Jeff Francoeur and the internet. I'm not sure if I've ever seen a better marriage of a baseball player and curmudgeons. Frenchy is like a whipping boy drawn up by a million-dollar ad agency. Don Draper would sit back with a glass of rye, and explain to us why "tools" remind us of our grampapa and summer lakes. It would make perfect sense how a team like the Royals could get suckered into thinking that they need Francoeur.
Rebuilding And Jeff Francoeur: Can They Co-Exist?
The Royals and Dayton Moore signed Francoeur in the offseason. Of course they did. Moore didn’t actively decide to do that; he just woke up one morning and flipped through the script that the universe left in his mailbox. And when Francoeur hit well, he made internet baseball fans look pretty stupid. Getting lucky once is one thing, but it’s not like the Royals were going to commit to Francoeur, right?
Royals ink OF Francoeur to two-year extensionSo today is the day the internet baseball world collapses upon itself, unable to support the weight of all the laughter and finger-pointing.
Let’s figure out where the appeal of Francoeur comes from, first. Here’s a list of 21-year-olds who hit .300 or better in over 200 plate appearances. Sixty-five players have done it. A sampling:
Al Kaline
Alex Rodriguez
Arky Vaughn
Eddie Matthews
Frank Robinson
Hank Aaron
Jimmie Foxx
Joe DiMaggio
Ken Griffey, Jr.
Mel Ott
Mickey Mantle
Rickey Henderson
Roberto Clemente
Rogers Hornsby
Stan Musial
Ted Williams
Ty Cobb
You get the point
Hall-of-Famers hit .300 when they’re 21 or younger. And Mike Caruso. But mostly Hall-of-Famers.
Batting average is an overrated statistic. Francoeur barely squeaked on the list by hitting exactly .300 in his rookie year. And that’s the point. You can manufacture an argument for him. If you’re looking for a reason to think Francoeur is going to break out aaaaaany day now -- not do okay, but break out -- look towards the preternatural ability he showed as a rookie, multiply by his tools, and divide by Dayton Moore. Now you’re seeing it.
But one of the great fallacies of the rebuilding team is that they shouldn't bother with veterans at all -- they should just cycle in random rookies and minor-league free agents until something clicks. When the Giants signed Aubrey Huff, it seemed inexplicable. Typical Sabean has-been, right? But the Giants had nothing at first base before 2010. They were playing Travis Ishikawa, who was replacement-level, at best. Getting better players should always be the goal, and Huff had a good shot of being better than anything the Giants had.
Huff is the ultimate best-case scenario. He came in, performed at his highest level, and helped his team win a championship. I also chose him as an example because he’s also the worst-case scenario. Just one year later, he’s blocking the best prospect the Giants have. That’s a questionable move for a contending team, but it would be murder on a rebuilding team.
That’s what the Royals needed to weigh: the best- and worst-case of Jeff Francoeur. Can he be a good major leaguer? Yep. He’s been one o’ them this season. Can he block a better, younger player before he gets to help the Royals? Oh, absolutely. But it’s an open question whether he’ll get a chance to block a good, young Royal.
The Royals have Alex Gordon in left. They have Lorenzo Cain doing well in AAA, and he's ostensibly the center fielder of the future. Other than that, they have Wil Myers, who is just holding his own as a 20-year-old in AA. The Royals aren't overflowing with upper-level outfielders. They had two pending free agents: Francoeur and Melky Cabrera. Choosing one as a stopgap isn't a bad idea for the last outfield slot. It's not an automatically brilliant idea to let both go just so they could rush Myers to the majors or try to duplicate their success with another one-year flyer on an player no one else wants.
Two years. That’s all the deal is for. It’s not a great move. It’s might not even be a good move. But it’s an understandable move. What it isn’t is a totally irresponsible move. Francoeur is a decent bet to be the best RF the Royals can scare up on a short-term deal until they really start to contend. You can at least see the logic.
Unless you’re convinced that a) Myers is going to be ready before he’s 22, b) Melky is a lock to be the better player, or c) the Royals could lure a better free agent in the offseason, the Francoeur extension is something to question and debate. But it’s not a deal to point at while giggling uncontrollably. Get one chortle out of your system, internet, and be done with it.
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