get Furcal was at the trade deadline last year when he could have been had for a middling prospect.

 

That said, I like the Gonzalez signing more than this heading into next season - he's too fragile to count on over the course of a season and might be an injury away from retirement based on his comments the last time he got hurt.