Tag Archive for Jeff Francoeur

Expansion Team Expands

September 1, 2017 SHaMs, Useless Milestones 7 comments

The SHaMs 2.0 — that is, the Second-Half Mets now that they’ve traded away all the veterans other teams would accept — are pretty terrible so far but I guess have to adjust our expectations and get through the remainder of the year.

Today we learned that 2 returnees from the fire sale — relievers Jamie Callahan and Jacob Rhame — will be joining the club as September call-ups when the Mets play next in Houston on Saturday.

Callahan, one of three guys received from Boston in the Addison Reed trade, takes the vacant number of the man he was traded for, 43. That’s the first Uni Swap since Joaquin Arias inherited Jeff Frocoeur’s No. 12 way back in 2012 2010 I think.

Rhame, who arrived from the Dodgers in the Curtis Granderson deal, gets No. 35, which most recently was seen on the back of Adam Wilk. A friend by the way pointed out Rhame’s resemblance to Buddy aka “Incrediboy” aka “Syndrome” from THE INCREDIBLES. Incredible, no?

It’s good to see sane pitcher numbers issued again, and this only a week after the normal position-player number 28 was given to newly arrived outfielder Travis Taijeron. I guess some things need to go right again.

 

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Zippity Duda, Gee Whiz

September 6, 2010 Uncategorized No comments

OK, back from little visit to the beach and have a ton of useless info to catch up on. As detailed in the comments section below, the Mets have recalled a bunch of players from the minors and are suddenly flirting with the prospect of debuting the 900th player in team history, an unthinkable mark only a few months ago. So as to keep this update nice and organized, let’s proceed directly to the sacred scrolls:


12892: Joaquin Arias. Acquired for hapless hacker Jeff Francoeur in a waiver deal with the Texas Rangers, Arias was once chosen ahead of Robinson Cano by the Rangers for payment in the Alex Rodriguez deal. He’s a utility infielder who was designated for assignment when Texas acquired Alex Cora, if you want to get an idea of how he was thought of around Dallas. The Mets assigned him the same No. 12 worn by Francoeur, making this a DUD (Del Unser Deal) and final slap in the face to Francoeur who ought to be remembered as Bobby Cox’s final Masterstroke in a long career of screwing over the Mets. If anyone knew Francoeur possessed just enough talent to intrigue Omar Minaya and just enough personal magnetism and discount price to excite the owners, it was him. Jeff lived up to every expectation.
893: Lucas Duda. The outfielder had a terrific season at Buffalo but a rough start at the plate for the Mets. They assigned him No. 21: Most recently on the back of recently departed catch Rod Barajas.

894: Mike Nickeas. He’s the catcher the Mets collected in another right fielder dump to Texas a few years ago — the Victor Diaz deal. Nickeas makes an intriguing addition in that he dates all the way back to Tim Bogar in the oldest active Trade Chain among Mets: He was acquired for Diaz, who was acquired for Jeromy Burnitz in 2003, who came from Milwaukee in that whacky Todd Zeile thingy also involving Lenny Harris, who was acquired for Bill Pulsipher, who was (re-)acuired for Luis Lopez, who initially came over for Bogar, a 1987 Met draftee. Nickeas wears No. 13, the first since Cora.

895: Dillon Gee. Mets.com has him wearing No. 35, last worn by opening-day cleanup hitter and future trivia answer Mike Jacobs this year. Frequently described as one of those minor league prospects with limited repetoire but who “knows how to compete,” (gulp) Gee gets Tuesday’s start at Washington.

In the meantime the Mets also welcomed back outfielder and serial No. 6 acquirer Nick Evans; relievers Raul Valdes, No. 22; and Sean Green, No. 50; as well as reliever-turned-starter Jenrry Mejia, No. 32. Outfielder Jesus Feliciano is also back in No. 27.

Other than the bad baseball, did I miss anything?

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Galaxy .500

August 26, 2010 Uncategorized One comment

Had a good time despite the disappointing result at the Mets game last night, and even as I continued scratching my head wondering why they continue to start Ruben Tejada over Luis Castillo at second base, even as Jeff Francoeur continues to get the starts in right field. Anyone else find this difficult to reconcile? Sure Castillo has limited value, but he’s clearly better at this point in his career than Tejada, whose mistakes in the field are even blunting his advantages in quickness and range. Meantime, Francoeur, who unlike Castillo has no commitment from the club to keep him around for another season, gets the kid gloves despite having been a major drain on the offense since June. I just don’t get it.

The Mets however did accomplish something last night. When Jose Reyes bounced to first with the bases loaded and ended the game, the Mets fell to 63-63, marking their 11th contiguous point at .500 — that is, alternating wins and losses at a game above or below .500 — breaking the old record of 10 such contiguous points set in 2005. The Mets in other words have been 53-53, 54-54, 55-55, and so on up to their current mark of 63-63. Amazin’.

They still have some work to do to catch the 2005 team for most overall points at .500: That team had 27 separate .500 marks. But at 19 .500s already, the 2010 Mets right now are in third place all time and have 18 more shots for historic mediocrity ahead of them.

And you thought there was noting left to play for.

The below chart ranks Mets teams by the number of times their record was .500 . Thanks to the Post’s Mike Vaccaro for inspiring the research.

Five-hundrliest seasons, in order:

1. 2005 (27)

2. 2002 (20)

3. 2010 (19)*

4. 1970 (18)

5. 2004 (15)

6. 2008 (14)

7. 1976 (13)

8. 1994 (11)

9. 1990 (8)

10. 1971(7)

1987 (7)

2009 (7)

13. 1973 (6)

1975 (6)

1992 (6)

1993 (6)

2000 (6)

18. 1977 (5)

1980 (5)

1989 (5)

21. 1969 (4)

1982 (4)

1999 (4)

2003 (4)

25. 1968 (3)

1984 (3)

1988 (3)

2001 (3)

29. 1966 (2)

1967 (2)

1972 (2)

1974 (2)

1978 (2)

1979 (2)

1981 (2)

1986 (2)

1996 (2)

1997 (2)

1998 (2)

39. 1983 (1)

1991 (1)

1995 (1)

2006 (1)

 

43. 1962 (0)

1963 (0)

1964 (0)

1965 (0)

2007 (0)

 

*- Still active (barely)

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Coming From Behind

July 22, 2010 Uncategorized One comment

The time to get panicky isn’t now but three weeks ago, when the seeds of another dreadful Met run were laid. I remain convinced despite the evidence that the rotten offense and lapses in concentration among the pitchers is more or less just what happens to this team, and that to this point, every one of those lulls has been answered with an even hotter run, and that the team as presently constituted — despite some versatility concerns — is as prepared to get on a hot streak as any group we’ve run out there.

So I’m not panicking that Oliver Perez is back, and I don’t believe the Mets will bleed chemistry now that Jeff Francoeur is on the bench (and/or the trading block). And even though I cried for the Mets to sack Jerry Manuel in May, it probably wouldn’t make much of a difference if they didn’t make that move until October. What they need now is a solid win or two, some support, and watch it go from there.

Wanna see an inspiring win? Check out the video highlights here (good stuff begins about 1 minute in, and doesn’t stop). Dig Claudell Washington wearing No. 15 with no nameplate! He’d been with the team for a week by then and they hadn’t yet gotten to it despite playing at home the whole time. Justin Turner by the way was demoted to make room for Perez.

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Any Minute Now

July 20, 2010 Uncategorized One comment

As bad as the Mets have been going, recently and no-so-recently — really, they’ve been awful since Puerto Rico — I’m convinced another hot streak could start any time now.

The reason is simple — they finally have the lineup they want out there most nights. Nobody cried when he limped off the field with a foot problem a few weeks back, but we’ve missed the modest contributions of Luis Castillo, who returned to the lineup last night in Phoenix. Ruben Tejada showed some good skills in Castillo’s absence, but was overmatched offensively and is back in AAA where he belongs. Jose Reyes in the meantime returned to the lineup and despite two shaky plays contributing to Pelfrey’s disaster, is obviously a huge part of the offense and will get going again.

I’m no fan of Jerry Manuel’s passive game-managing style, but he’s done a bold thing in benching Jeff Francoeur here. I’d have sworn the Mets had invested too much in marketing Francoeur to sit him, but it’s good to see the team recognize that Angel Pagan’s contributions trump good will with the writers. Next on Jerry’s to-do list ought to be the same solution for Rod Barajas: this will be trickier, but the fact that Josh Tholeis still on board with both Barajas and Blanco healthy enough to start again indicates it’s at least under consideration. Ideally Jerry could get by with 6 relievers instead of his customary 7 and use Thole freely.

The impending return of Oliver Perez in the meantime might not be a disaster if it gets Hisanori Takahashi out of the rotation for a while and allows the team to strengthen the bullpen. I’d be surprised if the Mets don’t move to acquire a reliever and a starter in the next few weeks anyway, so the pitching will remain fluid.

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By the Dozen

July 12, 2009 Uncategorized One comment

So as we saw last night in his Mets debut, Jeff Francoeur wore No. 12, becoming the first Met to wear that jersey since Willie Randolph left town.

I didn’t think to reseach it beforehand but as you can see in the jocky images below, 12 was Francoeur’s number in both baseball and football at Parkview High in Atlanta (the school actually retired the jersey). Go Panthers! When he debuted with the Braves in 2005, 12 belonged to catcher Eduardo Perez.

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Francoeur Dujour

July 10, 2009 Met Mysteries One comment

The debate over what number Jeff Francoeur ought to wear started in the post below long before I even knew we’d traded Ryan Church for him in a deal begging to be debated long after the Mets and Braves realize it hadn’t helped them. Francoeur of course wore No. 7 with the Braves and won’t with the Mets as long as Jose Reyes (remember him?) is employed. Let’s look at the candidates:

No. 4: I like this one: Single-digit, tossed around amongst a bunch of bums ever since Robin Ventura left town eight years ago.

No. 6: Nick Evans was just demoted — Angel Pagan returned from the DL — and the addition of Francoeur does Evans’ future no favors. But I like 6 as a scrubeenie signifier and would hate to see it wasted on a guy we’ll come to remember — good or bad — as much as Francoeur. Didya know he’s under team control for one more than Chuch? Oh yes. He’s our right fielder through 2011 if we want him, and maybe if we don’t Gulp.

No. 8: Still sitting there.

No. 12: Still unissued since Willie Randolph‘s departure but more of an infielder’s number.

19No. 19: If there’s something to admire about this deal off-the-bat is how brazen a challenge trade it really is: Both right fielders, both considered disappointments, both teams in the same division, both more or less fighting for the same goal. Why not make it a true Del Unser Deal and change up the jerseys as well?

No. 27: Available even though we’ll probably need Nelson Figueroa again. This, 47, and 77 are the easiest to imagine emerging from the 7 family if Francoeur prefer to stay with it.

Nos. 30, 32, 35 and 40 are open as well.

As for the trade, I fear it: It seems that if Church only played a little better he’d not have been traded to begin with but it takes more ignorance of on-base percentage than I’ll ever have to think we haven’t just made a bad offense even worse. That said, Francoeur is right-handed and young and may still become something; while Church, for whatever reason, has fallen out of favor with two clubs already.

Let the challenge begin.

In other troubling news they brought back Argenis Reyes when overmatched youngsterFernando Martinez went on the disabled list. And before I ever had a chance to enjoy his demotion.

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