Furcal Comments On Braves

He is going to get BOOOed when he comes to Atlanta next season. I hope to be there.

Oh god.

Enough is enough. Furcal should just shut up. Enough beating of this dead horse.

"This is over.

[unsubscribe]"

Huh?

Anyway, this isn't surprising. Its just like Tellum and his remarks afterward, where he came off at least as cocky as we thought he was. Raffy seems no different. I'm not a fan of his.

Not that I believe Furcal, but anybody think that the Braves are pissed because they're just missing out on everyone they've been trying to get?

The chances of Furcal having a Rawlings impression between his shoulder blades every time he steps up to the plate vs. the Braves just went up dramatically.

Best thing Furcal can say is "no comment".

Did anyone catch Furcal's agent lying in his 2 different comments about Furcal needing to sleep on it? One he said Furcal wanted to sleep on it, the other he wanted Furcal to sleep on it. Make up your mind. If the agent wanted Furcal to sleep on it so he could shop the Brave's offer, it only makes him look worse.

UtleyFan,

You're completely ignoring the fact that this isn't the way things work in the baseball world. Multiple GMs and agents have said that asking for a term sheet is seen in the industry as a sign that negotiations are over. I don't blame Furcal to a large extent because I don't know how much he knew about what his agent told the Braves, but what his agents did was certainly underhanded and at the very least questionable ethically.

And nocode, do you really think an organization like the Braves is going to take something like this public just because they're pissed and not because they feel like they were seriously wronged? If you really believe that I don't think you know too much about Schuerholz and Wren and how they do business.

Both sides are right in everything they say if the Braves sent over a term sheet. Under custom, once a signed term sheet is sent, 98 times out of 100 it is returned signed. Therefore, the Braves thought they had a deal. However, a deal isn't complete until the player signs (at a minimum) the term sheet. Since Furcal never signed, he can say he never agreed to anything with the Braves.
Both sides have stated their case to the public. All Braves fans think Furcal and his agents are scum. All Dodger fans think the Braves front office jumped the gun in thinking a deal was complete. Everyone else gets to decide for themselves what they consider to be a completed deal.
Neither side is going to admit any wrong doing. The Braves FO is overreacting because they didn't sign a player they thought they did. The Wasserman Group is going to deny doing anything illegal because, well, they didn't. And they're going to sidestep the issue of following the custom because it doesn't benefit them in this case.
End of story. Case closed. This will be a moot point come April. No one on the field will care.

"And nocode, do you really think an organization like the Braves is going to take something like this public just because they're pissed and not because they feel like they were seriously wronged? If you really believe that I don't think you know too much about Schuerholz and Wren and how they do business."

It doesn't matter if they feel like they were seriously wronged or not. I believe in one of Olney's recent blogs he talked to both an agent and a GM (or high front office person). The GM sided with Furcal. The agent sided with the Braves. Either way, going to the press does nothing positive for the Braves. They weren't going to be awarded Furcal from the Dodgers, or be given anything in response to losing Furcal. All they've done is make a portion of baseball fans think they're whining because they lost out on Furcal and couldn't land Burnett or Peavy.
If they really thought this was a situation where they were "seriously wronged" why didn't they go to the Commissioner's Office? Why go to the public, when it serves no benefit?

I think that the Dodgers didn't believe that the Braves would be willing to give him 3 years with an option for 4. So his agents had to show that the offer is true. They called the Braves pretending that he wanted to sign with the Braves got the term sheet to show the Dodgers and got the deal. They are scumbags. I'm not a Braves fan and I can tell you that they are despicable.

"UtleyFan,

You're completely ignoring the fact that this isn't the way things work in the baseball world. Multiple GMs and agents have said that asking for a term sheet is seen in the industry as a sign that negotiations are over. I don't blame Furcal to a large extent because I don't know how much he knew about what his agent told the Braves, but what his agents did was certainly underhanded and at the very least questionable ethically."

Sending a term sheet might be widely considered the end of negotiations but legally it's not and it's foolish to think that the Braves FO didn't know this.

I can understand Braves fans being upset that you didn't get the player but if the Braves FO is trying to preach ethics, i'm not buying.

People need to get over the fact that this is a business now. There are no gentlemen's agreements. Either you pay the player the most amount of money or chances are you won't get him.

Fastest guy in the Majors??

I'm talking blazing speed..

WHO?

Josh Anderson maybe?

"I believe in one of Olney's recent blogs he talked to both an agent and a GM (or high front office person). The GM sided with Furcal."

Please link to this DodgersBruin.

"Fastest guy in the Majors??"

It better be Joey G for the Cubs to decide they are giving up on Pie...

I'm incline to believe that Furcal himself didn't know that they had agreed to terms with the Braves...just like he didn't know that he was 2 years older than he was listed the first few years in the majors.

"I can understand Braves fans being upset that you didn't get the player but if the Braves FO is trying to preach ethics, i'm not buying."

You're missing the point entirely. People are mad because Furcal's agents violated Frank Wren's trust by asking for a term sheet. You ask for a term sheet when you're ready to sign. You don't ask for a term sheet so you can use it as leverage to get your client more money. That's entirely unheard of in baseball. That's why people are pissed off. No one would be mad if Kinzer had not asked for a term sheet while Furcal signed with the Dodgers.

Faffy should say "no Comment" but no - like in the Godfather the one who talks lied.
He's over the hill anyway - he'll be on the DL in May. Dodgers should be ashamed as there are no secrets in baseball. They knew. Braves will clean up in FA market - that 10M will go a long way in late Jan. It is over.

"Either way I hope he is boo'd every time he sets foot in Atlanta."

Oh give it a rest. You have no idea what Furcal knows or has been told by his agent. The agents are responsible for the negotiations with GM's. That's why their hired. Of course Furcal is going to say (or be told to say) something that supports his agents and now thus the Dodgers. Either way, its such a non-factor now anyway - Furcal is signed, move on. Youre going to boo a player you have no attachment to because his agent signed him a to another team? If so, you'll have a long list of players coming through Atlanta next year to dis - as if any player is going to give a sh*t about that anyway.

"Youre going to boo a player you have no attachment to because his agent signed him a to another team?"

No, I'm going to boo Furcal because he's a classless weasel who took a piss all over Atlanta (his former team who he allegedly enjoyed playing for, no less). And I hope every other Braves fan joins me. Okay, there: consider it let go.

It must be a coincidence that Furcal and this same agent had a very similar dealing with Jim Hendry and the Chicago Cubs back in 2006? Not sure if Hendry actually fell for the "fax me a signed deal" trick, but I recall Hendry thinking Furcal had all but taken a physical in Chicago before all of a sudden, these same Dodgers came in a squeaked out an eye lash better deal then what the Cubs had on the table. Completely coincidental, I'm sure.

"And I hope every other Braves fan joins me. Okay, there: consider it let go."

If a tree falls at Turner Field, but noone is there to hear it.........

"It must be a coincidence that Furcal and this same agent had a very similar dealing with Jim Hendry and the Chicago Cubs back in 2006? Not sure if Hendry actually fell for the "fax me a signed deal" trick, but I recall Hendry thinking Furcal had all but taken a physical in Chicago before all of a sudden, these same Dodgers came in a squeaked out an eye lash better deal then what the Cubs had on the table. Completely coincidental, I'm sure."

DING DING DING! THANK YOU!!!

I have been saying this since it happened. I'm not sure why everyone dismisses it. Maybe they just didn't know it happened. This is NOT a coincidence people. Wise up a bit.

Im neither a Dodgers fan nor a Braves fan but its just absurd when people start whining about booing players you didnt get to sign. Maybe your GM shouldnt have dealt with Furcal's agent to begin with given his track record. Either way, deal with it and stop acting like a 7 year old.

I think all will be well as long as they can put a ball in his ribs. Then, play ball!

El Clash Combo - get a clue before you decide to start spewing "stop acting like a 7 year old" garbage.

Not all of us are booing Furcal because we didn't get him, as a Braves I didn't understand giving him that much money anyways. Personally I am booing him because he has become another notch in what is destroying the "Game" of baseball. If GM's and players can no longer trust when they send/receive a term sheet that it constitutes a gentleman's agreement between the two parties what is next? After this incident you don't think there is a possibility that a GM will send a term sheet to one player as pressure to get another player to decide where he is going to sign?

And then what's next?

Unfortunately as the years have passed it seems as though the business side of the game stopped playing second fiddle to the game itself.

I'm not all that bummed about losing out on Furcal (the Braves have a better SS, IMO), but I am frustrated that his agents actions have resulted in my team blacklisting a population of players. I know a decision to do that would not be made lightly, and if John Freaking Schuerholz was involved in making it, it should carry a lot of weight with anyone who knows baseball.

I think what every Braves fan is forgetting, is that they had a chance to secure Furcal's services THREE YEARS ago yet they lowballed him with a crappy offer. He went to LA instead and found an organization who apparently likes his talents enough to sign him twice.

Braves fans need to just shut up about Furcal, if you had taken care of business the first time, you wouldn't be in this situation.

What is really too bad about this, is that not only do the Braves lose out on Furcal, but since Yunel is represented by the same group, they will lose him too....UNLESS the Braves GO BACK NO THEIR WORD and CHANGE the publicly stated policy about that particular group of agents.

Now we know the Braves won't do that, don't we? I guess that means goodbye to Mr Escobar!

Interesting, how does Furcal know what his agent said to Atlanta??? In his original statement he stated he was in the Dominical Republic and did not know what had happened.

Brave fans should be glad they dont have a begger on their team, he is only going to play about 1/2 of his contract anyways since he is always injured, you should be glad he begged the Dodgers to sign him after they offer him only 2 years and he declined and went shopping around, but we all know that the Dodgers like to spend money on players that get injured.

JoeTruth

A: Yunel Escobar isn't represented by the Wasserman Group. Alex Escobar is, but that really doesn't matter.

B: You are wrong about the Braves and their salary, although I can't quote numbers to back that statement up (I mean, not without doing like research, and I don't care quite that much). They are middle of the pack as far as salary goes and I believe have been ever since Time Warner sold the team... maybe somebody more versed on the numbers can chime in. I do remember Bobby Cox being quoted as saying Furcal would be remiss in not taking the Dodgers' offer because the Braves couldn't afford to pay that much.

gtrogb, don't get me wrong, because I'm a Braves fan and I feel the agents acted in a way that wasn't real ethical... BUT, what exactly did THEY gain? I mean they get paid on a percentage basis, right? The overall contract value that Furcal ended up with was pretty much the same as the one the Braves had offered. So it doesn't appear that the agents came ahead financially in the whole deal.

Having said that, the term sheet, by all accounts, is the same as a handshake and I feel the Wasserman Group guys came out looking slimy.

65 comments already. Hooray. I thought that would be the case. I'm glad the Braves fans have come out of the woodwork here. John Shurholtz is the classiest guy and brightest mind in all of baseball to me. Rafael Furcal is a dead horse (bad back) trying to get as much money as he can while he still can. Good luck staying on the field. There are few with more talent than you. But you crossed the line here. You deserve Pittsburgh and no better. And I don't even like the Braves. Just Baseball. I'm not sure why the Braves tried to get you since they have a real shortstop now, perhaps they thought you could play second base, I guess.

"UtleyFan,

How much more did the Dodgers offer instead? Tell me...."

I don't believe I said the Dodgers offered more. I said that if the Braves expected to get Furcal that they would have to offer more. It was obvious that Furcal would prefer to stay in LA and play SS instead of 2B.

gtrogb... I agree with everything you are saying except the part about Furcal not being a need (Noah, too). The Braves don't "need" him as their SS or evn their 2B, but they do need a lead off guy. Nobody really fills that role for us right now. There are some possibilities, but all of them have downsides (like Josh Anderson could be a good lead off man assuming he can get on base, and thus far he has failed to hit lefties well enough to do that). Furcal at the top of the line-up gave us the small ball potential that worked so well for the Phillies and Rays last year (not that Howard and Burrell are small ball, but Rollins and Victorino are a scary way to lead off a game). Granted, that wouldn't matter if Furcal isn't healthy enough to play, but it was an appealing direction to steer the team in, I thought.

im disappointed at this site for believe this crap. Furcal and his agents are classless pieces of crap, I hope he is injured all of next year for the Dodgers. The league is better off without this dirtbag.