Phillies to meet with Francoeur's reps
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Phillies to meet with Francoeur's reps
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
You can pencil at least one appointment into Ruben Amaro Jr.'s winter meetings day-planner. Amaro and assistant GM Scott Proefrock will meet with representatives for free agent right fielder Jeff Francoeur, possibly as early as today, according to a baseball source who has spoken to Francouer.
The Phillies are legitimately intrigued with the possibility of adding the right-handed hitting outfielder to their line-up. In fact, Charlie Manuel has apparently expressed interest in working with Francouer to help fix his approach at the plate.
That doesn't mean a deal is imminent. And there is no indication that the Phils are focused soley on Francoeur. Fellow former Brave Matt Diaz is another possibility who is a free agent. And the club has expressed confidence in reserve outfielder Ben Francisco.
Still, Francoeur is very much on the radar.
Francoeur has endured a roller coaster ride over the past three seasons that has seen him move from the Braves to the Mets to the Rangers before being non-tendered by Texas after the World Series.
In Francoeur's first three seasons in the majors, he hit .280 with a .319 on base percentage, .782 OPS, and 62 home runs for the Braves. But he hit just .239 with a .653 OPS in 2008, spending some time in the minors in the middle of the year. In 2009, the Braves shipped him to the Mets, where he hit .268 with a .734 OPS and 21 home runs in 199 before moving to the Rangers this past August.
Francoeur would appeal to the Phillies in several different ways. First, he has always hit well against left-handed pitchers (.300 with an .805 OPS last season, .299 with an .824 OPS for his career). Second, he is a solid defender with a strong arm. Third, he will turn just 27 on Jan. 8, which means he still has some upside.
If the Phils did end up signing Francoeur, they would welcome a player who is the exact opposite of Jayson Werth in his patience at the plate. He averages just 3.42 pitches-per-plate appearance in his career, and has swung at 46 percent of his first pitches (the major league average during the span, according to Baseball-Reference.com, is 27 percent).
Other teams reported to be in on Francoeur are the Royals and the Rockies. But it sounds as if the Phillies have a legitimate shot to sign him, if they choose to go in that direction.
I love Franceour's arm too but he could bat fifth in our lineup, especially is Rollins or Ibanez is hurt or struggles, and to have a strikeout hitter following a strikeout hitter (Howard) is a mistake. Part of the game is to wear good pitchers down. I'd favor Diaz or Quention over Francouer but I also trust Amaro to gauge the market (who's left) and get the best fit.— eman- NOOOOOOOOOOOO......Typical Phils approach— gluteman
- My concern with Francoeur is that two teams in the division, the Braves and Mets, unloaded him, that Texas has no interest in him, and that Charlie Manuel might be overestimating his own ability to turn hitters around. He did not do much with the hitters he had this past season. I prefer Diaz if push comes to shove, a better all around hitter although not as good as Francoeur in the field. While Werth struck out a great deal, he also looked at many more pitches than Francoeur, thus putting more pressure on opposing pitchers.— chuckw
- I don't like Francouer that much myself, but the fans on this board who say he strikes out a lot are incorrect. He's been amazingly consistent in his stats: @ .160 SO/at bat average. over his career. The only time he went over 100 SO is when he had > 600 AB with Atlanta. He's really a career disappointment given the very high expectations when he hit the majors. He gets exposed now when full time starting. He may be the ticket in a platoon however.— Bob1
- See this is the problem when someone regurgitates a stat like 'he hit .300 against lefties' and everyone just takes it and runs with it. Dig a little deeper with that stat and you'll see the vast majority of his success has come against the likes of pitching machines Jamie Moyer, Dontrelle Willis, John Lannan, etc. Any lefty worth his salt has retired Francoeur rather easily. Here's the proof: http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/batter_vs_pitcher.cgi?batter=francje02#gotresults&batter=francje02&min_year_game=2005&max_year_game=2010&post=1&opp_id=&throws=L&opponent_status=&c1criteria=&c1gtlt=eq&c1val=0&c2criteria=&c2gtlt=eq&c2val=0&orderby=PA&orderby_dir=desc&orderby_second=Name&orderby_dir_second=asc&ajax=1&submitter=1
- Fantastic move if it happens! Frankly, I'm shocked at some of the negative comments in response to the Phils potentially pulling off the coup of the summer. Francoeur has one of the 2 or 3 best arms in the history of the game and has HOF potential if he irons out a few kinks in his swing. We need to learn to appreciate talent in this town. We already ran off Reggie Brown (Iggles at least 10-2 this year if you add that weapon to the mix). Let's not scoff at getting a player who could potentially become the face of the franchise once Charlie tweaks his swing.
We all see how well the last player that an Atlanta team threw away turned out in Philly. Plus, we can get him incredibly cheap, like $9.5 - $10 mill/per year. Do it Phils!— bjack2000 - Does anyone really think that Francoeur is a better option than Francisco? You are kidding, right? Either play the Francisco/Brown platoon or get a legit righthanded bat. He's not it.— corkyb
- Why has everyone failed to mention the Stikeout King of the Major Leagues? Ryan Howard never saw a curveball he could hit. However, he is well liked in the club house. Maybe he could stay there the next time the Phillies play in the World Series.— FlAJOE
Relax, people. I don't think the Phils would start Francouer 130 games in RF. More like 95-100 with Brown or Gload taking the hill against righties.— jpk- Again with "Ryan Howard lost us the WS with his strikeouts"?!!!
Seriously, dude?! WTF?!— BigShow - no— stoky
- Anyone who wants Amaro to sign Franceour, hates the Phillies.— sunking11
- A good clubhouse guy?? Give me a break. When he got demoted in '08 he threw a hissy fit and refused to admit he had things to work on. His attitude stank. He probably got called up too early and had a chip on his shoulder. Hopefully he's had an attitude adjustment or I don't want him around.— MattPSU
- stikolaboloni: Real nice work on the stats. He's been terrible against CC Sabathia, Johan Santana, David Price. I'm not aware of other players' comparable numbers with this stat, but you wonder if most guys have trouble against those specific pitchers. He's done well against some decent pitchers if you look at > 10 AB.— Bob1
- If we can get him for relatively cheap, then why not take a chance on him. and yea being a clubhouse guy is big. Remember Bobby Abreu? he had real good numbers, but we did nothing with him and a lot without him. Let Charlie try to fix his swing. if it doesnt work out who cares we still have francisco and brown.— theeman1
