Why Rafael Furcal should sign with the A’s

Today the New York Post’s Joel Sherman tells us Rafael Furcal is likely to sign with the Oakland A’s, because Oakland is offering the most money.

But Furcal isn’t excited about playing in Oakland. In fact, between the A’s, Dodgers, Royals and Braves, the A’s are his last choice.

He is comfortable with the Royals because Furcal knows a few executives from his Atlanta days who are now in Kansas City, notably GM Dayton Moore. He liked playing with the Dodgers and believes of the finalists they have the best chance to be contenders next season. However, the Dodgers might not even offer three guaranteed years and Oakland already is at four guaranteed years.

One of the sources said Furcal was hoping that the Braves might revive trade talks for San Diego’s Jake Peavy and use Yunel Escobar to land the Padre ace. That would open up a return to Atlanta.

Rafael, can we be real for a moment? I know you and Dayton Moore go way back. But is he really so great that you would follow him to Kansas City, where the Royals haven’t had a winning season since 1994 and don’t seem likely to have another anytime soon?

May I remind you that the A’s are run by Billy Beane, who is also pretty awesome. The guy who’s married to Tabitha Soren wrote a book about Beane. And Brad Pitt is going to play Beane in a movie based on the book.

There are plenty of reasons not to sign with Oakland. Fan-support is at an all-time low. There’s a lot of crime in Oakland. Not everybody can pull off the white shoe look.

But avoiding Oakland because Billy Beane is not Dayton Moore (who only weeks ago traded for Mike Jacobs!) is just insane.

Between you and me, Rafael…the A’s are going to be good this year. They’ve got Matt Holliday and a buttload of young talent, including Travis Buck and Gio Gonzalez. You want to be a part of this team. You want to be the big piece that puts them over the top. You’ve got a lot of great baseball left in you, and there’s a lot you can teach their young players. And who knows…maybe the A’s would be willing to wear green shoes for a while? Couldn’t hurt to ask.