Bradley’s Buzz: Is it time to bid adieu to Frenchy?
Francoeur on the way out?
Last week Mark Bowman, who covers the Braves for MLB.com, speculated openly about the need for the Braves to upgrade their outfield and that Jeff Francouer could soon be on an outbound plane. Included was Bowman’s sobering appraisal: “The Braves aren’t going to get much in return for Francoeur. But they need to at least explore the possibility of moving him before they reach a point during the offseason when they might non-tender him and get absolutely nothing in return for a former top prospect.”
Note the “ouch” phrases: “Aren’t going to get much” and “non-tender him” and, worst of all, “former top prospect.”
About Mr. Bowman: He’s a good guy and a good reporter. He’s not given to flights of fancy. (Unlike, say, me.) If he’s broaching the topic on MLB.com, it stands to reason there’s chatter ongoing within the Braves’ organization. And that might not be a bad thing. As much as I like Francoeur, I think we’re approaching the point where it makes sense — for both parties — to take divergent paths.
Loading ...Bowman suggested Texas might be a destination for Francouer, given that the Rangers have had immediate success with Andruw Jones. (Heck, Francoeur is already working more closely with Rudy Jaramillo, the Rangers’ batting coach, than with Terry Pendleton.) Me, I’d just as soon the Braves never again mess with Texas, trade-wise. But maybe that’s just me.
Are you ready for some football?
Esteemed former colleague Mark Schlabach presents his updated preseason Top 25 on ESPN.com, and he has Georgia Tech (No. 15) rated one spot ahead of Georgia (No. 16). That sounds about right for the latter but too low for the former.
In a companion piece, Schlabach analyzes how each of his ranked teams can improve its standing. He says Tech needs to throw the ball better and Georgia needs to run it more. Me, I suggest the Bulldogs might tighten up the ol’ D as well, but again … maybe that’s just me.
As for Georgia’s opening-game opponent: Schlabach has Oklahoma State ranked No. 10, and Matt Hayes of Sporting News Today lists the Cowboys among his four teams on the rise. OSU, Hayes avers, has “three legitimate Heisman Trophy candidates.” But you know the old saying: Give Willie Martinez eight months to prepare …
The Falcons need outfielders … er, linebackers!
Writing for ESPN.com’s Insider, Bill Barnwell of Football Outsiders — an outsider on the inside; is that even allowed? — counts the Falcons’ outside-linebacking crew as No. 9 on his list of unfilled roster holes. (Link requires registration.) Writes Barnwell: “They wrapped Band-Aids on the problem with converted safety Coy Wire and former Jacksonville middle linebacker Mike Peterson, who will be 33 and hasn’t played outside since 2002. Those aren’t solutions. They’re prayers.”
It’s almost time for Don Waddell to do another draft
And, according to Gare Joyce on ESPN.com, the Thrashers will spend the fourth overall pick on Evander Kane (requires registration), a center from Vancouver of the WHL. This sounds OK to me, center being a key hockey position and all. But I still haven’t gotten over the Falcons’ failure to draft Evander “Ziggy” Hood, and I fear the presence of another Evander on the Atlanta sports scene would only deepen my depression.
My personal issues aside, here’s a capsule rundown of Kane from Hockey’s Future. And below, from NHL.com via YouTube, is a video feature.
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282 comments Add your comment
Obama hates Cheney's bald head the most
May 26th, 2009
12:24 pm
Frenchy with 2 strikeouts with RISP last night….and Jordan S Striking out with RISP. What the hell is wrong with our outfield?
Maybe we should waterboard them and not tell anybody.
Ninju
May 26th, 2009
12:27 pm
Does anyone realize that Francouer is the only outfielder the braves have that is actually driving in any runs at all? Seriously, Garrett is completely useless and is just wasting space out there, yet people talk about Frenchy being the problem. Add a real cleanup hitter that can hit double digit homeruns for them and all of a sudden Jeff is not such a bad guy to have in right. The braves need to trade or release Anderson, and ship out guys like Morton and maybe Locke for a bat (preferably one that will be around for more than this year) and that average offense will all of sudden be a good one.
Meidzo in Decatur
May 26th, 2009
12:35 pm
Why are we pretending that guys who hit 30 HR’s during the Steroid Era and now can’t hit 15 HR’s were not on the juice!
You think Red Sox fans are admitting Big Papi is on it? You think Dodgers fans were admitting that Manny’s super numbers were drug enhanced?
Now look at our boys:
Franceour is a .260 slap hitter in the Testing Era
Chipper, who once hit 40+ homers, can’t stay on the field and even if he could his numbers don’t project to 40 HR’s.
Andruw is a fraud
All this plate discipline, stance crap is euphemisms, if MLB stopped testing…..Franceour would be back to what he was!
It appears as if MLB is going to continue Drug testing ergo Franceour will NEVER be what we want him to be!
David Rockett
May 26th, 2009
12:46 pm
I’m still not convinced that Frenchy can’t turn things around. I am convinced that the braves will get practically nothing for him in a trade. He still has alot of upside at 25. But, I do think it is time to say bye to Pendleton (hitting coach). Have we really ever heard of him really helping struggling hitters. I like TP but I don’t see that the braves have benefitted from his tudoring.
James D Feely
May 26th, 2009
12:48 pm
I thimk it better to get rid of Pendelton. He is ruining Schrader and has never shown me much it improving a batters ability. Chipper is being listened to as much if not more than Terry.
Robert0259
May 26th, 2009
1:03 pm
Frenchy is the most overrated guy in the game. His career OPS is .739, this season it’s .646! Career OPS+ 91!!, this season 69!!! He’s walked 120 times IN HIS ENTIRE CAREER. Even his vaunted defense is BOGUS..he makes playing his position look tough.
Zach
May 26th, 2009
1:08 pm
Why say not to trade with Texas anymore? We just got rid of surplus. Elvis would be in our Double-A right now and Salty is so tall he can barely get up out of his stance as a catcher. I would rather us take a chance for the playoffs and fail than to not take that chance.
Bud Heavy
May 26th, 2009
1:09 pm
Someone mentioned trading JF to the Twins for Delmon Young or Denard Span. Span is out of the question (for the Twins) because he produces and doesn’t cost anything. The Twins have him penciled in for CF for the next 10 years.
Delmon Young would be interesting. He’s younger than Francouer and is from Montgomery, AL. The Twins might be a good fit for Jeff since they don’t put up with any BS (produce or ride the bench). Gardenhire seems to get the most out of people, except for maybe Delmon Young. The problem is that Francouer makes about $2 million more than Young. Would the Braves be willing to eat some salary since the Twins don’t pay for players who don’t produce?
AJP
May 26th, 2009
1:09 pm
At the risk of reiterating what has already been said….let’s try to take the emotion out of the discussion. In right field, the Braves have a low average, singles hitting player who offers little defense, middling power and zero speed. That folks is what is known as a platoon candidate. There is absolutely no logical way to justify running this guy out there every day. At best, he hits some lefties enough to warrant a bench job. This isn’t a youngster anymore; we’re talking about a player with nearly 2500 big league at bats. In that time his power has dwindled considerably and his recognition of pitches is deplorable. (Has anyone looked more confused about what to do in a batter’s box?) He hasn’t improved his baserunning. The rate at which he swings at first pitches is the highest of his career. Outfielders are involved in very few plays per game (especially those with zero range and unwillingness to dive for a ball or even touch the fence) so they are asked to provide offense. Francoeur is below the league average in just about every area. What people don’t want to admit (including the front office) is that they made a mistake. This is a player who really doesn’t even belong on a major league roster. He may be the worst player in either league over the past two seasons. So – who can tell me where Francoeur has improved his game? What indications has he given that this slump (year and a half) will end? Why should anyone believe that this player is anything more than a 4th or 5th outfielder on a AAA team?
Bobbymahlon
May 26th, 2009
1:09 pm
It looks like G Anderson has lost all the pop in his bat and he also looks like he is bored to death being in Atlanta. It seems like year after year we get stuck when we aquire a player that the previous teams lets go because they are over the hill. Lets get on with the youth movement and bring up some promising outfielders that have a little pop in their bats and see if any of them have what were looking for.
Paul Lentz
May 26th, 2009
1:10 pm
I feel you DHD, some of these morons who call themselves fans will come up with any trade that they “think” will help the Braves. Here’s a news flash for some of you “armchair GMs” out there: At the time that the trade is made, it has to at least make sense to the other team. Why in the world would Washington trade Adam Dunn (who hits for power, walks a lot, drives in runs) for an easy out outfielder (Franceour), and expensive injured pitcher who may not pitch at all this year (Tim Hudson, who is eligible to become a free agent), and a few marginal minor leaguers? Of course that trade works well for the Braves. However, I seriously doubt that the Nationals would be stupid enough to go for that. When fans post stupid proposals like that online, I dont blame management for having the “these online folks are all moronic losers” mentality when lumping all of us together.
Smithoma
May 26th, 2009
2:05 pm
Shamus, I hear your left field analogy about TP.
Leo Mazz, on a 680 morning show he frequents he was asked what his best project was in his career with all of the hall players he advised. His answer was Maddux. The commentator responded, Maddux! He was already a Cy Young award winner coming into the season. And Leo responded, Yeah, I didn’t screw him up!
Our talent is not coming out of their slumps with Terry advising them. So is he screwing them up?
Ronald Millsaps
May 26th, 2009
2:07 pm
Jeff Francoeur has too big an upside to be traded. He also provides quality defense and is great PR-wise. (If you think ticket sales are down now, watch them if the Braves indeed cut ties with another fan favorite.
Besides, if Atlanta trades Francoeur now <—–, there’s going to be a huge backlash because Atlanta could’ve traded him for Zack Greinke this past offseason and didn’t, and honestly, I’m glad we didn’t in spite of Greinke’s success.
Let the man bat cleanup!!!! Please!!! Put him there, and KEEP him there!!!! Don’t tell me he hasn’t re-earned the right to bat in that slot. We’ve seen Garret Anderson and Casey Kotchman there many times, and neither guy is right for that spot. I can understand batting Francoeur sixth if Andruw Jones and Mark Teixeira are still in the lineup, but they’re not, so let the man bat where he’s best-suited! Yes, I agree also with the concept that sending yet another Brave to Texas might not be such a good idea.
I said this past offseason that we should reacquire Andruw, who we could’ve had for half a million dollars. Did we do so? No. That signing would’ve been low-risk/high-reward.
If we’re going to bat Kelly Johnson at leadoff, Kelly, don’t approach your at-bats like a leadoff hitter. Be aggressive.
By the way, I probably got a lot of backlash about my comments on Dave O Brien’s blog Friday, but I stand totally by what I said.
Last note about Francoeur: He seems afraid to have a repeat of his 2008 season and appears to have shortened his swing to detour last year’s strikeout total. This approach is going to be hard, but he needs to forget about trying to score 100 runs and try instead to drive in 100.
Why does a certain announcer keep borderline-criticizing Chipper for motioning to Bobby in the dugout Sunday? Whether Bobby was looking or not isn’t the point. Chipper was trying to do something good for the team.
Ronald Millsaps
May 26th, 2009
2:08 pm
favorite.)*
News & Notes: Jinxed Jeff Francoeur nearing end in Atlanta? | Lancilo USA
May 26th, 2009
2:14 pm
[...] .259/.282/.365 line from the Braves’ outfield, the prediction looks downright nostradamic. [Atlanta Journal Constitution via [...]
Ron Roberts
May 26th, 2009
2:15 pm
This just in… FRENCHY’S not NEARLY the problem in the lineup that Jordan Schafer currently is. Francoeur’s .265 3/21 are pedestrian numbers, but not “send him to the minros”-worthy. The same cannot be said for Mr. Mendoza-line. Defense be damned; didn’t we learn this lesson w/Andruw? Great CF defense with a vastly sub-par at-bat didn’t get us anywhere.
I like the kid’s glove – ALOT, but his ABs are the closest thing to sure outs since Phil Kniekro pitched in the NL.
bali
May 26th, 2009
2:18 pm
why not call up one of the young studs from the minor leagues….. couldnt hurt……… why have the Braves not given schaffer andFrenchy days off…….. I think havin a center feilder batting right at 200 has magnified the outfield situation plus First and Third have always been power positions…… what are there numbers
Michael J
May 26th, 2009
2:21 pm
Getting rid of a home town, home grown talent makes absolutley no sense. He is a clean cut kid who puts fans in the stands. If you want to improve his hitting, get rid of the hitting coach – Pendleton. Who has he helped? When is a hitting coach held accountable for doing such a poor job? The two best hitters on the team are Chipper and McCann, who happened to be coached by their fathers! Chipper’s pic was in the paper yesterday helping a Brave with his hitting – Pendleton was there just listening. Whtever his teaching methods are, they are not working. Beofre he became the hitting coach, Andruw Jones was a hitting machine. We all know Andruw’s swings were painful to watch the last 2 years – how could a solid hitting coach allow him to develop so many bad habits? Frenchy was killing the ball when he came up after being tutored by minor league instruction – why couldn’t Pendleton keep him there? I know the Braves like Terry, and he did well as a player. Unfortunatley, he cannot teach hitting. Trade Frenchy? No way, although Texas would ne a good place for him. Their starting shortstop and catcher were gifts in the idiotic Texiera trade, and he does know Andruw. If he goes there, he’s on a first place team stocked with ex-Braves. Maybe not a bad deal. I hate to see the kid go in another blundered deal. We gave up on Jermaine Dye way to early, let J.D. Drew go, Sheffield go, Javey go, Furcal go, Betemit go, Marquis go, Millwood go,LaRoche go, Jason Schmidt go, etc. Keep Frenchy, send Pendleon upstairs, and get a guy who can teach hitting and can correct problems. Frency’s defense is still fine – come on Braves, don’t kill a hoime town hero.
Ron Roberts
May 26th, 2009
2:25 pm
…and while I’m here, I SERIOUSLY question the team’s loyalty to Terry Pendleton as a hitting coach. TP couldn’t fix Andruw, hasn’t seriously fixed Francoeur (the Rangers’ hitting coach gets far more credit) and didn’t “make” Chipper what Chipper is. You can give him some credit for McCann if you wish, but McCann’s not a dummy, either; this kid “studies” the game, spend time watching videos of his ABs all the time, and soaks it all in.
Where the Braves MASSIVELY missed was on Raul Ibanez instead of Kenshin Kawakimi, I believe. I “get” that we needed to be SURE our pitching would hold up, but for what we spent on Kawakami, we’d have shored up our OF situation, with guys like Diaz, Josh Anderson (at the time), Omar Infante, Martin Prado as FANTASTIC backups/bench players. Look at our rotation (Lowe/JJ/Vasquez already in place with guys like Medlen, Hanson, soon Glavine,James Parr, Jorge Campillo, and eventually Huddy) and it would’ve seemed to me in the pre-season, that we MORE than had starting pitching well-covered.
Don’t get me wrong – I think Kawakami’s actually doing alright, as far as catching on to pitching MLB ball; he surely fortifies the back-end of the rotation; I just think, looking at the NL East as its currently constructed, every team came in with 1 or 2 (at most) good starters and 3 or more so-so guys. The Braves, as currently constructed, cannot put up enough offense to hang with the Phillies and Mets for the season. our starting rotation’s vastly superior, but what’s it matter if we can only muster 3-4 runs a game, on-average?
Obama hates Cheney's bald head the most
May 26th, 2009
2:41 pm
I was at the game on Sunday and it seems from a fans perspective that our only real offense is from Mcann and K Johnson; schaffer got lucky on a walk and chipper hit one out of the guys glove. Other than that, it was those two.
G Anderson does looked bored and complacent as hell being out on the field; maybe they should all get mcann’s glasses…
or maybe we should waterboard the hell out of them into a .300 average.
leonard carter
May 26th, 2009
2:43 pm
Yes, I believe that Frenchy problems are between his ears. He sealed his fate with the Braves last year with his reaction at being sent down to MS for some remedial work.
James F.
May 26th, 2009
3:16 pm
Jeff swings too hard. He tries to rip everything and it makes him unbalanced as a hitter. Jeff has a lot of power but he needs a controlled swing just like a professional golfer. He needs to keep his head down a little and take a lower stance. Hitting a baseball at major league speeds a player needs to find a groove. He has two of the best text book looking hitters in Kelly Johnson and Chipper Jones. Their swing is almost always in control and if Jeff could just watch them he might learn something very valuable. I like Jeff but he does look erratic as a hitter.
Clarence Anderson
May 26th, 2009
3:34 pm
Trade Chipper Jones instead, he eats up a huge salary and very seldom plays.
Roger
May 26th, 2009
3:54 pm
Supes: Really no drop in the trembling chihuahuas from Athens offense? I guess you did not see the G-Day game this year. Your #1 offense could not score more than 3 points on your #2 defense. Given that performance I am surprised that we haven’t heard the chants of give us the National Title coming from the Walmart Bulldog fans. I mean after last year the Bull puppies were supposed to have it handed to them, right? I wonder what the excuse will be for this upcoming year? The dog died last year, and Munson retired last year. Those excuses are all used up. The nice thing about last year is that at the end the smelly mutts of Athens had nothing to say about their under performing last year. At least for now it stopped the whinning, but I am sure that it will start again right after OSU beats you.
Francouer: Don’t get me wrong, but I love Tery Pendleton as a player. As a batting coach, he stinks. The issue is not Francouer, it is Pendleton. Out of 30 teams, the team batting average is in the bottom 25 of MLB. Living in New York, I do not get to see many Braves games, but the ones I see are attrocious. All of my coaches in basebal from high school to college taught me to not swing until there was a called strike. I was taught what counts would get me a hitter’s pitch, and when the count was not in my favor, to shorten my swing and put the ball in play. Plain and simple. Clearly Pendleton does not know how to instruct the players in this area.
Calvin Smythe-Withers
May 26th, 2009
4:09 pm
“Calvin Smythe-Withers and people of your ilk. You sound like a classless clown.” -Jonnyboy
Jonnyboy, I presume you are named for a job jonny. If I were to ask you, “when a smurf is strangled what color does he turn?”, what would you say? See, you cannot handle the question any better than Frenchy and here you are calling me a “classless clown”. Most everyone here knows a smurf turns over when strangled . . . and you know what color smurfs are on the bottom. That’s nowledge that comes with the name “Jonnyboy”. Good night, Jonnyboy, good night MaryEllen, and good night Frenchy.
yogi2
May 26th, 2009
4:28 pm
I have new names for the Braves outfielders. Anderson(STREAKY), Shafer(SQUEAKY) and Francuoer (STINKY)
yogi2
May 26th, 2009
4:31 pm
No More French fries allowed in atlanta stadium only Freedom fries
Paul Lentz
May 26th, 2009
5:09 pm
Some of you guys continue to amaze me. I feel ashamed knowing that there are fellow Braves fans out there who really have no clue about how to build a winning baseball team. So what if Franceour is a good looking, home grown, well liked young man? Dude is struggling batting 7th in the batting order. If some of you actually think that having him bat clean-up would help him bust out of his “slump”, then you guys are disillusioned. If anything, there is more pressure hitting clean-up. If you think Chipper gets walked too much now, he would end up breaking Bonds’ season record for walks if the Braves were foolish enough to make Franceour the clean-up hitter.
Here is what my fortune teller predicts: Runner on 2nd, one out, Chipper intentionally walked, Franceour pulls grounder to short for a double play. Never fails with Franceour.
Franceour has had way too many chances to turn it around. He just isnt able to make the adjustments. McCann plays a far more demanding position than Franceour. However McCann produces far more than Franceour ever will. It’s not even close.
Mark Bradley
May 26th, 2009
5:16 pm
Having covered Garret Anderson in the 2002 World Series — he got the winning hit in Game 7 — I can attest that he looked the same way then. I don’t think he’s bored. I just think this is how he looks.
Robert0259
May 26th, 2009
11:06 pm
The Braves could’ve had Greinke for Francoeur? I would’ve drove Francoeur to Kansas City myself.
Eli
May 27th, 2009
1:47 pm
The Braves should look into prying Brad Hawpe from Colorado. The Rockies know they are going nowhere and will be in fire-sale mode pretty soon. We should see if we can get them started early.
Bob
May 27th, 2009
1:57 pm
We could have had (by spending a little money) free agent Adam Dunn in LF; strikes out a lot, but tons of power and almost guaranteed of 40HR and 110 RBIs. Put him behind Chipper and look out. Now I know he is a lefty, and we have too many left handed bats, but he’s young and offers consistent production. He was just not as cheap as that ol’ stiff G. Anderson. With Dunn in left, we’d hardly worry about French-ey.
As far as Frenchy is concerned, his long, looping swing guarantees his bat spends very little time on the same plane with the ball. Any wonder he doesn’t connect often, and when he does, without power? He needs a short, compact swing that stays level or slightly rising through the zone. If he does this, he’ll hit. A hittable ball comes in relatively horizontal; a bat that isn’t on the same plane with the ball will miss it. And, of course, he needs to avoid swinging at all sliders unless they are just sitting in the middle of the zone and spinning.