St. Louis Cardinals Re-Sign Rafael Furcal

The St. Louis Cardinals made their first move since the departure of Albert Pujols, agreeing with shortstop Rafael Furcal on the two-year/$14 million contract pending a physical next week. Furcal came over to the Cardinals from the Los Angeles Dodgers during last season’s trade deadline.

Furcal, 34, is a two time all-star who has seen his production dwindle over the last couple seasons in part to multiple injuries. General manager John Mozeliak must have decided he did not want to spend Jimmy Rollins type money when he could have a veteran player familiar with the organization available for a lower salary and term. That not withstanding, at first glance this seems like a decent chunk of change for a player who seems well past his prime.

We’ll have to wait until the deal becomes official to hear from Mozeliak on why he decided to stick with Furcal, not only for the price, but for two seasons. At this point it seems like this was a signing meant to provide stability and maintain veteran presence on the roster. Tomorrow, I’ll provide a complete statistical analysis of the signing.

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