California Stayin

My what a difference a day makes. Yesterday is was widely reported Rafael Furcal was all set to return to Atlanta. I had an idea to write a piece about the how logical it would have been to play musical chairs with their defense to fit him in. But alas he decided to stay in LA. Even though he had many suitors including Atlanta, Oakland, KC and Toronto his contract is speaking volumes about what a tight market it is this year for everyone except starting pitchers. Furcal's deal is for 27 mil for 3 years. The option for the 4th becomes guarenteed he gets 600 plate appearances in 2011. The option is for 12 mil. And there is something about a 3 mil vested payment. So essentially he got the same deal as Edgar Renteria except one more year. I think this is a very good move for the Dodgers. For the past couple of years they viewed Chin-lung Hu as their next SS. But up until now he has not hit nearly enough to hold down the job. Hu is the 21st century Rey Ordonez. Great glove no hit. So they keep their lead off hitter and SS for at least 3 years at a very fair price. The Dodgers are not in a rebuilding phase and money should never be an issue with them. Though Furcal was hurt last year and had a sprained ankle at the beginning of 2007 he has proved to be very durable and very consistant. He is only 31 so at the back end of his contract there should not be a big drop off. Now that Casey Blake and Rafael Furcal have resigned I imagine Ned Colletti will go about trying to replace Derek Lowe and maybe sign Manny. The NL West is the weakest division in baseball. Colorado and San Diego are rebuilding. San Fran is moving in the right direction with their terrific pitching. Which just makes the race between LA and Arizona. Furcal gives the Dogers a much better chance of making the playoffs.