AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2008 > December > 17
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Furcal matter handled smoothly, eh?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m at least as tired as most of you of waiting for Rafael Furcal and his agent to tell us something, so I’m resorting to the one guaranteed way to get an answer quickly — write a new blog about how tedious this whole thing has become.
Within minutes of me posting this, we can probably count on a decision that will make whatever I write here a moot point. So blah blah blah, Gabba Gabba Hey (wait, where did that Ramones reference come from? Joey Ramone, rest in peace.)
Anyway, so I can’t remember a day of he said/he said quite as tumultuous as Tuesday, when the Braves and most of us in the baseball-reporting business were led to believe, assured even, that the Braves and Rafael Furcal had come to an informal agreement — a “gentlemen’s agreement” if you will — that he would sign a three-year contract with the Braves that included a vesting option.
The prodigal-son leadoff man was going to prove, once again, than you can go home — literally, as he has a house in Atlanta’s north-of-the-Perimeter ‘burbs.
But a funny thing happened on the way to his supposed physical. Well, not so funny if you’re the Braves or us who spent about 16 hours yesterday tethered to laptops and cell phones, waiting for a decision so we could carry on with other parts of our lives.
Somewhere along the way, between phone calls unreturned by his agent and silence emanating from the Braves’ unsure (and probably more than a bit miffed) front office, said agent was continuing to negotiate with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Not going to go through the explanation the agent gave a few folks about what happened, since it was his quote the night before to Ken Rosenthal that had begun this whole thing in the first place. If not for those comments from the agent, none of us would have been pursuing this story under the impression that a deal was immiment, and I’m sure that certain people close to the situation wouldn’t have assured all of us individually that a deal was imminent.
Because when that many people think a deal is imminent, and are certain enough of it to tell reporters as much, well, there’s a reason. Someone who either makes the decision or works for the person who makes the decision had led them to believe that a deal was imminent.
Guess it’ll be left to all of us to put 2 and 2 together and decide who was most likely the person who might have either spoke too soon or decided that, you know what, there might be more money to be had out there if we don’t finalize this thing just yet.
Anyway, as I sit here at 11:30 a.m. waiting for callbacks or for an e-mail telling me the deal is officially done, I’m still thinking that Furcal is coming to the Braves. But I don’t feel nearly as sure as I did 24 hours ago.
Still, I’m not buying what I read in one report that Furcal strongly favors a return to the Dodgers. I think he definitely wouldn’t mind staying with them, but from everyone I’ve talked to in the past three years, including Furcal himself on several occasions, he has always missed the Braves and Bobby Cox.
It’s not the same team that he left after the 2005 season. Many of those Braves are gone. But some of his favorite, some of his friends, are still here, including guys like John Smoltz (well, maybe), Chipper Jones, Cox, Terry Pendleton, Eddie Perez, Tom Glavine, and several young players he got to know when they were rookies during the 2005 season.
And many more of his former teammates and/or friends still live in the Atlanta area, where Furcal was always comfortable. He plays winter ball in his native Dominican Republic and has many relativesl there. You don’t think Furcal would like to be a few hours closer to the D.R.?
Yes, he knows Cox could be gone after this season. And a few of the other guys he’s close to could be gone, some perhaps even sooner than Cox.
And hey, maybe all that, plus the warmer weather and the whole Southern California/L.A. vibe (Furcal is a cool dude, no doubt) and a manager (Joe Torre) who’s a lot like Cox, are among the many reasons he’d probably like to keep playing home games at Chavez Ravine, too. His other home is in the Los Angles area, after all.
On the other hand, the Braves’ three-year offer with a fourth-year vesting option is clearly better than the Dodgers’ two-year offer with a third-year vesting option. Even if the Dodgers improved that offer sometime last night (not sure if they did yet) to make it a three-year guarantee, it wasn’t likely they’d include a fourth-year vesting option easily attainable, as the Braves’ option is if Furcal stays reasonably healthy and doesn’t miss more than about 30 games in 2011.
Assuming both offers are worth about $10 mill annually, but the Braves’ deal might include a fourth season at that rate, the Atlanta offer is clearly better, particularly if Furcal decided to sell his L.A. home and consolidate again in Atlanta, where the cost of living is far lower than Southern California.
But who knows? Again, maybe Furcal likes it out there even more than I thought. Maybe he digs being able to drive with the windows down or the top off almost any day, and likes the scenery out there (who wouldn’t). And, hey, maybe he figures that both cities have hellish traffic so that part’s a wash.
And maybe the genial Torre is Cox, or a close-enough facsimile for Furcal, who adores “6” but, like I said, also knows he might not be around much longer in Atlanta. And did I mention the scenery? Yes.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave (particularly agents).
OK, that should about do it. Expect an announcement within minutes of this being posted. Thank me later for pushing this matter to resolution.
Diversions: If you don’t have an Oxford American magazine subscription, then I’d recommend get thee to the bookstore and procure the new issue. It’s their annual Southern Music CD, and this time it’s a 10th-anniversary double-CD. This issue and this CD are always terrific, but this year’s is particularly strong, with everyone from Jerry Lee Lewis (who’s on the cover) to Lucinda Williams, Neko Case to Little Walter, Richard Hell to Erma Franklin (Aretha’s sister). Sublime blues, country, rock, and everything in-between.
And here’s a song by a legendary band not from the South.
”SWINGIN’ PARTY” by The Replacements (Paul Westeberg)
Bring your own lampshade, somewhere there’s a party
Here it’s never endin’, can’t remember when it started
Pass around the lampshade, there’ll be plenty enough room in jail
If bein’ wrong’s a crime, I’m serving forever
If bein’ strong’s your kind, then I need help here with this feather
If bein’ afraid is a crime, we hang side by side
At the swingin’ party down the line
At the swingin’ party down the line
Pound the prairie pavement, losin’ proposition
Quittin’ school and going to work and never goin’ fishin’
Water all around, never learned how to swim now
If bein’ wrong’s a crime, I’m serving forever
If bein’ strong’s your kind, then I need help here with this feather
If bein’ afraid is a crime, we hang side by side
At the swingin’ party down the line
At the swingin’ party down the line
Bring your own lampshade, somewhere there’s a party
Here it’s never endin’, can’t remember when it started
Pass around the lampshade, there’ll be plenty enough room in jail
If bein’ wrong’s a crime, I’m serving forever
If bein’ strong is what you want, then I need help here with this feather
If bein’ afraid is a crime, we hang side by side
At the swingin’ party down the line
At the swingin’ party down the line
Catch you down at the swingin’ party down the line
