The Francoeur trade: A sad but necessary ending
This is how much the Braves wanted rid of Jeff Francoeur: They traded him to a team they’ll play 19 times a year, which means they’d rather put themselves in the repeated position of losing to him than have kept him around here. That’s how far the Golden Child had fallen, and how fast.
If you’d hung around the team this summer, you could tell the Braves’ patience had reached its end. Even after his Texas tutorial with Rudy Jaramillio, Francoeur was the same as he’d been last season, give or take. Even after vowing many times to be a new Frenchy, he was the familiar flailing Frenchy. And the Braves had seen enough.
He’s not a bad guy — on the contrary, he’s a fine fellow — but neither is he easy to coach. He’d been a success in every sport at every level but couldn’t master the adjustments every successful big-league hitter must make. It’s not that he didn’t try to change. He changed his swing several times. Trouble was, he couldn’t change himself.
Francoeur is a baseball player with a football mentality, and that doesn’t cut it over the long haul. A baseball player must be measured in his approach. The same aggressiveness that made Francoeur one of the greatest high school football players this blessed state has ever seen — as a Parkview junior, he averaged a touchdown catch as a wide receiver and an interception as a defensive back per game — ultimately rendered him a substandard big-league hitter.
Terry Pendleton and Bobby Cox get hammered for not imparting plate discipline on their prized pupil, but Francoeur was swinging at everything before he became a Brave. He batted eight times in a playoff doubleheader his senior season at Parkview; seven times he swung at the first pitch. He could get away with it then because he was just so gifted, but gifts alone don’t cut it in the major leagues. Not for long.
Loading ...Francoeur arrived in 2005 and rose to the moment, and we really expected no less. After all, he was a big-time athlete who’d spent his young life rising to such moments. But the Francoeur of 2008 and 2009 was a shadow of the rookie Frenchy. That one was dauntless. This one was aimless. For that first giddy season we were shocked if he made an out; for the past two summers we’ve been surprised if he gets a hit.
I can’t say this trade pleases me — I’ve known Francoeur since he was 17 and like him very much — but I have to say I saw it coming. By going to Jaramillo, he’d damaged his standing with Pendleton and Cox, and the only way you mend a damaged baseball relationship is by producing. And Francoeur had stopped producing at an acceptable rate. He’d become a liability. He needed something he could never get as a Brave. He needed a new start.
And now he has one. I hope he makes it work. I hope he hits .300 and drives in 100 runs next season and every season thereafter, and I don’t care if he inflicts major damage on his former employer. For the good of both parties, this was a trade the Braves had to make. Even if the only team willing to take Francoeur was the hated Mets, the Braves still had to make it.
On July 7, 2005, Jeff Francoeur hit a home run in his first big-league game. Four years and three days later, he was traded for Ryan Church, a right fielder having an even worse year. Four years and three days later, the Golden Child was given the golden boot.
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531 comments Add your comment
supertoddlong
July 10th, 2009
8:02 pm
I think that he will play well for the Mets, and they will love him. I think that the Braves are to blame it is not like Pendelton is a hitting GURU. I am scratching my head and trying figure out who he has made better. Why not let Pendelton go, there is a reason he visited Rudy and how is Andruw doing? This is better for Jeff, but he could have been great here if TP did not make him a punchin Judy. Church does not makes us any better. I wish Jeff the best and
Brad
July 10th, 2009
8:03 pm
Had to happen, Ryan Church is an exceptional player. Could be a key piece the Braves need in order to win this season
j dub
July 10th, 2009
8:04 pm
BAD MOVE ! How can you trade a 25 year old for a 30 year old bum like church.Church will be on the bench by next week. He’s just going to be another greg norton, at lest frenchy can play D.Why trade in you division, what the F#@! are the thinking.
Dr. R
July 10th, 2009
8:04 pm
Bobby Cox is the fourth winningest manager of all time, a Hall of Famer, and recognized around baseball as one of the great skippers ever. He has won with talent, with rookies, with a changing roster for 14 straight years. Only the fair-weather, football- and NASCAR-minded goober fans of Atlanta fail to see how good he is. They think he should be like Vince Dooley or Bear Bryant and make his players run through blocking drills. The key in baseball is getting 25 guys to PLAY, and no one in his generation has done it better. The only time you yahoos will realize that is when he’s gone and the latest Russ Nixon clone is dealing with a clubhouse full of troublemakers. As for TP, he can only do so much with players who are too dense to lay off pitches well off the plate. He can’t hit for them. He can’t signal in another play. Geez. You guys go watch your football and leave the national pastime to those who know what they’re talking about.
Alisha
July 10th, 2009
8:05 pm
Sad to see him go but getting ANYTHING for francoeur is a positive for this team. If we didnt trade him, we would have just let him go in the offseason so good job Frank Wren, getting something out of a bad situation.
EJM
July 10th, 2009
8:05 pm
Do I like the trade no. Jeff is a much better defensive player and a right hand hitter. Why did we had another left handed hitter. We need more power bats and at lease from the fight side. I disagree with this deal.
Carolina Brave
July 10th, 2009
8:05 pm
I thought we were looking for a righthanded power bat to put between all the left handed bats. Should have just kept Frenchie and waited until another deal popped up. All the outfielders are lefthanded now with the exception of Diaz, this seems to limit our moves late in the game. Frenchie struggled offensively but at least he was able to play everyday and was a plus defensively. Hopefully Chrch surprises us and adds a spark to the bottom third of the order. I do find it odd that we had to pay somebody to take Frenchie when we supposdly are stapped financially.
Johnny DangerDawg
July 10th, 2009
8:06 pm
Bradley,
You say this was a “necessary” trade, but then you said Church is having a “worse” year than Francoeur. So you think the Braves made a good move by trading for the weaker player? Could you clarify which team benefits more?
Trey06
July 10th, 2009
8:06 pm
All of you idiots that are happy about that Frenchy trade are just as stupid as FW. I’m not upset that he was traded… I’m upset that he was traded to the Mets & for Ryan Church. Hopefully Church is being dangled for another trade. Hey Frenchy haters… why do we need another left handed bat? And a mediocre one at that? So obviously FW didn’t care what he got for Frenchy. And why trade him to a team in the NL East? We could’ve made just as bad a trade with a team in the AL (even for a PTBNL) and not worry about it coming back to bite us! Let’s see how happy you Frenchy haters are when he throws out our players at the plate and hits a bunch of HRs against us. It’s gonna happen!
I’ve been a fan since 1981 and I have never been this mad at management.
Tomy Fournier
July 10th, 2009
8:06 pm
JUST ONE QUESTION…WHEN THEY GOING TO FIRE MR. “MORON” COX…HE’S WORST!!!!…SORRY ATLANTA…YOU ARE OUT!!!!….NOW I’M GOINT TO MOVE… TO BE A MET FAN…YES!!!!…BETTER THAN ALL THIS SH##@%%$#@@@ATLANTA TEAM!!!
NCBravesFan
July 10th, 2009
8:07 pm
OMG! People have been moaning about Frenchy for months, and a good number of you are ticked that he got traded. WOW!
Church is a reasonable replacement in RF – he fell out of favor with Jerry Manuel in NY. Frankly, they got more than I thought they would. I figured this was headed toward DFA, option to minors or non-tender after the season ended.
Big Fella
July 10th, 2009
8:08 pm
I’m happy he’s gone…..I never liked him anyway.
Gov. Clinton Tyree
July 10th, 2009
8:08 pm
You people who are saying Jeff will “be great” with the Mets – give me one SCINTILLA of evidence that he will. Just one.
‘Cause the Jeff I know has cripplingly poor pitch recognition and no more idea what to do with a bat in his hands than a monkey with a joystick.
Glen
July 10th, 2009
8:08 pm
Terrible trade for us that will likely come back to bite us as Frenchy figures out his swing and becomes a star.
Great for him and Church as they both get a change of scenery.
Carolina Brave
July 10th, 2009
8:08 pm
Enter your comments here
Dr. R
July 10th, 2009
8:09 pm
Diaz will be your right fielder until Heyward gets here. Church will platoon, pinch-hit, spot play. Infante will be back soon and can fill either corner OF spot. It also opens up a spot for Shafer at some point when he gets healthy. And people who rail about ‘Mr. Moron’ in all caps who are ‘goint’ to move make my point about Braves fans better than I ever can.
RT
July 10th, 2009
8:10 pm
Nothing the Braves do will them any better,we have a manager that lives by the 3 run homer.WE DON’T HAVE ANY POWER.It would be much cheaper to get a new manager!
Chris
July 10th, 2009
8:10 pm
Since Church came off the DL, his line has been: 290/.336/.402
Francoeur’s line for the season is: 250/.282/.352
What are you complaining about? He had to go. He’s been awful. Awful.
Of the 162 players in MLB who currently qualify for the batting title, Francoeur’s OBP ranks 158th. No team can survive with that from a corner OF. He gave us all some great memories, but it isn’t 2006 anymore. He’s shown zero improvement. He was going to be non-tendered at seasons end anyway.
Church isn’t a savior, but a platoon of Church/Diaz in RF should be reasonably productive and therefore a huge improvement over Jeff.
The Grim Reaper
July 10th, 2009
8:10 pm
This move had to be made. Put your love of Frenchy aside. As MB said, I am sure he’s a good guy. But, he can barely hit his weight. And lets face it, he’ll never be a solid major leaguer. He just can’t adjust.
And to those idiots that think we got the bad end of this trade — HOW DO YOU FIGURE??? Frenchy has almost NO value. We actually got something for him, which should be construed as a HUGE victory for the Braves. The guy has a .282 OBP. Are you kidding me? Starting pitchers have higher OBPs.
I actually hope Jeff is able to turn it around, but there was no way it was happening here. And don’t think for one minute the Mets are going to hold on to Francouer either. He’ll be gone at season’s end.
Gov. Clinton Tyree
July 10th, 2009
8:11 pm
We weren’t going to get a producing RH power bat for Jeff Francoeur, people. Jeff Francoeur was supposed to be a RH power bat. He just cannot, and never will, hit.
Frank still needs a power bat for the lineup, but at least we won’t have to see Jeff 158 games this year while he addresses it. Maybe Church helps. I think he could get hot and help the ballclub.
jimmy
July 10th, 2009
8:11 pm
why
will
July 10th, 2009
8:12 pm
Very Sad. Another young promising prospect ruined by the coaching staff of the Braves. How many young prospects have either been sent back down or traded? The ones who have been traded seem to make miraculous come backs and matter of fact, come back to beat us. How sad indeed
Art
July 10th, 2009
8:13 pm
Well I see the Braves have given up on 2009. Frenchy will be missed and look at Andruw and his 3 hr’s last nite and Frenchy with 3 doubles. maybe the Braves need a hitting coach. TP for bench coach but not hitting coach. He ought to be able to get more out the 2 former Angels.
Bob
July 10th, 2009
8:13 pm
My God, what a goofy trade. Seems to make no sense at all. We did not get better with this and are arguably worse. As others have said, at least Frenchy could play defense. And to the friggin Mets? The inmates are running this asylum.
Larry
July 10th, 2009
8:13 pm
Wow! If it is true that Francoeur had lost the trust and respect of Bobby Cox then clearly the suspected loss of Bobby’s brain cells (as if he had any to lose) has been validated as it is Bobby who kept putting his name on the lineup card the past two years–and even last night when surely he was aware of the trade discussions.
Hilarious!
Marc
July 10th, 2009
8:14 pm
ciacghb, I’m convinced KJ and JF hit well because of TP. I think he gave them a shot as major league hitters by teaching them a few tricks. But I don’t think either one have the ability adapt regularly to big league pitching. Yep, without TP both Johnson and Frenchy get sent back down their rookie seasons and maybe never even get a second shot at the bigs. You can stretch mediocre talent for a while, but only for a while.
McClain142
July 10th, 2009
8:14 pm
Terrible trade. No one on this team can hit. Francoeur went to Texas to find a real hitting coach. TP needs to be the one to leave town, or at least change jobs. Church is solidly average, but other than BA, his numbers trail even a slumping Frenchy. And you NEVER deal with a rival. Francoeur has raw talent that the Met’s can (probably) figure out how to tap, and he’s going to kill us 19 times a year for many years to come. Best of luck to a great kid, but if he had to go, it should have been somewhere farther away.
spider
July 10th, 2009
8:15 pm
i hope frenchy doesnt move out of gwinnett county, we need his tax money, they are closing our libraries on sunday and monday because the county is broke because they spent 60million on a stadium for the braves
CJDawg
July 10th, 2009
8:15 pm
Nurse R you wouldn’t know a baseball sign from a stop sign so go back to your bagel and black socks.
ToddH
July 10th, 2009
8:15 pm
Mark, good blog, and it almost changed my mind. But, I still don’t like giving up on Frenchy and not getting much in return. Besides, it’s pretty cold-hearted to send him to the Mets. And, yes as a Braves fan I do think that matters. If all you care about is winning at all costs, go be a Yankees fan as far as I’m concerned. I like rooting for a team that goes about competing the right way, and handling your business with class. I have seen just the opposite with Frank Wren. He’s doing his best to destroy the fan base, at the expense of making desperation moves with no regard for building an actual “team” that plays together. I’m sorry, I just don’t like the move one bit.
The Grim Reaper
July 10th, 2009
8:16 pm
Trey06, give me a break. Frenchy can barely hit the ball to the warning track, let alone out of the park. Yes, he’s a good defensive player. So what? He was KILLING us. He’s a bum. And it was obvious he wasn’t happy. Remember two years ago how he hopped around the dugout smiling all the time? Now’s he pouts in the dugout and barely congratulates or encourages teammates. Look at the Brooks Conrad homer (his first in the Majors) and look at how Frenchy reacted to him. Jeff’s used to everyone smooching his butt and now that it has stopped he wanted out.
will
July 10th, 2009
8:16 pm
Very Sad. Another young prospect ruined by the coaching staff of the Braves. How many good players have been sent back down or traded, only to go on and start at other teams and play well. Even Andruw Jones is making it again. We continue to wreck good young prospects, where we used to be an organization that churned out good players and made use of them in the Majors. How sad indeed!
Fury
July 10th, 2009
8:17 pm
A trade to the Mets??????
YES, he got what he deserved……………..HELL!
Reality
July 10th, 2009
8:18 pm
The reality of this situation is that no other team was willing to make a trade for Francine. It has been reported by many insiders that the Braves have been shopping Francine to every single team for a while now, but every team was not biting at all. The fact is that the Braves would of just out right released Francine at the end of the year if no trade was done, and most teams knew this and were unwilling to make any trade of consequence. The bitter truth is that it is better to get something of any value (Church is a decent MLB player, nothing more) for a player that you had already decided does not have any future in your organization.
CJDawg
July 10th, 2009
8:18 pm
ABSOLUTLEY Mclain 142!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jeremy
July 10th, 2009
8:18 pm
Bout Time! Good Bye Jeff, Don’t forget your LUCKY PANTIES
Steve
July 10th, 2009
8:19 pm
I want to wish Jeff the best maybe he has a hitting coach with the Mets because he didn’t have with the Braves.
ToddH
July 10th, 2009
8:19 pm
I agree that Jeff wasn’t as productive as we needed, but I was starting to like the platoon with Diaz swapping nights b/t left and right. First Smoltz, then Glavine, now Frenchy, all treated like crap by Wren. One such move may be bearable, but it’s clear Wren doesn’t understand his fan base.
Dennis
July 10th, 2009
8:19 pm
Well..it happened and predictably there are a bunch of gomers here who are the first to complain about Francouer and now the first to complain about the trade. it had to happen because Jeff would never, ever get himself right in Atlanta and I am reasonably certain he never will. At least not to the level people expected. I think he will have another 8 or 10 years of playing time, mostly as a backup or a spare part on some team. He will predictably strike out a lot, hit for a low average, ocassionally homer and always play a very good right field. But that does not translate to 3+ million dollars per year. He will get far less, but will be part of baseball for a long time I think, but not as a frontline player who commands top dollar.
Larry
July 10th, 2009
8:20 pm
Dr R,
Congratulations! You have won the award for the dumbest post of the day! No one with more than a double digit IQ believes that Bobby Cox is a great manager. On the contrary, he is the worst postseason manager in the history of the game managing to lose the last game of his postseason career 14 of 15 opportunities.
What was he before, and what has he been since, he had Glavine, Avery, Smotltz, and Maddux? The man hasn’t a clue how to manage this current Braves!
Mark Bradley
July 10th, 2009
8:21 pm
It’s a necessary trade in that Francoeur was never going to flourish as a Brave and surely would have been non-tendered this winter. At least this way the Braves have a professional replacement who strikes out less and gets on base more. Does Church have Francoeur’s talent? No. But Francoeur’s talent wasn’t helping the Braves much, was it?
Dr. R
July 10th, 2009
8:22 pm
Todd, if you don’t care about winning, go watch T-ball. This is the big leagues. If you’re not in it to win, you’re wasting your time.
Will, name some players the Braves dealt away that have come back to haunt them? There are a few, but it’s a short list. Schuerholz was robbing teams blind for ages. Like the three guys they gave up for Hudson; two are middle relievers, the other out of baseball. You and your fellow bloggers here … have … no … clue. Cruel but true.
Chris
July 10th, 2009
8:22 pm
Have you guys gone mental? Look at the stats. It’s a good trade.
Bradley, I side with you on everything except the part about not caring if he rips his future employer. Can’t go that far. He can hit .400, but I hope he goes ohfer in every game against us. He’s a Met now. Get real.
Mark Bradley
July 10th, 2009
8:23 pm
Here are Church’s career stats. Look at them and you’ll see the Braves didn’t make this deal to get Ryan Church. They made it to get rid of Jeff Francoeur.
61 year Braves Fan
July 10th, 2009
8:23 pm
Had to be done . Frenchy’s mental approach to hitting stinks. Has no idea of the strike zone and gets
himself out to easily. Now let’s trade Chipper to an American League team where he can DH . Lets
get several of that teams best young prospects with plate discipline and speed. Chipper is so injury
prone and doesn’t hit for power like he used to and has not been clutch in late innings this year. I
think Martin Prado is a real ballplayer with a great future at 3rd base.
Chris
July 10th, 2009
8:23 pm
future = former
Sorry, just awoke from the post-40 hour week nap!
CJDawg
July 10th, 2009
8:23 pm
Every time your mouth opens MB, something dumb flies out. Francouer SAVES more runs with his defense than Church can produce. Wake up! Go write for a single A team in Tijuana…..
ToddH
July 10th, 2009
8:23 pm
Larry, you’ve got to be kidding. How can anyone deny Cox is one of great all-time managers? Fourteen straight postseason appearances should speak for itself. Players like playing for him, and players like to win. It ain’t hard to figure out.
bob
July 10th, 2009
8:24 pm
another trade is in the works…church becomes the new part time bench player and garrett anderson is part of a deal with an american league team…perhaps exscobar goes as well….wren will be talking and dealing over the break with something happening over the next two weeks.
personally, i would like to see chipper get a chance as a dh with an american league contender.
Brownie
July 10th, 2009
8:24 pm
Wren…GREAT move. All of you people moaning that we didn’t get a better player in the trade don’t get it. NOBODY considers Frenchy a strong player right now, and you weren’t going to get anything of value for him without throwing in some other talent. And right now, the Braves need to hang onto their good players.
Francouer was likely going to be a non-tender player after this year, so we would have gotten zero for him. The Mets are essentially going to take a look at him for the next few months, and if he doesn’t show measurably more than he has been, he’ll be a free agent looking for a minor league contract next year. Almost no risk for them.
I don’t expect Church to be a long term answer, but the change of scenary should help him, and us.
Now, all of you who are screaming for Wren’s head…take a breath. The Braves are in the state they are in right now because of Scheurholz’s incompetence the last few years of his tenure as GM. HE was the one who kept trading away all of our young talent for rental players, none of which gave us much or are still around.
Wren was handed the keys to a broken down bus and told to drive it. In less than a year and a half he rebuilt our pitching staff for the worst in the NL to one of the best. The only real mistakes he has made are getting rid of Josh Anderson, and even talking to Glavine in the first place (that was ALWAYS going to end as a disaster).
Give Wren some more time, and you’ll see a perennial winner again by 2011. Frenchy was never going to be a factor.