Well, if we KNOW that Renteria will had a .699 OPS in 2009, we at least know what we are getting, right? And we know that Crosby had a .645 OPS in 2009…

If we cannot land Furcal then I say we turn our attention/money to other positions and go into ST with Pennington, Petit, and Crosby in an open competition for the starting SS job. Who ever does the best wins and the 2nd place finisher gets the utility job while the other is either gone or in AAA. My reasoning for this is that outside of Furcal there is nobody on the FA market I’d be willing to pay to play for us. Unless there’s a trade out there for Escobar or Hardy that does not cripple our minor league system then I’d say it’s better to just keep Crosby.

It is the most gaping hole on the team, without a doubt. Everyone talks about Barton and how disappointing he has been, but how about 4 more years of that from barton? cuz that’s what has become of crosby. he is getting paid above the league average for below average production.
If this is really the year the team goes for it, then snatch up Furcal, you give him $12-14 mil/year for 4 years, as far as I’m concerned, that’s fine. The way I see it, if we dump Crosby’s salary off and sign Furcal, that’s only $7-9 mil this year, I’d pay that for Furcal easily. Besides, Beane isn’t doing a thing until he is guaranteed Furcal is healthy, which it seems they have concluded he is.
In regards to the others, if we could sign Renteria or Cabrera for $6-8 mil for one year, I would do that. It’s an immediate upgrade and it’s not committing for a long time. otherwise, give some guys a shot…

who can be a significant plus defender like Jason Bartett.

I also don’t agree that Crosby has higher upside than Furcal. He may be less risky but a healthy Furcal is capable of plus defense a 105 OPS+ and 40 SB. I don’t see Crosby capable of any one of those things any more.

That is, until, I consider this particular statement of yours a little more carefully:

Furcal is a Kotsay-waiting-to-happen

Might be true but it’s not like Crosby is going to be making a run at Ripken’s record anytime soon. Substitute any ol’ injury for a specific back injury and it is just as likely that Crosby is a Kotsay-waiting-to-happen.

7 homers in 556 ab’s, and he was healthy for a majority of the season.

First, he couldn’t stay healthy.

Then he got healthy and sucked.

Even if the A’s hadn’t traded for Holliday and were intent on having Crosby play out his existing contract, based on his current level of play (or lack there of) over the past 5 years there is absolutely no reason to think/want/desire Crosby to be back in 2010. We would need a new SS by then and it doesn’t look like we’ve got a homegrown option available. Next year’s FA SS class is even weaker than this year, so Beane would probably have to trade prospects for a big league SS.

Signing Furcal now, as much as the 4 year contract worries me, saves the A’s from having to deal away talent to acquire talent.

now it’s time to move on because he just isn’t going to put it all together!

The 4yr / $48 million offer to Furcal signals where we are heading.

1) the ladies think he’s cute

that’s it, that’s the list.

…and re-aqcuire Ginter to play 2B.

is known as a “hearse”.

It’s funny because it’s mean.

.303/.380/.500 with 30 HR’s… you know that’ll happen once Beane dumps him.

But you are my new best friend!!

Furcal scares the hell out of me – I’d rather have Crosby playing than not have Furcal playing while we’re still paying. Crosby breaks out in 2009, and even though that might not be a huge upgrade, he’s going to be better, and I’d much rather give him that opportunity / play the hot hand if he doesn’t than spend on Furcal.