Furcal Jilts Braves, takes Dodgers deal

In the words of Avery Bishop from Jerry McGuire, “Sign the contract, close the deal.” The Braves might feel a bit like Jerry McGuire today as Rafael Furcal and his agent Paul Kizner accepted the Los Angeles Dodgers offer, just days after agreeing in principle to a 3 year/$30M deal with Atlanta. According to reports, Furcal and his agent were sent a terms sheet to sign, the last step in a contract, only to never sign it. Instead the agent went back to LA to seek more money. Kizner told reporters that he felt bad if the Braves were led in the wrong direction. This reminds me of Matt Cushman in Jerry McGuire when he signs with Tom Cruise’s character’s rival agent after claiming allegiance to McGuire.

The Braves had even made plans to switch Furcal to second base and move Kelly Johnson to the outfield, or it was a possibility that current shortstop Yunel Escobar could be have been packaged in a trade for a starting pitcher. But at the last minute before the terms sheet could be signed, the Dodgers came running in like Dustin Hoffman at the end of The Graduate, grabbing Furcal and leaving the Braves at the alter. While the Dodgers deal is a 3 year/$33M with a $13M option for a fourth year, it would be hard to imagine that the Braves wouldn’t have ponied up the extra cash to get the team’s shortstop from 2000-05. Let’s just hope for Furcal’s sake that he and the Dodgers don’t have that look that Ben Braddock and Elaine Robinson sport while riding on the bus at the end of The Graduate. If you never saw the movie, the smile slowly turned into an uncomfortable mindspin.

But for now, the Braves are left hanging and the offseason is quickly going down the tubes. Where do you turn next? Do you pay through the nose for either Ben Sheets or Derek Lowe? Do you still make a play for an outfielder like Rick Ankiel? Do you try and rekindle the Jake Peavy deal, with San Diego knowing that you might be willing to give up the farm to get the egg off of your face? Or do you just sit tight with a roster that went 72-90 and that has lost 4/5ths of its starting rotation? Braves GM Frank Wren has some decisions to make.