He’s Frenchy, as in benchy, and he could soon be gone
When Job got fed up, as Job would periodically, he’d head up to Adairsville and stop by the farm, and he’d say to Bobby Cox, “I’m at wit’s end — what should I do?”
And Bobby Cox would say, “Joby [as we know, Cox loves his nicknames], just be patient.”
OK, I embellish. But I do it to make a point: When you’ve exhausted Bobby Cox’s legendary patience, you’re probably not long for these Braves. Last week Kelly Johnson went from being the everyday second baseman to being benched to being placed on the disabled list, and Jeff Francoeur was held out of the lineup three games running before being reinserted Tuesday night. (He went 1-for-4 with an infield single.) And the sound you heard was of two homegrown players who’ve been Atlanta Braves since 2005 going, “Gulp.”
Kenny Lofton didn’t fit in here, and he was gone after one season. Same with Bret Boone. Dan Kolb was brought here to be the closer, couldn’t do the job and was gone the next year. John Rocker lasted 18 months after his Sports Illustrated rant appeared, and the only reason he stayed so long was the Braves couldn’t find anyone to take him. Cox never rips a guy publicly — and almost never does he resort to managerial privilege and trash a guy to reporters off the record — but you can tell when he’s fed up.
And this is a different sort of getting-fed-up than Cox demonstrated when he pulled Yunel Escobar — or, long ago, Andruw Jones — from a game. Those upbraidings were designed to get a young player’s wandering attention. Benching a guy over a longer haul is something far more serious. It’s not a move Cox ever makes in haste, or in anger. It’s a move he undertakes only when he has reached a conclusion he has labored long not to reach.
Loading ...It takes Cox a lot longer to lose faith than it does, say, Lou Piniella. Cox believes until he’s given reason to stop believing, but when he stops … well, that’s about all she wrote. Johnson was afforded every opportunity and hit .216. Francoeur was extended an even longer grace period — we’re now going on a second calendar year of his laboriously documented flailings — but has simply ceased being a competent big-league hitter. And now both have been benched.
The Francoeur breach has been coming for a while. The Braves loved his enthusiasm — he is, as you’ve heard, a great guy — but couldn’t understand why he never made the necessary adjustments in technique. And they were mightily miffed when he took off for Texas to consult hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo. As Terry Pendleton, the Braves’ hitting coach, has said: “It bugged me at first.” And as much as Cox loves his players, he loves his coaches even more.
This spring Francoeur told me, “As long as Six has my back, I don’t care about anything else.” Well, Bobby Cox wears No. 6, and he no longer stands in Francoeur’s corner.
And Francoeur, who’s no fool, already seems to have one eye on the exit. He told Dave O’Brien: “[I] just have to be patient and wait my turn, whether it’s here or somewhere else.”
At this moment, I’d bet on the “somewhere else.” When you’re a Brave and you’ve lost Bobby Cox, you’ve lost everything.
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553 comments Add your comment
gcs
July 7th, 2009
9:40 pm
This is one of the things about Bobby Cox that drives me nuts:
Why is Diaz on the bench? He’s on fire at the plate.
David Granger
July 7th, 2009
9:47 pm
Kinda hard to figure out what I believe happened here. Francouer had a solid rookie year, and then in 2006 had a pretty good season for a young player. Wasn’t real selective, and struck out a lot…sometimes on foolish swings…but overall, a good year. 2007 was another good year…improved his average and almost doubled his walks. Still struck out a lot, and didn’t hit as many homers…but hit a lot of doubles and had just as many extra base hits as the year before. Through it all, he was a good outfielder with a strong arm…and it was an added bonus that he was a local boy. Last year was a big letdown, and I’m not sure why. I wonder if the Braves tried a little too hard to make him into something that he just simply is NOT. It’d be wonderful if he were real selective at the plate, walking 100 times and not swinging at silly pitches sometimes. But I’m not sure you can change a player around that much. Remember that year that Bobby Cox was batting Andruw Jones leadoff? How much sense did it take to know THAT wasn’t going to work? But they pestered Andruw about thinking at the plate and taking pitches…and sure enough, he had a wretched half-season. Didn’t turn around till they dropped him back to…sixth?…in the lineup, and just accepted the fact that he was exactly what he had always been: A free swinger who’s going to strike out a lot…but hit with power and knock in runs. I almost wish they had just left Francouer alone…take the good defense and strong arm….hope that the .290 average was his plateau instead of the .260…don’t worry about the homers…and just let him continue to do what got him to the major leagues..
Cro25
July 7th, 2009
10:35 pm
SI cover jinx?
N17317
July 7th, 2009
10:43 pm
With all due respect, David Granger, you’re wrong. 2006 he did manage to hit 29 HRs, but that was it. He was lousy, young player or not. He had a negative VORP! That means a “replacement player” like a guy they could’ve grabbed off the AAA club would have actually helped the run production. 2007 was better – yes, it was because of a phenomenally high (read: unsustainable) BABIP, but at least he was improving. But it really wasn’t that good considering he plays RF. Corner outfielders need to produce offensively. He didn’t deserve the Gold Glove but at least he’s no liability in the field.
But even 2006-2007 on their own were no good. It’s just that 2008-2009 is even worse.
bravefalconhawk
July 7th, 2009
10:52 pm
BOBBY COX NEEDS TO BOW OUT GRACEFULLY AND TAKE TP WITH
Trade Terry
July 7th, 2009
11:12 pm
Think about what will happen to Frenchy’s Maids if he is traded?!? Can’t put a price tag on that. How has no one on the team, much less the outfielders, hit over 10 Home Runs (McClouth’s 14 doesn’t count)? I think a lot of blame needs to be placed on THE HITTING COACH.
ch
July 7th, 2009
11:29 pm
I am a big Jeff Francoeur fan and in no way want the braves to trade him. I think the solution is to send him down. I know it would be ashot to his ego but if the front office sat him down and talked to him about his options i think it would be best. I mean, he is not going to find his swing in the pressure of a division title race. He has the talent but he just needs to learn to relax and i think a half a season in the minors would do just that. not to mention the benefit that either mississippi or gwinnet would get financially from having him on their club.
the truth...
July 7th, 2009
11:31 pm
OK….N17317 and everyone else…I think it’s safe to say that if Jeff’s 2008 stats matched the 2006 or 2007 years numbers, or that this year’s stats were on a pace to match either year,….then this entire dump Francoeur rage would have a different flavor…
Just for the record:
2006…..24 2B, 29 HR and 103 RBI’s
2007…..40 2B, 19 HR, and 105 RBI’s
…even with 132 and 129 K’s respectively
Should he be playing RF now….no way….
Should he be traded? …if you can get anything for him…
Shipped down to AAA….indefinitely and absolutely and let him swing and hit….everyone shut up and let him hit the baseball if he can…so if he finds 2006/2008 form he’s in RF again….
Now that isn’t too hard is it….???
Good luck Frenchy….
Terence Moore
July 7th, 2009
11:38 pm
Gonna regret trading Frenchy. Mark my words.
Eman
July 7th, 2009
11:45 pm
Frenchy has no trade value. Best thing for the Braves to do is sit tight. The most sought after brave is Vasquez. He is too good to trade. He’d be outstanding in post season. The Braves should ride out this year and make a trade in the winter. Hopefully, Hudson will have some value.
the truth...
July 7th, 2009
11:52 pm
Eman and Terrance are right….let Frenchy spend some time in Gwinnett or even at AA and just tell him it is up to him….
Mitchell
July 7th, 2009
11:54 pm
You know what’s going to be real funny is when guys like Benjie Molina start scoring from second on hard hit balls to right with regularity.
Say this for Kelly and Jeff, they may leave a lot of men on base but save their share of runs.
Kelly’s a terrible second baseman but good with the cut-off. Better than Yunel often times.
francoeuristheman
July 7th, 2009
11:55 pm
seriously mark get a life…i think you get hard over the fact that jeff is goin through a rough spot….bout time you start writing about someone else dont you think
sickofbadrightfielders
July 7th, 2009
11:59 pm
ok francoueristheman,just shut up,i believe im speaking for all of us when i say just take your mancrush/obsession/homosexual relationship with jeff francouer off of the internet and take it wherever the hell the braves send him,be it gwinnett,rome or houston,new york we dont care,just shut the hell up!
the truth...
July 8th, 2009
12:01 am
is that sickofbadrightfielders is a moron….
the truth...
July 8th, 2009
12:05 am
is that David Granger is right on….let Jeff get his timing and swing back in AAA if he can ….then go back to right field and do his thing…if he can do it in AAA then give him his shot…if not, well he doesn’t make it back…
N17317
July 8th, 2009
12:06 am
OK, the truth, since you like the stats so much, let’s look at 2006 . Frenchy hit 29 HRs that year. That’s good. He made 507 outs. That’s not good. He also had a .293 on base percentage. That’s unbelievably awful. In fact, it was dead last among all major league outfielders that season. Every last one of them had a better OBP than Frenchy. His VORP was negative. Negative! Less than zero!! It was -0.4 to be exact. That’s outrageous. His OPS+ was 87 that year. And, again, he plays a corner outfielder spot – RF.
If 2006 is considered the “good old days” for Frenchy … wow I’m not even sure how to finish that sentence. Just … Wow.
I agree with Terence Moore 11:38 PM on this one … “Gonna regret trading Frenchy.” This is 100% accurate. The Braves should regret trading him now instead of a few years ago when they might have actually got someone for him.
the truth...
July 8th, 2009
12:40 am
N17317 give it a break…the mad focus with fancy hybrid stats are so questionable it’s rediculous……
anyone that has watched and followed the sport over many years understand that T-E-A-M is made up of many components and stats like Jeff-Boy had in 2006/2007 gets most anyone a job in the OF…
So where would the ‘91/’92 teams stack up to these numbers…how about the ‘57/’58 teams…ever hear of guys like Wes Covington or Billy Bruton…that played with Hank Aaron?…No not many folks remember them, but ask Hank…and how they contributed…
Braves 91/92…Ron Gant…for instance in ‘91:
35 2B, 35 HR, 105 RBI….104 K….
Winning teams don’t sit around talking VORP stats…ask Don Sutton what he thinks of stats..you won’t and don’t hear Sutton, Hersheiser, Kruk, Mays and Aarong talking about those gimmicky kind of pseudo scientific hocus pocus composite nothings…
Ask guys like Larry Bowa or Billy Martin about VORP and they’d probably punch you in the kisser….
PMC
July 8th, 2009
12:53 am
The On Base Percentage is what kills him. He makes far too many outs to remain on a major league roster. If he wants to remain a professional he’s going to have to learn how to become a professional hitter. Other than that, he’s essentially a utility outfielder.
Fraginald Mantooth
July 8th, 2009
1:12 am
It’s not Frenchy’s fault if he doesn’t get a lot of hits, or if he doesn’t hit a lot of home runs.
Oh, wait.
Yes it is.
Seriously, though, I want to thank Francoueristheman (hereinafter “F-man”) for an entertaining read on the blog so far. He began with a wild and semi-coherent attack on Mr. Bradley, whose theme was that Bobby Cox has lost patience with Jeff Francouer, and that said loss of patience means something when it comes to a patient man like Bobby Cox. How can someone dispute that, or even better, get angry at Mark for pointing it out?
F-man then questioned the veracity of poor GT, who related a pretty cool story about having pitched to both McCann and Francoeur in high school (which shed a lot of light about each guy’s approach to hitting). This was made all the more hilarious by another commenter corroborating GT’s story almost immediately (by mentioning Norcross before GT did).
I also enjoyed the bizarre and continuing attempts by F-man to get another commenter named Curtis to tell him where he went to high school and now college, which Curtis completely ignored. F-man, have you ever heard of Facebook? Or the college’s directory? You could just try to contact the guy privately instead of calling him out on a blog with 500-plus comments.
In the end, though, my favorite has to be the fact that F-man kept spelling “douche” wrong.
I mean, seriously, what a douche.
Keep on truckin’, F-man. As far as I’m concerned, YOU are the man. And nothing can change that, ever. Because it’s on a blog.
Kevin Parker
July 8th, 2009
1:27 am
I have a suite case for him. It’s one thing if the player puts in the work to change his ways but Frenchy doesn’t seem like he even cares on the field. I would take Milton Bradley over him, at least Bradley’s got some heart and wants to succeed.
santa3247
July 8th, 2009
6:04 am
Long time no see! I’m Seong-Ho,Yoon left foot on the sea right food on the land continuously until now.
Theseday I heard people of USA appreciate Barack Obama about the recovery of economy, but you have to know that, USA economy’s recovery came from the stable status of foreign exchange rate market, not from the obama’s policy.
This method of fraud made by Babylon in 1998 around, when Jesuit President Kim, Dae-Jung of southkorea was elected, and the real culprit of southkorea’s ecomomical problem was very this foreign exchange market’s unstable status and, just after exchange market’s being stable, southkorea’s ecomomy resurrected. Not by Kim,Dae Jung, but by Babylon’s play.
And after receiving confidence from people over the world by only broadcasting system, Barack Obama started to move toward Isram world,
in first tying to open the gate to Iran the last Zionic nation fighting with Babylon’s neutron resonance schuman’s ruling. In second, Obama’s ministration making retreat army from Iraq, this is good, but after losing crown to Babylon, USA army retreating and moving to Afganistan for another extermination of crown rebelling to Babylon.
Look Iraq now, Jesus Religion’s resonance schumann culture is exploding, soon Afganistan must be the same status.
And toward Russia, you have to know this fact that,
in past, always, Babylon did try to make whole to one organization, why? because they didn’t need to make so many leader of imposter who have loyalty to Babylon.
Therefore, you people over the world in first have to move dispose the evil on earth, that is, the Babylon Empire who drive neutron & resonance schumann & schuman matrix, after that, your whole effort to make world to One could have meaning.
You got it?
May the force of Messiah be with you
P.S: Isram Religion in past called by Asian people, specially by Yamato Tribe, Myung-Kyo, Bright Teaching. Myung-Kyo did repel Babylon from china land temporarily, together with Yamato Tribe.
Don’t fight with Yamato tribe(Kan tribe) Isramist over the world, they are brothers. Just alienation by Babylon’s slaves in your tribe, must be real culprit. Keep in mind!
From 2003 sep to now, nobody could help me, nobody could fight with Babylon together with me, Keep in mind! Allah is Angolmore.
Terminator
July 8th, 2009
6:30 am
as one of the few gay Braves fans, I can tell you the Braves will be OK. Even though we have Goobie-the poster on our side. Purj on. Priceless. Go Yankees.
Atticus
July 8th, 2009
6:54 am
Cox needs to look in the mirror. As Harry Truman said “The buck stops here”.
BravesFan4Life
July 8th, 2009
7:53 am
Maybe Cox is more of the problem than anyone realizes. I agree with those that say its the whole team, not just Frenchy. If we get rid of him, he will become an allstar. I say keep Frenchy and get rid of Kochman. I like the idea of moving Chipper to 1st and getting a young player in there to play 3rd.
Bank Walker, Texas Ranger
July 8th, 2009
7:56 am
Blow it up
LSU
July 8th, 2009
8:07 am
Amongst everything else wrong with the Braves offense, now you can add the bunt…Another easy out pop up bunt almost cost us the game last night, like it may have cost us the game 2 nights ago.
Wow, great pitching by Vasquez this season. The Braves should try & lock him up for a few seasons, rather than trade him.
Donald Trump
July 8th, 2009
8:12 am
“Frenchy, You’re Fired!”
Gabron Salome
July 8th, 2009
8:30 am
Could you please leave TP alone, he can’t get out there and hit for Jeff. The fact he went to Rudy means he blames everyone but his self for his failings. Thats the root of the problem, period! Trade him to KC for Sweeney and a rack of ribs and let him try to be a Natural in someone elses ballpark. I also agree we dont need a big power guy this year, good attitude, hard nosed ballplayer w/ a good arm. More Mclouth/Conrad less Andruw/Francouer.
The Alpha Male
July 8th, 2009
8:31 am
It can’t happen soon enough….. the kid can’t even advance a runner and refuses to go to the opposite field when he’s overmatched. If you don’t do the little things, you can’t play for Bobby Cox.
Gabron Salome
July 8th, 2009
8:35 am
the truth is assuming Jeff would take the demotion without pitching a fit, and eventually sticking his foot in his mouth. Humility is a virtue, what Mr. Francouer needs is a piece of humble pie, If you like him as much as I do, you realize he’s go to go or his career is over. How bout the Yankees? He could hit 30 hr a yr. easy in that ballpark.
Elmer
July 8th, 2009
8:36 am
Jeff should switch to cornerback and try out for the NFL
Crow
July 8th, 2009
8:42 am
Sorry Jeff – Hope it comes around for you. Parkview High ‘03 – Go Panthers!
GreggJ
July 8th, 2009
9:09 am
I think it time to can COX!!!! cmon the guy only won one championship!-wish he would hit the road
Allen
July 8th, 2009
9:31 am
Said it before on this blog – it has been said many times here today – Franceour won’t make the mental adjustment to his approach at the plate. That is the easiest kind of adjustment a person can make. Just stop swinging at every pitch and trying to win the game on every swing. Most young players learn from watching other accomplished players in the big leagues. Why if Jeff is such a good athlete won’t he take advantage of being around the best hitters on the planet and chang hs approach at the plate?? For god sakes he looks like he has absolutely no plan when he steps into the batters box except to knock the cover off the ball. The post about stop playing golf is also true. Very different kinds of swings from a muscle memory standpoint. Most major league clubs do not allow their hitters to play golf for that very reason. You are making $4 Mil to hit the baseball and nothing to play golf, get with the program and stop sulking about not playing – time to grow up and be the professional you are being paid to be!
Matt
July 8th, 2009
9:32 am
Not that I want to be a Jeff appologist or anything, but perhaps if TP was half the coach he was a player, Jeff wouldnt have to look for instruction in Texas. (By the way that Texas thing sure worked for Andruw.)
clemdawg
July 8th, 2009
9:35 am
You can’t be a superstar when you have a 5 inch hole in your swing. The space between Frenchy’s ears! His swing is actually very good! Pitch recognition
turkey
July 8th, 2009
9:56 am
Franceour has all the talent in the world, nothing a decent hitting coach can’t fix. TP needs to be the one gone. How many Braves players attribute their hitting ability to TP?
Javy Vazquez/Lopez
July 8th, 2009
10:43 am
Can we move on from the trade Frenchy talk? Send him to Gwinnett, put his azz on the bench, or give him away as a throw in on a big trade, but Booby dont start him anymore, what does Diaz have to do, hit 400.? He will cop an attitude if hes sent to AAA, probably will just say trade me or release me, you see how happy he was last year when he was sent down. Also Brooks C. needs to stay when Infante comes back & get rid of KJ, this dude is a hustler & brings an attitude that is lacking on the team, this guy will kill to get on base unlike Escobars sorry attitude. & please dont put Norton back on the roster, what for??? Hes done & just wasting space but I bet Booby will have him back why who knows, hard to win in spite of dumb roster moves tho. Forget the big trade talk, the only one we have anyone would want is me since Im our best pitcher, no one will trade for Huddy due to his injury, so unless Booby wants to give up on Escobar we have no one to trade, Comprende!
homiedontplay
July 8th, 2009
10:44 am
I think we should make Mark, David and Joe Simson dress out so we can make fun of them on blog.. How negative a group to support a group of youg baseball players. Get Lost.
carl
July 8th, 2009
10:58 am
There is nothing admirable about the Bobby Cox “patience”. Leaving guys in for months and years who aren’t getting the job done while better players ride the pine is not patience – it’s stubborness and stupidity. How many games has that “patience” cost the Braves not only this season but in the past? Any why can’t the so-called players manager handle some offbeat and quirky personalities like Lofton and Boone who at the time were far more productive than Cox favorites like Francoeur, Johnson, Norton, etc.? Mr. Bradley, you can keep calling out players forever. The major issue that needs to be addressed on this team is the manager. Sad that not one single journalist who covers the Braves dare mention that. If Cox was in the New York or Chicago media market the emperor who have been undressed a looong time ago.
Hamad Meander
July 8th, 2009
11:01 am
Here’s the problem sending Francouer to the minors. The minor league pitchers are going see him at the plate and think “Here’s Mr. Three Million Bucks. I’m going blow a fast ball right buy him and make him look stupid.” Jeff gets fast balls, bangs them around and out of the park, and everyone says “Look, Jeff has it together – he’s hitting .350 in the minors”. Then he gets back to the majors with the same problems he left with.
Braves Fan
July 8th, 2009
11:08 am
Johnson and Francoeur are first stringers on the wrong half of the Braves half-team. They are proving themselves to be subs at best. It’s particularly frustrating to watch Francoeur hit. he appears to be uncoachable.
Richard King
July 8th, 2009
11:18 am
I have read many times that the Braves were offended when Francouer went to Jaramillo for hitting advise. How long did he listen and try the Braves hitting advise before he tried the Texas batting coach? Judging the Braves hitting success perhaps other people’s advice might be helpful.
John
July 8th, 2009
11:35 am
I wish the Braves could find room for Blanco and McClouth in the lineup. Blanco seemed to provide something that was missing in the leadoff spot, and McClouth is a good hitter but not a prototypical leadoff guy.
As for Frenchy, you can’t keep playing in him in order for him to work out his troubles. He has to work that out in the cage and then prove it on the field before getting regular starts. You can’t hurt the team in order to play favoritism towards one player.
Matt Brill
July 8th, 2009
11:38 am
It’s not too late for Frenchy to pull a Chris Weinke.
Mr. JB
July 8th, 2009
2:08 pm
Well, “Frenchy” mat be hardheaded but he is not the only one that is in the Braves organization. There was a reason he went elswhere to get a hitting instructor. I admire him for trying to better himself. If you want to see good hitting instruction and coaching just watch the Rangers when they are at bat. The guy in Texas is as good as Charlie Lau was with the Royals several years ago. Frenchy has shown some small results but the longer he hangs around TP he will only get worse. It is in his head. TP is a pathetic hitting instructor as we can witness by the Braves Team BA. He was a good solid MLB player but a coach he isn’t. Look back over the last few years! Mark next time you talk to Frenchy tell him to borrow Chipper’s bat. He is strong enough to swing a heavy bat!It will get him better results. We all know he is capable but I think the best thing is to be traded so the “Hometown” pressure won’t be as bad. I don’t care what you say but when a Baseball player is pressing he only hurts himself. If everyone around you is telling you how terrible you are you begin to think you are terrible. Sela!
REEL DEEL
July 8th, 2009
5:31 pm
Can u say Brad Komminsk? Another infamous so called “can’t miss star mid-80’s” who had similarities with Francouer.Both have holes in their swings that big league players exploit,and thir inability to hit the breaking pitch.
Braves Hero Zero
July 8th, 2009
8:56 pm
Pendleton sure has hurt Prado’s development…lolol.
(A starter + Pitching Prospect + and OF) to The Nats for LF Adam Dunn.
Braves Hero Zero
July 8th, 2009
9:12 pm
His swing seems like a deep upper-cut. It is almost like a golf swing. Man, he swings extra-extra hard and violent too. I like Frenchy, but he has to shrink his zone a bit. He is a pull-hitter with a big zone.
Whatever he learned in Texas wore-off a little…Cox or T.P. would not stop, or alter any successful teaching from his new coach (even though it may have stunned them). Blaming them seems like emotional nonsense from sentimental locals.
The Rays OF, Pat Burrell seems very similar to Jeff, and he struggled early on.