Furcal Signs With Dodgers

Furcal can stay with the Dodgers, and when he gets hurt again, us Braves fans will sit here a laugh.

Jeez, the Braves are certainly getting jerked around this offseason.

No one is worth that money>> The Braves need to look at character. An agreement is an agreement. Move on. I am sure when RF gets hurt he will expect his money because of the agreement.

I would avoid this guy and his agent. I remember a few years ago when he had seemingly signed with the Cubs, and then all of a sudden he signed with the Dodgers for more money / less years. It would seem that he had an agreement with the Cubs at that time, like he now has with the Braves...

And I'm sure Furcal is looking at the NL West vs. the NL East when making a decision. The Braves have to find a way to beat the Mets and Phillies. The Dodgers have a division where the D'backs, Rockies and Padres are cutting salary, and a Giants team that doesn't have much talent. Getting to the playoffs seems to be much easier with the Dodgers, with or without Manny.

People aren't bitter that Furcal didn't sign a contract. They're bitter because Raffy apparently made it clear he was ready to sign the Braves offer, his agent made him sleep on the decision, and then went out shopping that offer to the Dodgers without ever telling the Braves that they didn't actually have an agreement in place.

How many other times this offseason have you seen two sides come to an agreement in principle and then one side back out while they try and get another team to match/beat the offer they "agreed" to? I understand that there was never anything in writing that Furcal signed or anything, but its obvious that the Braves were left with the impression they had an agreement in place and Furcal actually signing and taking a physical were just formalities.

"look guys, its business. this is prob what happened with the braves. we'll over you 3/30m. furcal tells him he's is very intrigued, but never says we have an aggrement. the braves thought they did."

Why would the Braves think they had an agreement, unless Furcal and/or his agent had indicated that to them?

Clearly, it appears that Furcal TOLD Atlanta that he would sign at 3/30, and then his agent told him to wait and see what LA offers. If I was Atlanta, I wouldn't be too happy about it either.

If he ends up in Los Angeles now, then Furcal will likely have sullied his name in Atlanta forever.

If we he doesn't sign at least we still have a good hitting MI as well as ~30M to spend on LF and SP. Wouldn't be a horrid situation.

Wren seems to be getting hazed by the offseason players this year. Towers jerked him around, Furcal's agents are jerking him around... I think they're trying to get a feel for what kinds of crap he'll deal with and what they can get away with. Kenny Williams seems to be the only one who sat down and actually talked to him with any respect. Hopefully next year will be different.

I think we shouldn't jump to conclusions yet. I am a Braves fan, but I'm not ready to dislike Peavy or Furcal.

If Furcal comes back to the Braves...it may not be the wisest thing on Wren's part, but I'm all about it because I've missed Furcal ever since he left. Wren might have misunderstood Furcal's intentions. Plus, wouldn't you rather him think about it to make sure it is what he really wants. He'll play better if he is in the best situation.

Ultimately, I think Furcal is coming back to the Brave's leadoff spot in the lineup. Right now, the important thing is to not read to much into anything until something is signed and a physical is no longer pending.

Don't blame the Braves office or Furcal. Blaim FoxSports or those that reported something as final before it ever was.

Braves should look in to Dunn. He would be good for them. Besides the Braves already have a SS and KJ who is better at 2B than in LF

Not really the best way to start off a relationship is it Fookie?

There's no way he can sign with Atlanta after all this. IF there is one lesson for Wren it is ABC "Always Be Closing"

What a debacle.

Tough times for the Braves for sure.

Furcal had better let it be known that him coming to LA is a "Manny requirement" because otherwise he may be on the outside looking into the playoffs too. Their offense was putrid without Manny and no one hit in the LCS BUT Manny.

wow, if i were a braves fan i would be surely pissed off that Wren would allow this to happen how pathetic could you be.

Posted by: bosox87 | December 17, 2008 at 11:40 AM

How did Wren "allow this to happen". Its not like its anyones fault, but Wren didn't send his agents back to LA...

hahahah.

What a crappy offseason for Atlanta so far. They don't land Peavy or Burnett, have failed to address their outfield sitation, had Furcal back out of a deal, and gave up Tyler Flowers to land Vazquez. Sorry, Atlanta.

How many deals is Furcal going to walk away from? First the A's, now the Braves. The Dodgers better hurry up and sign him before he walks away from them, too.

This makes me long for the days of JS when we don't hear anything until the deal is done and we had no idea is was coming. I thought that was what happened with Furcal but I guess they jumped the gun on that a bit.
At least we know that FW is trying.

Classless move by Furcal and his agents. No way the Braves leak the story if they aren't sure a deal is in place. Why would they want to look foolish? Then Furcal's agent takes the deal to the Dodgers, in hopes of getting them to ante up. Classless.

Yeah I don't really put this on Furcal as much as his agent. I think Furcal probably told the Braves that he would accept their offer, but his agent convinced him to sleep on it and then got around to trying to get the Dodgers to match the Braves offer. Once his agent started negotiating with the Dodgers and got them to up their offer, Furcal started to have 2nd thoughts. I don't like what his agent did, but there isn't anything technically wrong with it. What really bothers me is that it doesn't seem like anyone actually bothered to tell the Braves that this wasn't the sure thing that Furcal had led them to believe.

Remember guys that Furcal was out of the country when all of this happened. Clearly, he wasn't going to be signing anything until he arrived back in America. The Braves seemed to be left with the impression they had a deal in place and only had to deal with the formalities of Furcal giving his final signature on everything and taking a physical once he got back to the states. Well, I think he's finally back today, but it seems like his intentions have changed significantly...

This is a crazy offseason Im just wondering is FW a really bad GM or are these other GMs and agents just using a greenhorn to better their own situations? Either way this offseason has been a total disapointment so far.

"What a crappy offseason for Atlanta so far. They don't land Peavy or Burnett, have failed to address their outfield sitation, had Furcal back out of a deal, and gave up Tyler Flowers to land Vazquez. Sorry, Atlanta."

1. How many outfielders have been signed? One. And that was only last week.

2. Vazquez is actually pretty good, if you can get beyond the mental midget/Ozzie Guillen's doghouse mess. The Braves sold high on Flowers, especially if he ends up having to move to 1B.

3. The Braves kept Yunel Escobar. IMO, better to keep him than trade him for Peavy. They also kept Heyward, Hanson, Schafer, Freeman, Rohrborough, and Teheran.

4. On Burnett. The Braves went there with Mike Hampton. Going with a mediocre pitcher at the slot is much better than signing him just to go on the DL. Braves are not the Yankees.

I wouldn't say their offseason has been going great, but I wouldn't say its been crappy. Philadelphia probably has had a worse offseason so far.

Yep, because the offseason is over.

wow, if i were a braves fan i would be surely pissed off that Wren would allow this to happen how pathetic could you be.

Posted by: bosox87 | December 17, 2008 at 11:40 AM

Stupid comment.

Maybe the lesson should be: keep your mouth shut until the player has signed the contract. Then you won't think you have a deal completed when it hasn't been.

Whoever he signs for 3 yr/$30m is a fair price. As long as he stays healthy for most of his contract!

He is still one of the best SS in the game.

Ha, "gentleman's-agreement"?!? With they way things have been the last few years, it's hard to believe that those have any validity left in them (which is sad and unfortunate).. Because of the '95 World Series, I would never say that I "like" the Braves (at least not in a public setting) but I certainly feel bad about how they have been jerked around this offseason... Peavy, Furcal, Burnett. That's three big ones that seemingly got away.

I can't blame any GM that has to deal with Furcal.

He did this kind of BS three years ago when the Cubs were about to sign him. He did it to the Athletics and Braves this offseason. The Dodgers may be close to signing him, but who knows. Don't believe any headlines about Furcal until a deal is signed.

Stop bashing Wren and the Braves.

Melonis-

I realize they have a good deal of time to make changes, and the Vazquez trade wasn't necessarily bad for Atlanta.

But in terms of their goals this offseason, it seems like their plans keep falling through. They planned on landing Peavy but couldn't work it out (not that that was a bad idea, they were giving up a lot), then planned on landing Burnett, then planned on landing Furcal.

It just seems like they keep going through options just to have things not work out.

The Braves have money so they're going to make some sort of move for a pitcher, and likely an outfielder, and there's still hope for things to work out, but as of right now it's been a pretty unsuccessful offseason for Atlanta.

As a Braves fan, this is very embarassing. Looks like Furcal's agents played us like a fiddle to get the Dodgers to up their offer.

Just another idiot,

What Braves fans thought we were on our way to a division title? Many Braves fans were against a Peavy trade because they didn't think he'd help us compete in 2009 anyway. At best, informed fans knew that if everything went right this offseason we'd be in the discussion for the division and WC along with the Mets and Phillies.

As for the Peavy trade, even if the Braves had signed Raffy it would have been incredibly unlikely. If they don't, there is clearly no chance talks will get revived because the Braves can't move Escobar and moving Hanson or Heyward would make even less sense now that we're probably not going to be in the running for a playoff spot anyway.

The Braves still have plenty of money to spend and prospects they could trade to upgrade their major league club. It's too soon to consider this offseason a disappointment. The free agent market is still crowded with players the Braves could sign to play LF or be at the top of their rotation. If Smoltz continues to prove he is healthy and resigns with Atlanta, that alone would give them an ace better than anybody they could have realistically gotten not named Peavy.

When Burnett and Furcal are on the DL much of next year, we Braves fans won't be missing them much.

What if and just what if Flowers is the next Marte a top prospect that we sold high on and we end up with something out the deal...I know what your thinking the Braves are not known for getting the good end of any deal, I mean we got screwed with the all the deals like the Hudson and Renteria trades...please....let the season play out and let's see what happens with Tyler before we say we overpaid...

If Flowers ends up another Scott Thorman and we end up with 40-45 wins over the next 3 years of Vazquez, I'd say we won...

mr. pink,

No one ever announced that the deal was done. It simply leaked from sources that the Braves and Furcal had reached an agreement in principle. Obviously, the Braves considered the signing and physical a formality to be taken care of once Furcal returned to the US today (he wasn't physically present at negotiations).

@Just another idiot

well for starters, you don't announce a deal until the ink hits the paper.

didn't mean to sound pompous. we're obviously from different worlds.

i just think idiots like you, sound like,well, just another idiot.

Posted by: mr.pink | December 17, 2008 at 12:22 PM

Who announced anything??? At this point its all speculation. That's why Tim calls it MLBTRADERUMORS.com

I didn't hear anything about the Braves holding a conference call/meeting???

While they may not have had a "verbal agreement," this quote from Kinzer sure makes it seem like Furcal indicated to the Braves that he wanted to come to Atlanta...

"I wanted Raffy to sleep on it so we could talk about it again today. I didn't want him to make an emotional decision, because he was so excited about coming [to Atlanta]."

He's talking about Monday night right there. Seems like Raffy had made up his mind (and this was probably known to people within the Braves organization), but his agent was able to convince him to hold off on a final decision.

Wow I never really realized how pathetic the braves fans are. First of all this kind of thing happens a lot more than you hear about. MLBTRADERUMORS.com is a recent invention that sheds light to a lot of the goings on in free agency. Im willing to go out on a limb and say its even happened elsewhere this year but the team was not dumb enough to leak it like this until they were sure it was a done deal. With the way furcal has negotiated and shown his preference for the dodgers since day one, Wren should have seen this one coming a mile away and not rushed to phone that moron ken rosenthal. Normally i reserve this kind of bashing for the mediocrity that is the AAA baseball team in San Diego...but man Wren and Towers should be fired for this offseason. What a debacle. Dodgers fans were feeling the way braves fans are right now about 24 hours ago but they didnt act like a bunch of pussies. Blame peavy for not getting the trade done???? that is hilarious. This is called non-slavery capitalism. There is a reason an agreement isnt a done deal and this didnt even qualify as an agreement. Braves deserve the bleak future they are gonna get.

Just another idiot-

1. There is a HUGE difference between Boyer (fringey mediocre lefty reliever) and Locke/Rohrborough (especially Rohrborough, who's a top prospect, but Locke's also a good prospect). Huge huge difference. And, no way should the Braves have included Escobar, Rohrborough/Locke, AND Hernandez in a Peavy deal. Good on Wren for walking away then.

2. The split between Peavy and Vazquez is not worth Yunel Escobar. I probably do overvalue Escobar a little bit, I'll be honest, as a fan of a team who hasn't had a good SS in so long, but both are pretty good pitchers. Peavy is obviously better, but at his price tag, he isn't "better" than Vazquez enough to cost Escobar + more than 1 prospect.

Dodgers can talk crap too, but in the end, the Dodgers get the Braves WASHED-UP players. I should put every teams washed-up players.

I bet Furcal gave the Dodgers a gentlemen's agreement that they were in the lead.

what exactly does "vesting" option imply.

I guess you should be happy with mediocrity Melonis Rex...and to say Peavy is worth Esobar and one prospect you are nuts !

I think I'm going back to school to become a journalist! Obviously they don't know what they're talking about half of the time because it's usually completely off base and wrong. I guess Furcal and his agent were baiting the Braves as leverage.

Also, has no one considered the possibility that Kinzer wanted the Braves to think they had Furcal locked up, so that when the info leaked to press the Braves wouldn't deny, giving Kinzer even more leverage with the Dodgers?

Think about it, if the Dodgers aren't convinced that the Braves have a 3 year 30MM offer on the table with a vesting option for a 4th year and that Furcal has essentially already accepted that offer, would they have just have called Kinzer's "bluff"? The information leak certainly helped Kinzer and Furcal far more than it helped the Braves.

MattsdodgersSD,

You are an idiot. If you think the Braves have a bleak future you are an idiot. They have 2 of the top prospects in baseball and quite a few other players that are projected to big league regulars at least. That's not to mention Brian McCann, Jair Jurrjens, and Escobar as a foundation. You are a moron.

phils,

I'm assuming Mr. Pink is from Reservoir Dogs, in which case it's fine with me.

Posted by: Smoltz's Beard | December 17, 2008 at 12:37 PM

Smoltz' Beard,

I totally forgot about that, thanks.

I hereby take back any "thoughts" I had about the poster named "Mr Pink".

LOL

Let's play another edition of Rumors Gone Wild, starring Your Host, Mr. Tim Dierkes. I don't know what to believe any more, though it doesn't surprise me that Furcal prefers the Dodgers. The Braves already have a fine shortstop in Escobar, quit trying to convert other shortstops to play second base!

Kinzer hasn't come off well in this whole debacle. I hope this situation is resolved soon because I am bored of Furcal now. I have no problem with a player trying to get the best possible deal for himself, but he seems to have played the A's off against the Braves, and then the Braves off against the Dodgers.

"I hope this situation is resolved soon because I am bored of Furcal now."

According to Olney, a decision should happen today.

yeah i remember when the cubs thought they had Furcal. Kind of sucks. You would be better off with Dunn in LF and leave Johnson and 2B where his bat is good enough. Dunn most likey would require less years and around the same amout of money so its worth it.