Correcting the contract numbers

It’s actually three years and $30 million, not $33. It breaks down to $6.5 million in 2009, $8.5 million in 2010 and $12 million in 2011, with a $3 million BONUS (not a buyout) that he gets at the end of the contract regardless of whether the option vests. The option is, as previously reported, $13 million, and it vests if he has 600 plate appearances in 2011. That’s a lot of PAs even for a leadoff guy. If you assume 4.5 per game, that’s 133 games, which is very reachable if he stays healthy and not so reachable if he doesn’t.

Contract breakdown

John Nadel at the AP reports that it’s three years, $33 million, with a $13 million club option for 2012. Salaries are $7.5 million in 2009, $9.5 million in 2010 and $13 million in 2011, with a $3 million buyout of the option. The option will vest if he meets certain incentives in 2011, but it isn’t yet clear what those incentives are.

Furcal will re-sign with Dodgers

Rafael Furcal’s agent, Paul Kinzer, just told me that “things are getting close” and Raffy “is going to be a Dodger.” He wouldn’t get into any details about the length of the contract, but I’m almost sure it’s a three-year guarantee with possibly a fourth-year option. When I asked if it would be premature to say the deal was done pending a physical, Kinzer said it would be. But it sounds like the Dodgers at least know they’re getting him back.

Hold the phone: Furcal still talking to Dodgers

Ned Colletti just informed me that “we have had many conversations today on the subject of Rafael Furcal” and that “I can’t tell you if it’s dead or not. I can only tell you that his people continue to engage me in conversation as if it’s not, and I have been assured by them that it’s not.” What is clear here is that somebody, either the Dodgers or the Braves, is being lied to by Furcal and his people, because the reports out of Atlanta and nationally have this as a done deal pending a physical. Ned still won’t say whether the Dodgers have offered to guarantee the third year, but if they’re still in on Furcal, it’s pretty obvious that they have because the Braves’ alleged done deal is for three years and an option.