Sunday, September 20, 2009

Why Jeff Francoeur for 3 years is a bad idea

According to mets.com (Marty Noble) the Mets want to sign Francoeur for 3 years.
Here's the quote:
"The Mets believe Francoeur will look sharp in their 2010 uni, so much so that they are inclined to approach him about signing him to a three-year contract that would allow him to become a big league Beau Brummel, if he so chose. They like what they have seen of him in and out of uniform -- from his spirited demeanor to his nuclear arm to the two doubles he produced Saturday afternoon in their victory against the Nationals."
I won't even go over the "Beau Brummel" part (should Frenchy's cleats be coated with the champagne from 2007 that Willie Randolph never got to use?). How about the fact, that even if Francoeur look's good he still sucks. Sure, he's hitting .280. You know what his OBP is? .309. Cannon arm? Yeah, he has a good arm. He sucks at the rest of defence though, according to UZR. If he has such a great arm, make him a pitcher. Then he has value as a hitter.
You want a 3 year contract, Noble? For a guy who has been worth -9.1 runs? He has been worse offensively than an average hitter. The track record is against him. He has the worst plate discipline on the team, swinging at 35% of pitches outside the strikezone. He is not good at baseball. You know who's better, and cheaper? Bobby Abreu. So, for once, Omar/Wilpons/who ever is the GM, make the right effing decision. Because if we sign Francoeur for 3 years, I'm done.

2 comments:

  1. Well, "Aidan G." go ahead and be done, we won't miss you. While it's hard to ignore what a great baseball mind such as yourself thinks, (yes, sarcasm) I'm going to go ahead and defer to my actual baseball knowledge here and admit that the Mets are much better with Jeff Francouer than without him. You stat geeks love to dissect numbers, but it's what happens on the field that counts, and since he came over I have seen a guy who is hitting .311 and driven in 33 runs on a team that's been desperate for someone who can get a key hit. When Francouer comes to bat, I don't roll my eyes and laugh about our AAAA line-up, like I do when I see Wilson Valdez, Fernando Tatis hitting cleanup, and Cory Sullivan, Brian Schneider, etc. I see a guy who can hit the ball. He may strike out a lot, but he certainly doesn't "suck" as you so generally put it. Abreu is exactly 9 years and 10 months older than Frenchie. I'd rather have youth and defense (spelt correctly here, unlike in your piece) than another 36-year old Latino outfielder who will assuredly lose his skill the moment he signs that Mets contract! Thanks for the brilliant analysis though, about how he "sucks."

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  2. "Jaybro", I never said I was happy with having Wilson Valdez, Brian Schneider or any of the other AAAA players.If you actually read more of this site you might realize that I called Tatis 6-4-3 Tatis. I certainly don't like him. Maybe Francoeur doesn't suck but he is not that good at baseball. For one thing, we have a player in AAA called Feranando Martinez who can certainly play right field, while Abreu could play for one year, before F-Mart came up. They've been talking about Ike Davis in right. You can criticize my opinions, but you shouldn't criticize my methods of getting those opinions, and to be rude is not acceptable. I would like to have this debate in a calm civilized way, but it seems like that's not possible with you. I personally don't want Abreu, but I feel he would be a better player than Francoeur. Uhh, if you have read more of this site, you might have realized that we don't use stats like average and R'sBI because it's not good analysis of a player's talent. I could not get one hit for the whole entire year and have 100 R'sBI. It probably won't happen, but it could (hit a sac fly every time, or ground out). Oh, and "You stat geeks love to dissect numbers but it's what happens on the field that accounts". Yeah, stats are a direct result of what happens on the field .

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