With Casey Blake and Mark Loretta signed, and with C.C. Sabathia gone and Manny Ramirez taking his time in deciding what to do, the Dodgers are now focusing on retaining Rafael Furcal. The holdup is the same - he wants 4 years, and the Dodgers aren't willing to go that high.
At last check, Raffy is being pursued by 3 other teams as well: Oakland, Toronto, and Kansas City. I thought the ship had sailed as far as the A's were concerned considering he turned down their last offer of 4 years and about $9 million per. He got the years he wanted, just not the money. Smart of not, he's playing hardball and not backing down from what he thinks he deserves.
The Royals are looking to get rid of Jose Guillen and his remaining $24 million to make an offer. Their interest seems serious. I'm not sure about the Blue Jays other than they've thrown their hat in there, whether that serious or not.
The contract that the Dodgers have on the table right now is understandably incentive-laden. It's for 2 years with an option for a 3rd. Seems fair in my mind. Raffy is an electric player, but I think it's kind of hard to claim that he's so valuable when he only played in 36 games last year and was banged up in '07 as well, causing his numbers to take a big dip.
Should he decide to go elsewhere, all indications now are that the Dodgers will look to replace him in-house, with Angel Berroa being the leading candidate.
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