And That Happened

Monday morning sportsfans and again a relatively quiet weekend on the baseball front. As the ESPN boys have noted (Gammons and Olney) CC Sabathia is in control of the free agent market. Because all GM's and player agents want to reach a deal at "fair market value" everyone is still waiting around to see where the fair market value will be.

Gammons says when Sabathia signs than it'll trickle down to AJ Burnett, Derek Lowe, Mark Teixeira, and even Manny Ramirez. I did read one report on MLB Trade Rumors that Rafael Furcal is close to signing. The article is in Spanish but I'll link it anyways because Twins MVB has a surprisingly large percentage of Hispanic followers???

The article notes the rumored deal, from the Oakland A's, at four years $48 million. This seems like a pretty good signing if you ask me. I know I'd love to see Minnesota make a run for Furcal but I understand why they are not. The per year price would actually fit the Twins just fine especially considering Orlando Cabrera could command $10 million a season. However, Furcal does have a history of injuries and I don't think the Twins would want to go four years. Third base seems to be Bill Smith's focus as the moment but I think we'll know more next week during the GM meetings.

Finally, I leave you with another video to start of your week. My good friend Kate sent met this video and knew I would enjoy it. It comes all the way from Japan during MLB's season opener between the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland A's.



As I searched on YouTube the comments mentioned that the "announcer" in this video is actually John Mayer playing a joke because he apparently he hates baseball. I must admit I'm not a huge Mayer fan, especially because when I went to college everyone thought my name was John Mayer.... annoying.

If there are any huge John Mayer fans out there, feel free to confirm in the comments section of this is the real John Mayer.

Twins should consider Furcal

A week after the World Series is over it seems the list of free agents is nearly complete. There is one that I think the Twins should put a target on: Rafael Furcal.

Last season was nothing less than a disappointment for the speedy shorstop due to injuries. Although through 36 games, Furcal did bat .357 with 5 homeruns, 16 RBIs, and 8 stolen bases. This is certainly a small sample size but Furcal proved his value to the Dodgers when he returned at the end of the year for a playoff run. Through the first month of the season Furcal was the sparkplug at the top of LA's lineup getting on base and scoring runs. He brings a switch hit bat to the top of any lineup and a very solid glove at shortstop.

If Furcal has any interest, I think he and the Twins have a mutual fit. Furcal would fill the Twins vacancy at shortstop and take over as the team's leadoff hitter. Now I know many think we already have Denard Span, but Furcal is a proven leadoff hitter for many years and would allow Span to slide to the two hole. Yeah I like Alexi Casilla as much as you but he seemed to wear down at the end of the year and doesn't have a major league track record of production. With Furcal and Span at the top of the order those two can get on base, move runners over, and be RBIs for Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau behind them. This would also allow young guys like Casilla and Carlos Gomez to hit eighth and ninth in the order. They could continue to develop and be productive speedsters at the bottom of the order with less pressure and more importantly less at bats. Furcal, Span, Casilla, and Gomez would reek havoc on the bases for opposing teams and make Twins hitters like Mauer, Morneau, Delmon Young, and Jason Kubel lick their chops in the middle of the order.

The Los Angeles Times reported today that after a short meeting between Dodgers GM Ned Colletti and Furcal's agent that Furcal may have to test the open market after originally thinking he would simply stay put in L.A. Furcal could command up to a four year deal if he hits the open market and given his injury history and age (31) this does provide some risks, but the Twins have the money and if they're willing to take a risk I think it can pay off big.

All I ask is if the Twins are considering signing Orlando Cabrera for three years at $30 million they should wake up and recognize the better investment of Furcal at four years at $40-42 millon. Bill Smith.... think about it!