Note: Let me start off by once again making you, the reader, aware that I am a life-long Atlanta Braves fan, so there may be just a little bias in the following article.

It all started on Monday, when reports surfaced that the Braves were close to a deal with 

free agent short stop Rafael Furcal. Experts across the web reported that Furcal would be 

playing second base and Kelly Johnson would move back to left field, a position he roamed just 

a few years ago before the departure of Marcus Giles.

The deal was agreed upon with Furcal's agent firm Tellem/Kinzer for 3 years for $30 million

dollars (quite a bit of money for a player coming off of back surgery). The Braves agreed to send

over a term sheet on Tuesday morning for the agents to sign as well as Furcal, however the 

Braves never received that letter back. Instead Frank Wren awoke to reports on Tuesday 

morning that Furcal was talking to the Dodgers about a deal, also 3 years for $30 million.

A physical was in place for Wednesday for Furcal in Atlanta, however he never showed up.  

Instead, on Tuesday night it was announced that Furcal was re-signing for the Dodgers, which 

made Wren very upset. Now the Braves are still without a big free agent signing but a slew of 

cash to spend, and will likely spend the remaining money on pitching.

Pitching however, has little to nothing to do with this deal. It appears that something is not 

being seen because it's outrageous to think that he had a change of heart overnight. After all, 

Furcal came up with the Braves and won the Rookie of the Year in 2001 as their shortstop.  

Many believe that if he stayed healthy last year he would have had a breakout season, however 

things did not turn out that way.

Instead, Furcal will begin 2009 in Dodger Blue, while Wren turns blue in the face still not 

making a big signing. This situation could work out in the Braves favor still though. Furcal is 

coming off of major back surgery and missed most of the 2008 season, and maybe the baseball 

gods want the Braves to spend more money on pitching.

After all, the Braves currently have a starting staff made up of Javier Vazquez, Jair Jurrjens,

Jorge Campillo, and then a slew of possibilities including Arizona Fall League standout Tommy 

Hanson. Possibilities still include Randy Wolf, John Garland, and others possibly even from over 

seas to help fill out the Atlanta rotation after they missed out on both Jake Peavy and A.J. 

Burnett.

Time will tell, but until then, it appears that a deal is never a deal until a deal is done- just 

like what happened in the Mark Teixeira talks with the Red Sox tonight.