Do The Sox Really Want Furcal
Rafeal Furcal wants $50 million and a 5 to 6 year deal. The rumors are that the Royals, Mets, Yankees and Sox might be interested in the speedy shortstop/second baseman/centerfielder. Furcal hit .278 with 12 home runs and 58 RBI’s last season, while stealing 46 bases. He’s versatile and can play many positions well. He’s looking for a similar deal to the one Edgar Renteria got last year from the Sox. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Yankees ended up nabbing Furcal because of his ability to play multiple positions, and the Yankees in need of a centerfielder.
I doubt the Sox get him. In an ideal world, Damon returns to provide some stability to a shaky situation at Fenway. Johnny is also looking for a big pay-day, but has a few years on Furcal. He also can’t play the in-field, but the Sox don’t necessarily need an infielder right now. Cora should be on the roster next season, and I’m expecting that Pedroia will be moving up to the big leagues. My hypothesis for the infield will be Youkilis at 3rd, Renteria at SS, Pedroia/Cora at 2nd, and nobody knows who at first (ideally, Konerko, but I’m not holding my breath).