Jeff Francoeur Rumors

Mets Rumors: Lackey, Figgins, Delgado, Francoeur

The Mets plan to be serious bidders for the services of John Lackey, writes David Lennon of Newsday. GM Omar Minaya reportedly "received a favorable first impression" from a meeting earlier this week with Lackey's agent, Steve Hilliard. Lennon points out that the Mets successfully zeroed in on free agent closer Francisco Rodriguez last offseason and secured his services for $37MM over three years, short of what some expected. Here's a look at some of the other tidbits Lennon brings us in this piece: If the Mets sign the versatile Chone Figgins, he would be placed in left field. Under...   Continue Reading

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Mets Rumors: Delgado, Francoeur, Non-Tenders

The New York Post's Bart Hubbuch has some good Mets info this afternoon, though it is unfortunately broken up into three tweets. Hubbuch learned that Mets GM Omar Minaya intends to watch Carlos Delgado in winter ball next month. Delgado could probably be re-signed cheaply after hip surgery limited the 37-year-old to 112 plate appearances this year. Cross Jeff Francoeur off the list of non-tender candidates - Minaya said Francoeur will be back and also mentioned that an extension is a possibility. Mets fans - do you believe Francoeur's 308 plate appearances with the club represent a reformed hitter? Hubbuch...   Continue Reading

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Odds & Ends: Sano, Towers, D'Backs, Fehr

Links for Wednesday... Kevin Towers has a standing offer from the Red Sox, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. For now, Towers plans on taking a few months off. In contrast, a week ago ESPN's Buster Olney wrote that "there would appear to be excellent odds that Towers will land with the Yankees as a special assistant sometime in the months ahead." The Cubs' contract with hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo is official. Miguel Angel Sano received his U.S. work visa, according to SI's Melissa Segura. The new Rays hitting coach is Derek Shelton, according to Marc Topkin of...   Continue Reading

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Jeff Francoeur Craves Multiyear Deal

Mets right fielder Jeff Francoeur would like to discuss a multiyear deal with the team to buy out his arbitration years, according to Newsday's David Lennon. Francoeur, 26 in January, has a .308/.333/.491 line in 291 plate appearances for the Mets since coming over in the trade with Atlanta. Francoeur is already under team control through 2011. Given the limited sample of playing time, the Mets might be inclined to focus on a 2010 contract. Francoeur earned $3.375MM in '09, and he shouldn't expect a huge raise as a second-year arbitration player for hitting .277/.306/.418 overall. Even if Francoeur offered...   Continue Reading

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Fixing The Mets

The New York Post's Joel Sherman offered up some suggestions for shaking things up in the Mets clubhouse this offseason. He worries that Luis Castillo won't be able to replicate his strong 2009 and that Jeff Francoeur (.826 OPS with New York) may not be able to build on his solid second half. Unsurprisingly, his chief concern is the Mets starting rotation. However, Sherman suggests that the Mets first address their other holes before looking at starting pitchers, considering the weak crop available this winter: "Put out strong one-year offers with a 2011 option to a group at each position....   Continue Reading

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Odds & Ends: Mets, Francoeur, 2010 Free Agents

Some more links to digest on a great day for baseball around most of the country... Mets manager Jerry Manuel suggested Saturday that he'd like to see his club go after a reliable starter this offseason. "You can always use pitching," said the skipper. (Quote courtesy of Anthony McCarron with the New York Daily News). There should be a decent market for starters this winter. And for even more on the Mets, check out MLBTR's Offseason Outlook. In the same article, Manuel mentions that he's been impressed with Jeff Francoeur, who is "playing hard with nothing to really go for."...   Continue Reading

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Odds And Ends: Rizzo, Rangers, Hall

More links for the morning... Adam Dunn tells MLB.com's Bill Ladson that it would have been wrong for the Nats to give the GM job to anybody but Mike Rizzo, who will be formally introduced in about four hours. Via Twitter, ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure Jr. reports that the Rangers signed Dominican righty David Perez for $425k. Bill Hall tells Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times that he put too much pressure on himself after inking a $24MM deal with the Brewers. Newsday's Ken Davidoff points out that the Mets can watch Jeff Francoeur play 40 more games before they have...   Continue Reading

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Heyman On Halladay, Francoeur, Brewers

Jon Heyman of SI.com hears the Blue Jays have told the Yankees and Red Sox they're unlikely to trade Roy Halladay within the AL East and haven't even returned a call the Yankees placed about Halladay over a week ago. That leaves the Phillies and, now, the Dodgers as frontrunners to acquire the Jays ace. Here are the details and a few stray rumors: One executive believes that any Blue Jays-Phillies swap would have to begin with the supposedly untouchable Kyle Drabek, who impressed in this week's Futures Game. At least one exec believes the Jays would want to pluck...   Continue Reading

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Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Church, Francoeur, Betancourt

Had enough of yesterday's trades yet? Good, because here are some reactions from around the blogosphere... Matt Cerrone at MetsBlog says he's not sure the Ryan Church-Jeff Francoeur swap makes total sense, and he's not sure if the move will have an impact for either team. Sam Page at Amazin' Avenue says that he's convinced the trade makes no sense, and all of the "talk about potential, shake-ups and athleticism is just noise." Talking Chops' "gondeee" likes the Church pickup, even if it cost the once-face of the franchise. Admittedly, it's been a while since Francoeur was viewed in that...   Continue Reading

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Odds & Ends: Betancourt, Francoeur, Halladay, Angels

We managed to find some rumors in between all of the Jonathan Sanchez no-hitter coverage this morning. Congrats to Jonathan, hopefully Juan Uribe will be buying him a very big and expensive steak dinner. Or ten. On to the links... ESPN's Keith Law doesn't like the Yuniesky Betancourt trade for the Royals, saying he might be the worst everyday player in the big leagues. David Lennon of Newsday says that Mets GM Omar Minaya wanted to send a message by acquiring Jeff Francoeur, but it's "more like a gentle poke than a full-blown shake-up." SI's Jon Heyman tweets that he'd...   Continue Reading

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