Omar Minaya might have just saved his job today.
The Mets, starving for power and without a defined future at right field, traded OF Ryan Church to division rival Atlanta for 25-year old Jeff Francoeur.
Francoeur was drafted, right out of high school, in the 1st round by the Braves in the 2002 draft. In four and a half years as a Brave, Francoeur has hit 78 homer runs and driven in 357 runs batted in. His lifetime slugging percentage is .422.
Church, who was part of the trade that sent OF Lastings Milledge packing to the Nationals, is six years older than Francoeur, has played six seasons in the majors, has hit only 49 home runs, and has a lifetime slugging percentage of .446.
On paper, the deal looks like a winner for the Mets; however, Francoeur’s pop is way down in the past two years, and playing half your games in the massive CitiField isn’t going to help.
Contract wise, Church is being paid $2.8mil this year and technically is a free man after the season.
Contract wise, Church is being paid $2.8mil this year and technically is a free man after the season.
Francoeur also is currently on a one-year contract in 2009, worth $3,375mil.
Tough call on this one.
Positive is youth, past pop, and the end of the RF questions. Also, Church was probably gone next season anyway.
Negative is diminished pop the past two years, and is this the right choice to roam RF for the next 5 years?
No comments:
Post a Comment