Free agent shortstop Rafael Furcal is heading to Oakland to talk contract with the A’s according to the MLB.com.

Possibly demonstrating that he’s in the final stages of his decision-making process, Furcal, widely considered the top shortstop available in free agency, traveled to Oakland to meet with A’s officials. Accompanied by his wife, Glenny, and his agent, Paul Kinzer, Furcal stopped at the Oakland Coliseum, drove through neighborhoods where he might live and had lunch with A’s general manager Billy Beane.

Kinzer confirmed Furcal’s trip, which was initially reported by FoxSports.com.

“We just wanted to look around and see how [Furcal] felt about the area before he went further,” Kinzer told MLB.com. “He did like it, and he was fine with the area.”

Furcal, who’s coming off a three-year, $39 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, is reportedly seeking a four-year contract. Kinzer was staying in the Bay Area overnight, indicating that he could conduct face-to-face negotiations with the A’s on Wednesday.

Furcal, 31, appeared in only 36 regular-season games last season due to a lower back injury. But that indirectly increased his free-agency value, since he didn’t play enough to qualify for the Elias Sports Bureau rankings and thus won’t cost the team that signs him a selection in next June’s First-Year Player Draft.

I might be naive, but I believe Furcal still has a lot to offer at this stage of his career. Injuries have sidetracked an otherwise bright future, but I think he knows this is it for him. He’s not going to land another big contact again and he knows he has to perform. I don’t know if heading to the AL is such a wise move, however. The Giants are also interested, and they might be a better fit considering they like to run and he wouldn’t block any top prospects.

The bidding war for free agent pitcher CC Sabathia has begun.

The Milwaukee Brewers have opened up the bidding for free agent ace Milwaukee Brewers have opened up the bidding for free-agent ace CC Sabathia.

Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said Monday that the team made a contract proposal to Sabathia over the weekend but wasn’t willing to discuss terms of the offer or assess the team’s chances of keeping its prize pitcher.

“It’s in their hands,” Melvin said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “He hasn’t really had a chance to talk with other teams.”

Sabathia, who went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA for Milwaukee after he was traded from the Cleveland Indians on July 7, filed for free agency over the weekend and is expected to draw interest from big-market teams who could outbid the Brewers. His new deal could top Johan Santana’s $137.5 million, six-year contract with the New York Mets.

This is obviously only the beginning. Sabathia will still likely draw offers from the New York Yankees and perhaps the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are in great need of a front-of-the-rotation starter. Sabathia has often said that he wants to hit, which would mean he’d eventually settle with a National League team. Money talks, however, and one has to believe that the Yankees are going to come with a substantial offer.