Tex and the Nats...

[tomterp]

Interesting, but you could of put all that into just a few simple words for example: "Yeah, they are full of crap."

Well, you should draw the distinction here - in this case it appears the CMSB is the (presumably legit) messenger, and his source is the person who is most deserving of your skepticism. 

[PANatsFan]

Well, you should draw the distinction here - in this case it appears the CMSB is the (presumably legit) messenger, and his source is the person who is most deserving of your skepticism. 

If someone bites on a crappy source (sounds gross), then they're partially to blame. I read Rosenthal is totally steamed over the Furcal/Braves mess.

[spidernat]

yea she was hot

[Nat of the Living Dead]

Well, you should draw the distinction here - in this case it appears the CMSB is the (presumably legit) messenger, and his source is the person who is most deserving of your skepticism. 

What is CMSB?

If that is some sort of "insider" source I haven't read about in the past six or seven pages yet, my apologies I don't know what they are saying, but chances are its complete bullcrap as well. If the Teix Sweepstakes is going to show anything, it has shown how much media knows absolutely nothing other than knowing they love to hear themselves talk.

I agree people should consume or throw away what rumors they choose, but after two weeks and 91 pages later, you would think that we'd have learned to take what these "insiders" from OH, WNFF, and where ever else with a grain of salt at this point.

[tomterp]

If someone bites on a crappy source (sounds gross), then they're partially to blame. I read Rosenthal is totally steamed over the Furcal/Braves mess.

Apparently Furcal's agent left a message early morning yesterday on Frank Wren's phone (Wren was still asleep) saying to go ahead and draw up the term sheet, which is code for "we have a deal, let's make it formal".  While the Braves were proceeding on this assumption, the Dodgers somehow got in and raised their offer, and before the Braves knew what hit them the Dodgers had trumped the deal.  Rosenthal had good sources, he had the story right, but what happened is far outside the ordinary course of affairs.  Boy are the Braves pissed, and it makes the agent Kinzler look like a slimy conniving jackass.

....At Kinzer's request, Wren faxed a signed term sheet that outlined the offer. This was the action that gave the Braves every reason to believe a verbal agreement was, indeed, in place.

A Major League general manager who wasn't involved in these negotiations confirmed on Tuesday that term sheets aren't sent to the agent until a verbal agreement has been made.

But once the Braves sent this signed term sheet, Kinzer began altering his stance. It's believed that he began feeling some heat from his partner, Arn Tellem, who was upset that the Dodgers hadn't been given the opportunity to counter the Braves' offer.

"In this business, you have to have confidence in the people you're dealing with," Wren said. "The worst thing that can happen to you is to lose the confidence of the people that you have to deal with."

Wren's words primarily were directed toward Kinzer, who drew the ire of the Braves in December 2005, when he didn't provide them the chance to counter the three-year, $39 million offer that Furcal ultimately accepted from the Dodgers.

This time around, in a strange turn of events, Kinzer and Tellem allowed the Dodgers the opportunity to counter the offer the Braves felt already had been agreed upon.

After attending a news conference that officially introduced Francisco Rodriguez as a Mets player on Wednesday morning, Kinzer spoke to reporters about how things had changed so dramatically over the course of the previous 24 hours.

Wren read those comments with great interest and was incensed when he came across Kinzer saying, "I'm embarrassed and I'm sure Frank is embarrassed."

"We're not embarrassed," Wren said. "We're mad a deal wasn't honored. I can understand why he's embarrassed."

Wren's take was that you can only feel embarrassed if you do something wrong. From his perspective, he felt he handled everything professionally from the time he and Kinzer began attempting to hammer out a deal on Monday night.

Between 8 p.m.-10 p.m. ET on Monday, Wren and Kinzer had numerous phone conversations that centered on the terms of the deal. Around 9:30 p.m., Kinzer was pleased enough to call the A's to tell them they were out of the picture.

Kinzer and Wren spoke once more around midnight, with the agent indicating that he still hadn't had the chance to speak with Furcal. But at the same time, he said, "Everything looked good."

"I went to bed feeling we were in good shape," said Wren, who awoke on Tuesday morning to find a voice-mail message from Kinzer, who had since talked to Furcal.

Within this message, Wren remembers Kinzer saying, "I talked to Raffy. We're good with everything. Go ahead and send over a term sheet."

With that, Wren felt the negotiations were complete and began planning for Furcal to undergo a physical in Atlanta on Wednesday. As for Braves fans, they began anticipating the return of the exciting shortstop who spent his first six Major League seasons (2000-05) with Atlanta.

But early Tuesday afternoon, Kinzer once again started to answer his phone to tell reporters that nothing had been signed or agreed upon. His message came at least three hours after various media outlets had reported an agreement was in place.

Kinzer didn't return multiple calls placed by MLB.com on Wednesday. He did talk to Wren during the afternoon hours, and instead of negotiating, he found himself attempting to explain what happened.

There's a chance Furcal chose to stick with the Dodgers because he's enjoyed his time in Los Angeles and wanted to play for manager Joe Torre again. There's also a chance he wasn't thrilled with the possibility of having to move to second base if he signed with the Braves.

But for now, the Braves really don't know why the tide shifted so dramatically after it appeared they'd acquired one of the game's top leadoff hitters. Nor can they really do anything about it.

"There's no recourse," Wren said. "You learn who you can do business with and who you can't.

"



http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081217&content_id=3720143&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl

[blue911]

If someone bites on a crappy source (sounds gross), then they're partially to blame. I read Rosenthal is totally steamed over the Furcal/Braves mess.

Kirk Herbstreit got hung out in the Les Miles to Michigan story last year. This whole "I got the scope" mentality on a non-story (meaning it wasn't unexpected) leads to media members looking stupid.

[Natskins]

Does this feel like the calm before the storm to anyone else? Lots of chatter for days...and now, silence. I get the sense that Tex is now negotiating with one team and that a deal is being hammered out.

A Boston newspaper article this morning quoted one anonymous GM who has been involved in the bidding as saying he didn't know whether his team is still in the running for Tex. Usually that's a bad sign. If you don't know whether you're still in the mix, then you're probably not. That's how I'd interpret it, anyway.

[Nat of the Living Dead]

Does this feel like the calm before the storm to anyone else? Lots of chatter for days...and now, silence. I get the sense that Tex is now negotiating with one team and that a deal is being hammered out.

A Boston newspaper article this morning quoted one anonymous GM who has been involved in the bidding as saying he didn't know whether his team is still in the running for Tex. Usually that's a bad sign. If you don't know whether you're still in the mix, then you're probably not. That's how I'd interpret it, anyway.

I predict we find out on Tuesday. I base that off of nothing other than gut feelings. Damn, I just became an "insider!"

[DPMOmaha]

Apparently Furcal's agent left a message early morning yesterday on Frank Wren's phone (Wren was still asleep) saying to go ahead and draw up the term sheet, which is code for "we have a deal, let's make it formal".  While the Braves were proceeding on this assumption, the Dodgers somehow got in and raised their offer, and before the Braves knew what hit them the Dodgers had trumped the deal.  Rosenthal had good sources, he had the story right, but what happened is far outside the ordinary course of affairs.  Boy are the Braves pissed, and it makes the agent Kinzler look like a slimy conniving jackass.

That would get me all pissed off too. 

[Natskins]

If someone bites on a crappy source (sounds gross)

Yeah, pretty sure you can get sick that way.

[blue911]

That would get me all pissed off too. 

Arn Tellum and Randy Hendricks used to be partners.

[natsfan4evr]

Arn Tellum and Randy Hendricks used to be partners.

Two peas in a pod
They are both terrible agents. At least Boras doesn't pull this crap. He might not be the most liked, but he at least is honest (as far as I've heard).

[cmdterps44]

wtf, i keep having tex dreams, this craps getting to me.

First was the Red Sox signed him and i got really pissed and yelled at every sox fan and protested at fenway park for some reason.

Then we signed him and i had the best day of my life.

[wpa2629]

wtf, i keep having tex dreams, this craps getting to me.

First was the Red Sox signed him and i got really pissed and yelled at every sox fan and protested at fenway park for some reason.

Then we signed him and i had the best day of my life.

How are exams coming?

[spidernat]

wtf, i keep having tex dreams, this craps getting to me.

First was the Red Sox signed him and i got really pissed and yelled at every sox fan and protested at fenway park for some reason.

Then we signed him and i had the best day of my life.

Try having a sex dream instead of a tex dream and by all means, don't mix the two together or you'll be the new AZ.

[cmdterps44]

How are exams coming?

Finished yesterday did pretty well on em im guessing except for a statistic exam. nervous bout it.

[hammondsnats]

Try having a sex dream instead of a tex dream and by all means, don't mix the two together or you'll be the new AZ.

yeah but be careful about the sex dreams.  especially how you still live with the rents. 

[BerkeleyNat]

Try having a sex dream instead of a tex dream and by all means, don't mix the two together or you'll be the new AZ.

  Trust me......you don't wanna be the new AZ. Get your butt over to the Beautiful Women thread ASAP and take a break from this Tex madness.

[PANatsFan]

Finished yesterday did pretty well on em im guessing except for a statistic exam. nervous bout it.

So you are in the anti-BP crowd?

[spidernat]

Trust me......you don't wanna be the new AZ. Get your butt over to the Beautiful Women thread ASAP and take a break from this Tex madness.

You don't think AZ has made the pilgrimage to the "BWT"? 

[PatsNats28]

You don't think AZ has made the pilgrimage to the "BMT"? 

Fixed.

[wpa2629]

Heyman


With perhaps only days to go, many baseball executives seem to believe the Red Sox have the best chance to sign Mark Teixeira.

"I think he's going to the Red Sox. You think he's going there. And everyone in baseball thinks that,'' says a slightly exaggerating executive with one of the other interested teams.

The reason, it seems, that people believe the Red Sox will grab the multitalented Teixeira is that they are the one and only perennially-winning team on the East Coast that's known to be all in for Teixeira, a Maryland native.

The Angels are on the West Coast, the Orioles and Nationals are perennial losers, and it still remains somewhat uncertain how committed to the cause the Yankees are.

And yet it's barely better than a guessing game for everyone except Teixeira himself, agent Scott Boras and a very close coterie of confidants.

A decision is likely by sometime next week, perhaps just before Christmas, as Teixeira has been saying all along. Until then we have some serious tea leaves to read.

There were signs in recent days that the Red Sox, Angels and Nationals were the three highest bidders. One source said he believed that Boston was in for close to $180 million over eight years and the Angels in for about the same. The Nats may be as high, or even higher than that. Some suggest they have either hit the $200 million mark, or gotten very close. Or that someone else has.

But who can be sure? And who knows whether final bids are in?


4. Nationals. Word is, owner Ted Lerner, who's 83 and a multibillionaire, very much impressed Teixeira. Translation: They may be offering the moon. But even so, the Nats are a long way from winning. And no one watches them. Odds: 15-1.

5. Orioles. There have been a lot of funny rumors lately, many of them connected to the O's. One had Teixeira spending the day at a Ravens game with O's owner Peter Angelos. If that happened there's no reason to think that would help, anyway. Angelos has been pining for Teixeira forever, but they are believed to be running behind in the bidding, anyway. Beyond the money issue, how does a player in search of a decade-long deal sign up to play for a team that hasn't won in over a decade? Odds: 25-1.

[sportsfan882]

Sounds right to me if you think about it. There is absolutely no reason for Teixeira to want to come here unless all he cares about is the cash which I doubt is the case. At this point money is secondary and it's all about where he feels comfortable at and where he thinks he can win. Slam dunk win for the Red Sox. I don't see any scenario where he would even consider coming here.

[natsfan4evr]

We reached 200 million?
I like that Lerner impressed Tex

The fact that he puts the Yanks ahead of us, even though they didn't even bid, speaks wonders.
This guy is a true moron.

[tomterp]

4. Nationals. Word is, owner Ted Lerner, who's 83 and a multibillionaire, very much impressed Teixeira. Translation: They may be offering the moon. But even so, the Nats are a long way from winning. And no one watches them. Odds: 15-1.

5. Orioles. There have been a lot of funny rumors lately, many of them connected to the O's. One had Teixeira spending the day at a Ravens game with O's owner Peter Angelos. If that happened there's no reason to think that would help, anyway. Angelos has been pining for Teixeira forever, but they are believed to be running behind in the bidding, anyway. Beyond the money issue, how does a player in search of a decade-long deal sign up to play for a team that hasn't won in over a decade? Odds: 25-1.

What about 1 through 3?  I want to see the odds.