After months of rumors, the Braves have traded right fielder Jeff Francoeur to the Mets for outfielder Ryan Church.
Francouer made a splash in 2005 which landed him on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He followed it up with career years in 2006 and 2007, but in 2008 the wheels fell off and Frenchy found himself in the minors for three days. The move was not effective as he continued to struggle throughout the year. But it seemed like things were finally coming around in the beginning of 2009. Francoeur had spent the off season working with Texas hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo and his batting was becoming more constitent. Without Jaramillo to fall back on during the season, Frenchy regressed to his old habits leading to consecutive benchings over the last two weeks. I think a change of scenery will really benefit Frenchy and I hope he succeeds; even it is with the Mets.
Church most memorably suffered a concussion against the Braves last season when he ran into Yunel Escobar. He spent much of 2008 recovering from that and another concussion he sustained in spring training. Currently, Church is hitting .280 with 2 homers in 67 games with the Mets. The power numbers are a bit deceiving though, since Citi Field is anything but a homerun hitters park, but at least the swap allows the Braves to receive a competent replacement for Francoeur.
(Photo: AP; source)
Francouer made a splash in 2005 which landed him on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He followed it up with career years in 2006 and 2007, but in 2008 the wheels fell off and Frenchy found himself in the minors for three days. The move was not effective as he continued to struggle throughout the year. But it seemed like things were finally coming around in the beginning of 2009. Francoeur had spent the off season working with Texas hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo and his batting was becoming more constitent. Without Jaramillo to fall back on during the season, Frenchy regressed to his old habits leading to consecutive benchings over the last two weeks. I think a change of scenery will really benefit Frenchy and I hope he succeeds; even it is with the Mets.
Church most memorably suffered a concussion against the Braves last season when he ran into Yunel Escobar. He spent much of 2008 recovering from that and another concussion he sustained in spring training. Currently, Church is hitting .280 with 2 homers in 67 games with the Mets. The power numbers are a bit deceiving though, since Citi Field is anything but a homerun hitters park, but at least the swap allows the Braves to receive a competent replacement for Francoeur.
(Photo: AP; source)
No comments:
Post a Comment