Agent: Furcal 'swings toward' LA

Rafael Furcal's agent said today that his client could now end up with the Dodgers rather than the Braves.

"Right now, things are swinging back towards the Dodgers probably," Paul Kinzer said.

This time, it seems Kinzer meant what he said.

By late afternoon, Braves officials were conceding that they won't be signing Furcal, despite what they thought was an agreement reached late Monday night. Kinzer insists that he never agreed to a deal with the Braves.

Tuesday, he went back to the Dodgers, asking them to match the Braves deal: three guaranteed years, with a vesting option, with a chance to make about $40 million.

Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti was open to matching it, according to sources, but he needed a final OK from owner Frank McCourt.

The Braves were so certain that they had a deal that they told some people that Furcal would be in Atlanta today for a physical.

Asked how the Braves could have become convinced they had a deal, Kinzer responded: "You'll have to ask them. They never received any signed documents, or anything. . . . I'm sorry if they were embarrassed. They know we didn't have a signed contract, and we didn't have a verbal agreement."

Kinzer, who was in New York for the Mets' Francisco Rodriguez press conference, said that Furcal was still home in the Dominican Republic.

Kinzer said that Furcal liked both the Braves and Dodgers, but that he preferred to play shortstop rather than second base. The Dodgers wanted him as a shortstop; the Braves planned to play him at second, with Yunel Escobar remaining at shortstop, and Kelly Johnson moving from second base to left field.

"There's nobody else (other than the Braves) that he would have even considered switching positions for," Kinzer said.

One person who knows Furcal said he believes Furcal preferred all along to remain with the Dodgers, and also agreed that Furcal would like to remain at shortstop. But Furcal would apparently sign with the Braves if the Dodgers aren't willing to guarantee the third year of the deal.

Kinzer, interestingly enough, makes his home in the Atlanta area. He said that after news of Furcal's apparent signing with the Braves broke on Tuesday morning, he received 50 phone calls from Braves fans. He said he told them that there was still no deal.

BlaknGold Posse Reputation: 97 Level: Superstar Since: Aug 22, 2006	Posted on: December 17, 2008 12:39 pm Score: 90 Agent: Furcal 'swings toward' LA let him, he can't decide to crap or get off the pot. [ Reply to Comment ]
The Truth 67 Reputation: 84 Level: All-Star Since: Oct 14, 2008	Posted on: December 17, 2008 12:43 pm Score: 90 Agent: Furcal 'swings toward' LA I figured this would happen once he thought again about moving to second. Dude wants to play short, and the Dodgers have DeWitt settled in at second, so at short Furcal will stay. Welcome back! [ Reply to Comment ]
KnnthBrady Reputation: 89 Level: All-Star Since: Feb 23, 2008	Posted on: December 17, 2008 1:26 pm Score: 91 Agent: Furcal 'swings toward' LA I'm not sure if I shoud simply say, "I told you so," about the 'premature' newswires on Rafael Furcal signing with the Atlanta Braves yesterday, or if I should just state my amazement at how this agent Kinzer can toy with the media. PErhaps he's playing the Braves and the Dodgers off on each other through the media??? [ Reply to Comment ]
DMB1981 Reputation: 97 Level: Superstar Since: Sep 11, 2006	Posted on: December 17, 2008 1:58 pm Score: 90 Agent: Furcal 'swings toward' LA That's cool. You can have Furcal and his 36-game season. Oh, and how's Andruw working out? [ Reply to Comment ]
joesjets1 Reputation: 90 Level: All-Star Since: Jun 17, 2008	Posted on: December 17, 2008 2:01 pm Score: 81 Agent: Furcal 'swings toward' LA Too funny, Wait he wants to stay in LA if the Dodgers will just match the Braves offer, Thought that was only a Boras trick [ Reply to Comment ]
forVaTech01 Reputation: 98 Level: Superstar Since: Aug 18, 2006	Posted on: December 17, 2008 2:06 pm Score: 93 Agent: Furcal 'swings toward' LA Knobler reported Furcal's Atlanta signing as a done deal yesterday. I guess he took the Braves' word for it. Not very good reporting. [ Reply to Comment ]
jd1973 Reputation: 99 Level: Superstar Since: Sep 11, 2006	Posted on: December 17, 2008 2:10 pm Score: 91 Agent: Furcal 'swings toward' LA Can Furcal be accused of swinging both ways now? [ Reply to Comment ]
epozz Reputation: 98 Level: Superstar Since: Dec 1, 2008	Posted on: December 17, 2008 2:12 pm Score: 34 Agent: Furcal 'swings toward' LA True enough!!! Boras has taught all agents, or at least those who were paying attention to all negotiations that he conducts, how to play one team off of another. Everyone should be used to those types of tactics, since he is probably the most hated person in baseball by fans, owners, and GM's combined. Boras is a grease spot on an amazing game that needs to wiped out because of his own greed, he gets like 20% or something like it, and then the baseball world could settle down again a little. Someone please get rid of the greed of him and agents like him that ruin this grand game. [ Reply to Comment ]
sportswise1 Reputation: 80 Level: All-Star Since: Oct 1, 2006	Posted on: December 17, 2008 2:29 pm Score: 85 Agent: Furcal 'swings toward' LA Furcal was terrific before he went down and almost as grreat when he came back-- Solid performer and not normally injury prone As for your other comment-- who is your team and did they never make a terrible signing? [ Reply to Comment ]
Chandler9797 Reputation: 42 Level: Rookie Since: Dec 17, 2008	Posted on: December 17, 2008 2:38 pm Score: 40 Agent: Furcal 'swings toward' LA Ok, here is the deal..... I hate it when guys play teams against one another to this extent. I am sure that Atlanta was told that they had a deal, or if not, they were told that it was almost a done deal....then, when the deal gets announced they use it against LA for a final push. If I were the braves, I would immediately and publicly pull the offer off of the table and to publicly say that they are not, and will never be interested in his services. At that point he has no leverage anymore and the Dodgers do not have to give in to his demands. Maybe this will teach players to play fair and prove that some people are not in this JUST for money. [ Reply to Comment ]

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