TOWER GROVE — As Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre describes it: A few weeks ago, at Coors Field, he pulled his shortstop, Rafael Furcal, into a meeting to discuss whether or not the switch-hitter’s body would cooperate and let him be a factor in October. As MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick and the player describe it,  the tone of that meeting was a tad different: Furcal quit.

The Dodgers are not the only team pleased he reconsidered.

“We started chatting with him about the prospects of postseason play,” Torre said before the division series against the Chicago Cubs. “I just let him know obviously his career is the most important thing. What we’re trying to accomplish is important, too, but only if he’s healthy. And we just sort of took it a step at a time. … But he’s been a big lift for us.”

He would be a radical lift for the Cardinals.

Sure there’s the Manny Ramirez Experience and the Ryan Howard Walk-a-Thon and the Joe Torre Nostalgia to draw Cardinals fans to tonight’s start of the National League Championship Series in Philadelphia. But there is another reason to watch the Dodgers play Philadelphia for the NL pennant, and it isn’t to check in on Brad Lidge, who has completely recovered from his previous visit to the NLCS. Like the Cardinals themselves, watch with an eye on 2009.

Watch Rafael Furcal.

Rafael Furcal

Every game Furcal plays in the postseason he’s one more game removed from back surgery. One game closer to free agency. Every game he plays well, he certainly sweetens the deal he’ll command this winter. October offers an unexpected scouting opportunity for teams who are in need of an upgrade at shortstop for next season, be it Toronto, Detroit, Baltimore, maybe Cincinnati and yes, the Cardinals.

The amount of cash the Cardinals have coming off the book has been well-documented. Word is they plan to be “aggressive”, which in some corners has been translated as assertive with the pocketbook. As manager Tony La Russa has advocated the addition of an impact bat, Cesar Izturis hits free agency and Adam Kennedy has requested a trade, the confluence of events have opened up the way for the Cardinals to improve the play and the production from their middle infield. In the past, the Cardinals have had a few internal advocates for Miguel Tejada. While not the level or the same as Tejada, Furcal, if healthy, is a presence at the position like Tejada and he will be the premiere shortstop available this winter.

These playoffs will answer if he’s healthy.

At his best, Furcal offers a dynamic tonic for the Cardinals. The switch-hitter with speed is a natural leadoff hitter, a skilled shortstop and he has the power threat that changes the look of the Cardinals lineup by increasing its depth. Stolen bases? Check. Respectable power? Check. Ability to get on-base in front of Albert Pujols and score from first on an extra-base hit? Double-check.

Furcal has twice hit better than .290 in his career with Atlanta and LA, and he has a career on-base percentage of .352. Of the 15 hitters who had enough plate appearances at leadoff to qualify (approx. 502) for a batting title, Furcal’s on-base percentage would have ranked 12th. (Skip Schumaker was seventh at .370.) But he’s also stolen at least 40 bases three times. And Furcal’s .412 career slugging would have ranked 12th.

He also plays shortstop.

“He puts pressure on a defense,” two-team teammate Greg Maddux told Gurnick in the article linked above. “You don’t know if he’ll slug, slap or bunt. He has excellent speed. He can steal second or third. He puts pressure on pitchers. Defensively, he’s got a lot of range and an excellent arm. He can take away hits. He’s fun to play with. I always enjoyed having him behind me. He’s always been one of my favorite players. Pitchers love guys that catch the ball.”

Furcal in the field, in flight.

Furcal, a former Rookie of the Year with Atlanta, missed 125 games this season because a bulging disc in his back required surgery to repair. The injury interrupted what was a career year-like start for Furcal. At the time he went on the disabled list, Furcal was hitting .366/.448/.597. In April, batting leadoff for the Dodgers, Furcal hit .367 and had 15 extra-base hits in 109 at-bats, including 11 doubles. He also scored 25 runs and stole seven bases that month.

Then he was gone. Lost to back trouble and then the back surgery.

When he returned to baseball activities in September, he struggled to feel right about his legs. They lagged behind. And as Torre said at the start of the NLDS: “We just sort of took it a step at a time.
I think the legs were the last thing that came for him as far as being comfortable.” Furcal decided not to quit, not to get out of the way of the Dodgers in mid-September and now he’s a factor in October, a spark for the Dodgers and a magnet for teams needing a shortstop. He got in four games before the start of the season, and then he went 4-for-12 with four runs scored against the Cubs in the NLDS.

He’s getting noticed:

Furcal is Healthy and Dangerous, Philadelphia Daily News … “Rafael Furcal, who could very well be a key to the upcoming National League Championship Series between the Phillies and Dodgers. Or, put it this way: The comparison between what Furcal and Jimmy Rollins can do as leadoff hitters in their respective lineups really might end up being more telling than the sexier comparison between the Dodgers’ Manny Ramirez and the Phillies’ Ryan Howard.”

Remember Me? Furcal Back in Leading Role, OC Register … “His presence at the top of the batting order not only gave the Dodgers a viable offensive threat but a psychological one as well. “I told you I would be back this season,” Furcal said softly while his teammates were dousing each other with champagne and beer this past Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.”

Furcal Back in a Leading Role, LA Times … “As for the pressure of being thrust into the team’s starting lineup in the playoffs after not playing for almost five months, Furcal isn’t feeling it. ‘Pressure?’ Furcal said. ‘This is my eighth time in the postseason. I don’t feel pressure.’”

For any team that has dispatched a scout to watch him in the NLCS or is just tuning in from afar, the back will be a chief concern. Furcal has missed time in a couple seasons because of back soreness, back stiffness, back spasms and now back surgery. He is coming to the end of a three-year, $39-million deal, and he’ll turn 31 later this month. His $13-million price tage seems reasonable — if he’s healthy. The length of the deal would be the most interesting part of any deal.

A few years, Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti signed Furcal as his first big move in the big chair, and he edged the Chicago Cubs to do so. This winter, there’s been speculation that Toronto will court Furcal. There’s the possibility the Cubs, recovering from another October thud, will add him to their growing collection of All-Stars. The White Sox might need a shortstop if the second-best and healthiest free-agent shortstop, Orlando Cabrera, signs elsewhere. Baltimore, Detroit (who have an option on Edgar Renteria) and a few others also have a need at short.

The Cardinals have expressed an interest in bringing back two in-house options for the middle infield: Cesar Izturis and Felipe Lopez. The Cardinals’ crush on Lopez appears to be mutual, but he’s more an option as the everyday second baseman or utility fielder than at shortstop. The Cardinals and Izturis are both open to a reunion, all because of how agile Izturis is in the field. Considering an upgrade at the position, however, is not out of the question — it just may be out of the budget.

Furcal won’t have to settle for a deal, not at all. There aren’t many players who can do what he does at the position he plays. There aren’t too many players who can radically jolt a lineup — a lineup like the Cardinals’, for example — like Furcal could, if healthy.

Just watch and see if he is. Watch and see how he does.

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