One thing that should be noted is that, in our week and a half absence, we gained 2 new followers. I don't know if it was my lack of posting that interested people, or the inevitable media curiosity following the new contract of "trusty correspondent" Ryan Lavner, but it's interesting nonetheless. And if you are still with us after we failed to keep you up to date for near two weeks, then hats off to you.
The most important thing that has happened this week in the realm of Atlanta is the juke by Rafael Furcal's agent that shattered the ankles of Frank Wren. Wren, who is already under heavy criticism for doing his job properly and not following the George Steinbrenner business model, believed he had a 3 year contract in place for Rafael Furcal. Furcal's agent reportedly called him up, quoted as "Furkie is excited. Send me the paperwork." Said paperwork, used in baseball as a handshake agreement, was then shopped to the Dodgers to wrangle out an extra .667 million dollars per year. Not to understate the value of the average yearly salary of a good doctor, but it seems kind of insignificant in baseball terms to declare yourself as someone who is actually slimier than Scott Boras. JJ at You Are Looking Live pretty much summarizes my feelings on the entire matter.
Meanwhile, the Braves have ceased all negotiations with Tellem's agency, which means that they won't sign such notable free agents as Randy Wolf and Sammy Sosa. It should also be noted that they do represent Pete Moylan, who I actually like. Fortunately for Atlanta, it does not appear that they will be signing anybody this offseason, thus following my backup plan. They had rumored interest in Oliver Perez, who I can be quoted on liking, but I've grown a bit more tedious about him after reading the interesting tidbit that David O'Brien pulled up.
"Get this: Perez is 5-2 with a 3.39 ERA in 10 starts against the Braves since the beginning of the 2006 season. Against everyone else in that period, he's 23-28 with a 4.70 ERA in 75 starts"
Woof.
In more upbeat news, Jeff Owens wisely decided to stay in school for one more year, allowing the Georgia D-Line to look somewhat more competent going into next year. With solid verbals from Owens and Atkins for next year, and Asher Allen not likely to leave, Georgia only has to wait (and dream) that Stafford and Moreno aren't going anywhere. Emphasis on the dreaming.
Also in upbeat news, the Hawks are miraculously still good. For all the praise that I have lavished on this team over the past four years, I still refuse to accept their competency, and can show no emotion save stunned silence every time the phrase "Coach of the Year candidate Mike Woodson" is uttered. Woodson, I maintain, is a worse coach than either Dennis Felton or Paul Hewitt. And I fully understand how inept both of those coaches are, but nobody has traditionally done less with more than Woodson's last few years with the Hawks.
In closing, as you all know, Christmas is in less than a week. I've never asked for much, but I was informed earlier this week that I have really good karma and am going to have good stuff coming to me later on in life. So if anybody feels the need to share, I would like...
1) A playoff appearance for the Falcons
2) A solid front of the line starter for Atlanta
3) A good pair of contacts for Jeff Francoeur
4) An opportunity to not get shafted in fantasy sports
5) A girlfriend
6) A letter of acceptance from Pharmacy School.
These are ordered from likeliest at the top to most unrealistic at the bottom.
Until next time...
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