Braves slam Furcal's agent and threaten to boycott his agency

December 19, 4:13 PMSports ExaminerPaula Duffy

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Rafael Furcal's signing by Dodgers has Atlanta Braves in an uproar

Some players' agents conduct their negotiations in a way that keeps them out of the spotlight and others are famous in their own right. We know about Drew Rosenhaus and the infamous Scott Boras, but who knew the name Paul Kinzer prior to the signing of Rafael Furcal by the Dodgers?

John Schuerholz, President of the Atlanta Braves is using the words "despicable" and "disgusting" to describe Kinzer and has threatened to refuse to do business with him and the agency he works for, Wasserman Media Group. This was a deal gone bad for the Braves. They thought they had one in principle when they were asked to type up a term sheet with a new and larger offer, sign it and send it to Kinzer.

According to the Braves, the next thing they heard was that Furcal signed with Los Angeles and Schuerholz believes the Braves' offer was shared with the Dodgers. Kinzer's side of the story is that his client needed to consider it over night and he told as much to the Braves. He also points out that Schuerholz, as an MLB exec should know that without a contract signed by the player nothing is set in stone.

But contract negotiations between parties that deal with each other on a regular basis or expect to, require more than hiding behind the letter of the law. Niceties are necessary for an agent to be certain he doesn't hurt his other clients by pulling a stunt on behalf of one in particular.

If the custom in baseball negotiations is to keep the terms of an offer sheet confidential then if Kinzer shared the info with the Dodgers it was unethical. And if those same unwritten rules allow a club with a formal offer on the table to sweeten its bid if another team enters the picture Kinzer looks even worse.

However, if the Braves were just praying they'd get lucky and understood the term sheet would be used by the agent to shake more offers out of the trees with no promise of the right to top another bidder then Schuerholz is singing a tune we all have heard from other jilted parties. It's hard for me to believe that a seasoned veteran like Schuerholz would misread the tea leaves on something that seems to be extremely important to them.

The Braves' threat to refuse to work with Kinzer and his agency has already set off alarm bells at the MLB Players' Association. Their general counsel is reminding Schuerholz that under the agreement between the union and MLB, it has no right to disadvantage players as a result of a dispute with an agent. Oops, it's not nice to get the union mad at you.