Crosby, who has been hurt much of his career and who has underperformed the past two seasons when healthy, only has one year left on his deal. The A's have no sure-fire shortstop prospects waiting in the wings, at least not everyday big-league shortstops. Adrian Cardenas, acquired in July's Joe Blanton deal, has played short in the Arizona Fall League the past two months, but he appears to be best suited to second base, and the A's other shortstops in the upper levels of the minors are probably backups at best.

In addition, Furcal would not cost the A's draft picks to sign because he is not a ranked free agent. That means he wouldn't hurt the team's ongoing rebuilding efforts. He's believed to be looking for a minimum of four years, but considering Oakland's lack of young talent at the position, that's a term that might be doable for the club.

And the A's have some money to spend after cutting back on salary the past two years, so spending $40 million or more on Furcal isn't as crazy as it might sound for a team that usually watches its budget tightly. The A's might even be willing to pick up some of Crosby's deal in an effort to move the onetime AL Rookie of the Year should he be become extraneous.

The rebuild goes on, particularly considering the large number of young pitchers Oakland will feature. But by adding Matt Holliday earlier in the month and potentially Furcal, the A's might get back above .500 more quickly than anticipated.