"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."

Wren said he and Kinzer negotiated all the contract details Monday night and that the Braves sent a term sheet to the agent's office for Furcal to sign Tuesday morning. Term sheets are the final step after an agreement is reached.

Wren said the term sheet was never returned.

"We were very surprised. ... All of a sudden, they said they needed to go back to the Dodgers," Wren said.

The Braves' offer was believed to be for three years and $30 million, with a fourth-year vesting option.

The Braves had Furcal, who spent the first six years of his career in Atlanta, penciled in as their leadoff man and planned for him to form a dynamic double-play combination with shortstop Yunel Escobar.

Though Kinzer indicated Wednesday that moving to second base wasn't ideal for Furcal, Wren said Furcal had indicated it wasn't an issue if he could get back to Atlanta and play for Bobby Cox. Second baseman Kelly Johnson was prepared to move to the outfield, but the Braves also might have traded Escobar or Johnson to acquire a premium starting pitcher.

So much for that. The Dodgers improved their two-year offer to Furcal after terms of the Braves' offer were leaked.

"All the deal points were negotiated [Monday] night," Wren said. "We didn't have anything signed. We just had the word of the agent that Raffy was happy and they were good with everything, as [Kinzer] put it."

Kinzer hasn't returned phone messages left by the Journal-Constitution. He was asked Wednesday in New York about the situation.

"They [Braves] know we didn't have a signed contract, that we didn't have even a verbal agreement," said Kinzer, hours before Wren gave a different account. "We had, 'Things look very good and Raffy's going to sleep on it.' "

The Braves thought Monday that a deal was imminent. They were about to book a flight for Furcal to come to Atlanta for a physical.

"It's not done until we sign off and there's a physical exam," Kinzer told ESPN.com Tuesday, "and we haven't gotten that far. Until a letter of agreement is signed, we don't even start the process to get him to Atlanta for a physical."

By Wednesday night, Wren knew Furcal wasn't coming to the Braves, though no one from the player's camp had called.

"I have not heard anything back yet," the GM said. "I don't expect anything. What I'm hearing is that he's going to L.A."

Kinzer was asked why the Braves might have become so convinced they had a deal with Furcal. "You'll have to ask them," he said. "They never received any signed documents, or anything. . . . I'm sorry if they were embarrassed."

Wren said there's nothing to be done legally because he had no signature on a deal.