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MLB WINTER MEETINGSDecember 7, 2005Rafael FurcalDALLAS, TEXAS NED COLLETTI: Today we are very pleased to present to you a new shortstop, Rafael Furcal. We view him as one of the most exciting players in the League. He brings a winning tradition with him. He plays a premium position, plays all-out, day-in and day-out. He's been a part of championship clubs in Atlanta for a long time. So without further adieu, we'll bring Mr. Furcal up here. RAFAEL FURCAL: Hello, everybody. I'm happy to be here with one of the greatest organizations, the Dodgers. The first thing I want to say is thank you, God, first, and all of my family, my mom and dad, I know they are really happy, my wife. I'm very excited to come and represent one of the greatest organizations of all-time. Q. Was it a tough decision after the offer the Cubs made to you? RAFAEL FURCAL: It was a great offer they made to me. In my mind I came to the Dodger because they gave the better deal to me and I'm very excited to be here. Q. Would you tell me what made the Dodgers attractive as it came down? RAFAEL FURCAL: You know, I'm coming to represent the Dodgers and I'm coming to try to play hard every day, go out to the field and play with passion because I'm coming from a team that's been in the playoffs every year. Now that I'm with the Dodgers, I'm going to try to make something happen every year, too. Q. How tough was it for you to leave Atlanta and Bobby Cox? Did the money ultimately outweigh that? RAFAEL FURCAL: Like I say, Bobby Cox, I give thanks for him because they gave me a lot of opportunities, the six years I've had in the big leagues with them. The thing is I have been with them like six years, they had a lot of chances to sign me and they know that I'll be a free agent this year. Coming to the Dodgers, they gave me a good offer, they wanted me so bad to play for them. Q. That's a lot of money. Several years ago could you have ever imagined this, the nice contract? RAFAEL FURCAL: Thank you so much. I know it's a good contract. Imagine every time you go to the field, you play that kind of play. I don't like days off or anything and when I go to the field, anything can happen. Q. Can you talk about what you're going to do with your infield? GRADY LITTLE: What we're thinking about right now is to have Furcal leading off for us there in Los Angeles. As far as when Izturis comes back, there are a lot of questions involved in the timetable there, and that's one of those things that if that question doesn't get answered by itself before that time due to injury or another player or whatever, then we'll make a decision at that time. But that's one of the decisions that we consider to be a good kind of decision to make. We felt like you can't lose any way you go. Q. Before you changed your mind, was there a period where you thought, yeah, I'm going to the Cubs? RAFAEL FURCAL: You know, we were in a good race with the Cubs and then this organization where I am right now, the Dodgers, at the last minute came to me. We had a flight and had a good meeting with the owner, Mr. McCourt, and Mr. Colletti, and then we had a good meeting and then we're talking. He told me about his passion, he feels that they want to win and they want me to come to his team and represent them. It's very tough, because the Cubs, they were good, too.
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