The Reds have released Jeff Francis at his request according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN (on Twitter). The veteran southpaw exercised a June 1st opt-out clause in his minor league contract.
Francis, 31, pitched to a 3.72 ERA with 7.6 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 77 1/3 innings across 12 starts for Cincinnati's Triple-A affiliate. He threw a nine-inning complete game shutout just last night. Given his solid performance in the minors and the demand for pitching, Francis could wind up signing a Major League contract and join a team's rotation in short order.
Paging the Padres.
The Royals have a plethora of AAAA pitchers currently in the rounds and I have to think Francis is a tick better than all of them. Dayton, at least give the man a call!
Dayton Moore is probably already on the phone with him
He’d be a more effective starter than Daniel Bard.
So would Devern Hansack
Well, there goes our decent SP depth in AAA.
Blue Jays. They love average Canadian players
That’s not as true as you think it is
Red Sox?
As a Reds fan, this sucks. It was nice to have some veteran depth in AAA in case of injuries or poor performances. Here is where I would add “guess he didn’t want to get a World Series ring this year…” but I will refrain due to the inevitable string of negative comments. I’m sure he’ll find a place to start as a #4 or 5.
Don’t get too ahead of yourself. The Reds are looking good, but you can’t win a championship in June. We’ll see how the next few months play out before making such bold predictions.
You can in the NBA and NHL. That’s 1/3 of the relevant pro sports leagues in the US. Note: I didn’t count the NHL.
I was talking about winning a MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL SEASON in June..
Obviously I was playing Devil’s Advocate……
Well, since you didn’t refrain, here goes. I’m sure he cares a lot more about earning a major league paycheck than the remote chance the Reds have at getting a ring stacked on top of the smallish chance that he will ever even crack the major league rotation.
He’s a Cub -they sign this type – good-bye Dempster. How do look in orange or Tiger uni
Giants could use the depth in Fresno, but he’ll probably get a major league offer.
Get on this Terry Ryan. Pavano needs to go on DL, and Francis could be a nice replacement.
Agree. I thought they were going to sign him before the season.
I’m assuming Neil Huntington is on the phones non-stop trying to get Francis.
The Pirates have tried to get him for the last two years.
Paging Jed and Theo. Your #5 starting pitcher is now available.
Orioles sign him and designate Arrieta, book it.
Red sox are looking for SP depth. This is starting pitching depth staring you right in the face, Cherrington.
He would get destroyed in the AL East, maybe the red sox really do need a stopgap presence though.
He should be a Padre by this time tomorrow.
get this done A’s.
let’s not wait around for blackley and bartolo to start seriously getting lit up.
He would still be better than any of our other SPs at AAA.