Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
Through the Kansas City Royals, with whom he had signed a minor-league contract this year, former Dodger shortstop Rafael Furcal announced his retirement at age 37.
Among shortstops with at least 2,000 plate appearances with the Dodgers, Furcal ranks first all-time in adjusted OPS. (Hanley Ramirez would be on top if you reduced the minimum to 1,000 plate appearances). Furcal had a .357 on-base percentage and .406 slugging percentage as a Dodger, peaking in 2006 when he had 196 hits, 32 doubles, nine triples, 15 homers and 37 steals.
Furcal signed with the Dodgers in December 2005 and re-upped after the 2008 season. Despite his injuries, he played more games at shortstop for the Dodgers than anyone since Bill Russell and (after Maury Wills) is third in Los Angeles history in games played at the position.
He finishes his 14-year MLB career with 1,817 hits, and is one of 43 players with 300 doubles, 100 homers and 300 steals. According to Aaron Gleeman of Hardball Talk, Fucal ranks fourth in Wins Above Replacement among all MLB shortstops since 2000, trailing only Derek Jeter, Jimmy Rollins and Miguel Tejada.
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