December 16, 2008
As the Furcal Turns
It looks like the Braves are about to land Rafael Furcal, and possibly Jake Peavy:
FoxSports.com reported early today that Furcal, a free agent and former Braves standout, has agreed to return to Atlanta on a three-year contract that could be announced as soon as he passes a physical. He missed much of last season with back problems.
If the Braves land Furcal, 31, it could possibly signal an imminent trade of shortstop Yunel Escobar or second baseman Kelly Johnson in a deal for an elite-level starting pitcher the Braves have spent so much time this offseason attempting to acquire.
It's also possible they trade for Zack Greinke.
Given Furcal's career in total, he's on the same offensive plane as Johnson and Escobar. So the Braves will increase their spending on the middle infield without an offensive boost to grab a front-line starting pitcher.
There are three possibilities for the Braves:
1) Good. The 2006 Furcal shows up with his .814 OPS and 159 games played.
2) Bad. The 2007 Furcal shows up with his .687 OPS and his 139 games played.
3) Disaster. The 2008 Furcal doesn't show up at all because he's hurt all of the time.
At age 31 the chances for (1) aren't great.
The weird thing about Furcal is he had 1 really good year in the field and a lot of really bad ones. Johnson is really weak at 2B - I don't see him bringing a top line starter - Unless they trade Escobar for pitching then this doesn't make a lot of sense and even if they do I still have my doubts about Furcal.
