FanHouse FrankWren

As we reported on Friday, the Braves traded an under-performing outfielder, Jeff Francoeur, to the Mets for an under-performing outfielder, Ryan Church. My theory? The general managers were just bored. Saturday's Dugout is after the jump.

Chipper Jones and Atlanta were rumored last night to be working on an extension that would make the third baseman and Atlanta lifer a Brave for the rest of his career.

And according to MLB.com (and my handy Braves.com email alert, which is apparently just four hours behind the news), they have agreed on a deal that will extend Jones until 2012, which is set to be announced today at 2:30 PM ET.

Chipper Jones has been an Atlanta Brave all his life. Ending his career elsewhere (aka "Getting Smoltzed") would be a bit of a black eye for the Braves organization.

So it's good news for Atlanta fans that the third baseman and the club are reportedly close to an extension that would allow Jones to retire a Brave, according to Mark Bowman of MLB.com.

FanHouse begins its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Atlanta Braves.

It's not my typical policy to engage in cheesy headline writing, however, this is GM Frank Wren's second full year at the helm with his team. Things are going to be different, in theory. But more importantly, it might be time to go ahead and realize that this isn't your dad's Braves team, or your older brother's for that matter. After 14 straight division titles, the Braves have been absent from the postseason for two straight years. Wren's job, obviously, is to fix that.

Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over.

Meet the ...

Biggest offseason losers. At least that's what pessimists will try and tell you, anyway. The Braves -- and new GM Frank Wren -- seemingly made blunder after blunder in 2009, losing Rafael Furcal at the last minute, whiffing on A.J. Burnett, letting John Smoltz walk and failing to land Jake Peavy. But the reality is that Wren actually did a pretty darn good job assembling a talented squad that can certainly compete in the NL East in 2009. Oh, and they'll provide some nice fantasy value as well.

From the Windup is FanHouse's extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.

Season's Greetings. Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

As baseball fans across the country gather to celebrate the holiday season with their loved ones, we here at MLB FanHouse have come up with a present we'd like to give to fans of every team -- even the ones who root for the Yankees, it turns out you folks don't have quite everything just yet.

On a day like Christmas, baseball season can seem an awfully long way off, especially here in the Northeast, where the snow banks are piled four and five feet high. In reality, pitchers and catchers can report to Spring Training in a mere 52 days.

Enjoy the hypothetical gifts for now; it won't be very long before we can all unwrap a very tangible one -- a brand spanking new baseball season.

From the Windup is FanHouse's extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.

Two questions immediately arise from the recent hosing of the Braves at the hands of Rafael Furcal and his agents, Arn Tellem and Paul Kinzer. First, was misleading Atlanta -- a relatively safe assumption according to both accounts of how negotiations went down -- an ethical business practice? And secondly, are John Schuerholz and Frank Wren doing the smart thing by refusing to ever negotiate with Tellem's clients again?

Because that's what they're planning on doing.

"It was disgusting and unprofessional. We're a proud organization, and we won't allow ourselves to be treated that way. I advised Arn Tellem that whatever players he represents, just scratch us off the list. Take the name of the Atlanta Braves off their speed dial. They can deal with the other 29 clubs, and we'll deal with the other hundred agents."

The second question is a fairly easy one to answer. In a word, "No." The Braves are not, by any stretch of the imagination, forwarding their ability to either extract later revenge on the agents, nor are they giving themselves full access to future free agents by striking themselves off of Tellem's list of clients.

You can count on Rafael Furcal not receiving a Christmas card from Frank Wren and the Braves organization in this holiday season. Just two days after the Braves believed they had landed their old/new shortstop, Furcal is signing a deal to stay put in Los Angeles, where he has spent the past three seasons. The Braves are upset with Furcal's agent, Paul Kinzer.

"We were very surprised," he said. "After reaching an agreement on Monday night, and being asked to produce a term sheet for signature on Tuesday morning, which we did, we were surprised that they didn't return the term sheet. ... All of a sudden, they said they needed to go back to the Dodgers."

"I think you have to be upset with the turn of events," Braves general manager Frank Wren said. "We usually don't do business this way. You don't expect people you have to deal with to do business that way."

I'm not very familiar with the signing process between agents and general managers, but it would seem Wren is claiming Kinzer took one extra step. According to him, a deal was in place and then they went back to the Dodgers to use more leverage.

Remember that whole business (an hour or so ago) about Rafael Furcal signing with the Braves? Well, Ned Colletti isn't trying to hear any of it. No sir, everyone's favorite for Executive of the Century is too busy trying to negotiate a deal with Furcal's agent.

WTF.

"We're still in conversations with them," Colletti said Tuesday. "There's a certain level we're not going past. We aren't aware of other deals."

"I don't have a feel for whether to be optimistic or not," Colletti said. "I just know we're still talking. They assured us it's not a done deal."

Well it's "not a done deal" until Raffy takes a physical, so I suppose there's just a possibility that everyone's having a little behind-the-scenes giggle fest at Neddy's expense based solely on semantics.

But the reality is that it sure would be strange for this deal to be reported on so many national levels (FOX) and then have it be so totally flubbed. But Furcal's agent is saying the same thing, so maybe it's not just some case of Neddles being totally slow.

"We're still talking," Paul Kinzer said. "We haven't signed anything or come to an agreement. I told Furcal [Monday night] to sleep on it. I didn't want him to make an emotional decision."

it's an odd scenario indeed, only made all the stranger by the fact that Sportscenter reported Furcal was "taking less money" to come home to the Braves. Oh yeah, and the fact that this looks like a blatant attempt by Frank Wren to go after Jake Peavy, but it's going to be hard to actually pull that off if he doesn't sign. Obviously, more detail on this is going to pop soon, but if I've got to lay down cash, I'll take "MAX" on "Ned Colletti being wrong", please.

The Oakland Athletics have been the top mentioned team in the Rafael Furcal "sweepstakes," with the Dodgers considered an outside shot to ink the shortstop. No one had really considered the Braves -- especially given their obsession with Jake Peavy -- likely to land the former Atlanta All Star, but that's the word coming from the ATL.

The Braves appear to be on the verge of bringing back shortstop Rafael Furcal, a move that could be the precursor to a trade for a starting pitcher.

FoxSports.com reported early today that Furcal, a free agent and former Braves standout, has agreed to return to Atlanta on a three-year contract that could be announced as soon as he passes a physical. He missed much of last season with back problems.

And there's a really strong chance that this move could signal PEAVY TIME in Atlanta -- it makes either Kelly Johnson or Yunel Escobar more or less expendable (at least until Raffy gets injured midway through April).