Two weeks ago, the Dodgers re-signed shortstop Rafael Furcal, but not before all hell broke loose with him, his agent, and the Atlanta Braves. Now, I'm not one who knows how these free agency negotiations really work with the agents and teams, but there was certainly something fishy going on there in the end, and it's taken me until now to get all my thoughts together on the situation.
Back on Monday, December 15th, we learned Furcal had narrowed his choices down to two teams: the Dodgers, and the Braves. The Braves really came out of nowhere at the last minute in the rumor mill for Raffy's services, and there was growing expectation throughout that day that Furcal was leaning towards returning to Atlanta because they were willing to give him three guaranteed years, something Dodgers were hesitant to do. At some point that night, negotiations had gone so far with the Braves, that someone in the Braves organization told the Atlanta Journal Consitution (AJC) that the Braves and Furcal were close to a deal. What lead to this might have been Furcal's agent, Paul Kinzer, asking the Braves for a "signed term sheet," something that is considered widely in baseball as a final agreement, or a "gentleman's agreement."
The AJC ran with the story and before long, national media outlets had picked up the story and began to report that the two sides had reached an agreement. The following morning, despite all the reports saying the Braves and Furcal had an agreement, the Braves complied with Kinzer's request, and faxed him the signed term sheet. The Braves assumed they had a deal with Furcal. However, Kinzer took the term sheet to the Dodgers, and gave them one last chance to match it, and if they did, Furcal would stay with them. A day later, they guaranteed him the third years, and Furcal accepted their offer, and re-signed there two days later after passing his physical.
In the meantime, the Braves became enraged over the negotiating tactics put forth by Kinzer, saying he and Furcal reneged on an agreement. The Braves even went as far as saying they would never do business ever again with Kinzer, or the agency he worked for, which is run by fellow agent Arn Tellem. But, both Kinzer and Furcal still deny having ever agreed to any deal with the Braves.
Now, if I were in the Braves shoes, I would be enraged over this, as well. However, according to a statement by Kinzer, the baseball rules which "all agents and teams operate under are clear that no deal exists between a player and a team unless and until: (i) there is a signed and executed player agreement, or (ii) the Player's Union and Commissioner's office have otherwise confirmed the deal." Neither happened here. The Braves were also told that Monday night that Kinzer had advised his client "to sleep on it" before making a decision.
It seems to me the Braves let their emotions get the best of them, but everything indicates that Kinzer did nothing wrong, and complied within Major Leage Baseballs rules and guidelines throughout the process. I also believe that Furcal wasn't keen on signing with the Braves until he knew whether or not the Dodgers would match the offer for the simple fact he didn't want to play second base, something Braves were asking him to do as part of their deal. It also seems to me the Furcal wanted to stay in L.A. all along, which probably explained why he rejected Oakland's four-year offer earlier in the off-season.
If there is anyone to blame for this, it's really the media, and the people who still believe everything they read or hear from it. I can't begin to count how many times I've seen or heard a report saying Player A has been traded by Team A to Team B, only hours later for the GMs of both teams to dispute the report, after other media outlets picked up on the story. (A perfect example was the report several winters ago that the A's had traded star pitcher Tim Hudson to the Dodgers.) Three weeks ago, Giants GM Brian Sabean blasted the local media in the Bay Area who cover the Giants for continuously reporting erroneous stories that the Giants were in the thick of the C.C. Sabathia derby, were preparing to make an offer to him, and for even suggesting that Sabean and Sabathia had a planned meeting a few days later, when there was no truth to any of it. And the fallout to it all was Sabean then had to explain this through the media to the fans that there was never any truth to any of it.
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Andruw Jones was supposed to be that "big bat" in the middle of the Dodgers lineup when they inked him to a two-year $36MM deal last winter. Now, he's the "little bat" that neither the Dodgers, or anyone else seems to want. So, in an effort to find a suitor for him, and at the request of Jones and his agent Scott Boras, the Dodgers kindly obliged and restructured the final year of his contract, deferring most of what he's still owed into future years. Andruw Jones will still get his entire salary for 2009, but he will now be owed just $5MM in 2009, and the rest will be paid out over the following five years. In return, the Dodgers have also promised that they will release him, most likely by the end of the month, if they can't find a trade partner for him. What's guaranteed is this: Andruw Jones has played his last game as a Dodger, and I couldn't be more happy! What this also means is the Dodgers save an additional $12MM in payroll for 2009, which could very well be used to help entice Manny Ramirez to return to L.A.
I was all in favor of the signing last winter, primarily because I thought he would at least provide some power in the middle of the lineup that was sorely needed, and because it was only for two years. What I didn't expect was for him to arrive in spring training grossly overweight and out of shape, run into health problems, and hit just .158 with three home runs, 14 RBI in just 75 games. Now, I'm thrilled he's all but gone, and for all I care, he can take that frozen grin on his face and put it where the moon don't shine!
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The latest on Manny is, there's really nothing new going on. Well, maybe there is. The Dodgers and Manny's agent, Scott Boras, have reopened conversations regarding Manny. Whether they've begun to negotiate a contract remains unknown. What we also know is there is some level of interest from the Dodgers chief rival, the Giants. Reports that the Giants had made a four-year offer to Manny were immediately shot down, and whether the report was planted by Boras or not remains unknown. But it became pretty obvious last week that Boras may have hit the panic button when several reports came out that the Dodgers were beginning to look at other options (i.e. Adam Dunn and Bobby Abreu).
Negotiations, or shall I say, communications, between the Dodgers and Boras had grown to a point that Dodgers GM Ned Colletti was becoming more and more frustrated with the lack of response from Boras on Manny's behalf. Colletti made it be known that Manny was still "the first choice" for the Dodgers, but they had to start looking at other avenues if Boras was going to continue to play his game, whatever it is the game is called.
Some suggest the Giants interest is genuine, and that teams like the Angels and Mets should not be written off as possible destiniations for Manny, even though both have already publically said they had no interest in Manny. However, in the end, I, like the same people in the baseball industry who believe there will be a market for Manny, still believe Manny will be back in Dodger Blue for the simple fact that, one, he's a perfect fit for the Dodgers and they need him in the middle of their lineup as much as anyone else does, and two, Manny would continue to be the superstar for the Dodgers in L.A., and he would welcome the attention he would garner as that superstar from the fans, the city, the organization and the media.
