Market heats up for shortstops
Posted: Friday, December 05, 2008 3:22 PM
The first dominoes are falling in this winter’s free agent market and they are shortstops. If not careful, Rafael Furcal’s agents may be left without a chair when the music stops.
No signs are apparent that the economic malaise has reached the minds of baseball agents. Witness Furcal whose balky back limited him to 36 games last season yet his agent, pointing to Furcal’s prior durability, wants a four-year deal.
Agents are supposed to ask for all they can but every player should hope his hired hand also operates with sense. The agents saw a market that seemed to have a small supply and large demand for shortstops and leadoff hitters. But Arn Tellem and the Wasserman Group, which represents Furcal, should have noticed some interesting developments concerning shortstops over the last 24 hours.
San Francisco, which reportedly offered Furcal a three-year deal, decided that a past-his-prime overweight Edgar Renteria was a better two-year gamble than was Furcal for four years. Renteria is now a Giant.
St. Louis is taking Khalil Greene and his contract off the hands of San Diego. This is a player coming off a thoroughly miserable season (.213 BA, .599 OPS, 100 strikeouts in 389 at-bats) whose reaction to such was incurring a broken hand when he smashed a wall and who carries a $6.5 million cover charge for 2009.
Detroit has long coveted Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson but suddenly there is a late entrant trying to woo Wilson -- the Dodgers, which Furcal may have been considering his fallback position.
The Dodgers did not offer Furcal arbitration unwilling to risk a huge one-year payoff if the player won. But Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said Monday that the team has interest in Furcal and that Furcal has interest in being back with the Dodgers.
Well, Furcal may need to get more interested in the Dodgers in a hurry.
If the Dodgers pull the trigger on Wilson -- and there are wildly conflicting reports on this matter but know that Wilson is reportedly eager to return to his SoCal roots -- then Detroit is said to favor slick fielding Adam Everett.
And of all this goes down it would leave very few options for Furcal.
Oakland is interested and it even flew in Furcal for a meeting. The Athletics’ trade for Matt Holliday was a sign that they desire to be relevant. And they think they can compete in 2009. But any student of the game knows how often Billy Beane tosses around four-year deals.
One wild rumor flew that the Mets might be interested in Furcal as a second baseman (they would love any alternative to the dreadful Luis Castillo).
All we can see is that the first real drama of this winter is playing out, not with the big names of Sabathia, Ramirez or Teixeira, but rather in the unexpected world of shortstops.
FIVE MORE SWINGS:
1. LOTS OF OPINIONS…on the Giants/Edgar Renteria marriage. It’s impressive that the Giants admit to “statistical analysis” as one of the methods used to judge Renteria. Why I think the Giants signed Renteria: His second half offense (.299 BA, .493 OPS) is something the Giants desperately need to add in the No. 2 spot. And as mentioned above, at two years he is a safer gamble than Furcal for four years. Why I think it’s very dicey: The Giants are built around terrific young starting pitching in a ballpark that favors pitching and defense. Renteria is miles removed from his Gold Glove past and never figures to regain that form. Hard to see why, in the Giants’ position, they would sacrifice defense at the position where it matters most.
2. OUR MENTION OF…the corporate sponsorships/naming rights dilemma in this economic climate cited the Mets/Citigroup relationship. The New York Times presented a lengthy discussion of the topic Thursday complete with quotes from Mets’ boss Jeff Wilpon. In defending the $400 million deal to name CitiField, which opens in April, Wilpon said that Citigroup had to continue advertising or it would be akin to McDonald’s stopping advertising and Burger King passes it by.
That’s an interesting analogy, especially given the present situation of the Big 3 automakers, whose chiefs were thoroughly denounced for flying private planes to D.C. and asking for government assistance. When the honchos returned this week, they drove. One spokesman (I forget which of the three automakers he represented) admitted, “we had to be concerned about the optics.” Meaning appearances matter thus the planes go away.
So my question is whether the “optics” of the huge CitiField sign overlooking the Grand Central Parkway will come into play for all those who have lost Citigroup jobs or the taxpayers backing the bailout of another beleaguered financial institution.
3. GREAT LINE FROM A GM…as reported by the esteemed Buster Olney. An agent was disappointed by the offer he received and the GM told him, “I can tell you this, in a month, the offer might be even less.”
4. OVERLOAD WARNING…word is that Houston may be next for a massive payroll dump. The Astros were around $90 million in 2008 but they have $60 million for 2009 tied into four players (Carlos Lee, Lance Berkman, Roy Oswalt and Miguel Tejada). Worse yet is that only Tejada comes off the books after 2009. It’s been hard to understand Houston’s approach in the last few years and if they have to offload closer Jose Valverde, it will be a sign that their payroll management has been questionable.
5. IS RANDY JOHNSON A HOT COMMODITY? At 45, with his 300th win in the viewfinder and having made 30 starts last year, Johnson’s agent says he has talked to 10 teams. In the Bay Area, word is that both the Giants and Athletics are interested and don’t underestimate what both teams would view as the “appeal” (gate, TV, general buzz, etc.) of hosting Johnson’s march to his 300th win. And Johnson is one of the better deals on the market. Look at his numbers from last year -- especially a tidy 1.24 WHIP -- and realize a team wouldn’t have to go more than one year on a deal. Plus, there are very few sensible buys when it comes to starting pitching and Johnson is near the top of the list.
