The Royals' willingness to trade Jeff Francoeur has fluctuated greatly in recent weeks, major league sources tell Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. An official with another club termed their interest in moving the veteran as "back and forth, every other week."
Francoeur should draw even more interest once Kevin Youkilis is traded as clubs looking for right-handed hitting could turn to the Royals rightfielder instead. Kansas City is within striking distance in the AL Central but strong play from prospect Wil Myers could motivate the club to move the 28-year-old.
Unsurprisingly, Morosi hears that Francoeur is more available than Billy Butler, who is on a longer-term contract One source said Kansas City would need a "[Zack] Greinke-type" offer in order to part with Butler.
Bring Francoeur to Oakland! I’m sure the fans in right field would love to see him on a daily basis. That is of course if Reddick wasn’t manning the post.
Oaklands outfield is already stacked to the max. Gomes, Cespedes, Reddick, Cowgill, etc.
Frenchy’s a good enough ballplayer but we, KC, have Lorenzo Cain about to come back and Wil Myers making something of a case and even David Lough in Omaha with Jarrod Dyson having some strengths. Getting crowded.
Pretty good problem for us to have. Can’t wait to see what Wil can do.
I agree that it makes the most sense for the Royals to trade Francoeur out of all their OFs, but man, we will miss him if they do. He’s a gamer and a great guy, and I love to watch opposing baserunners trying to figure out whether or not they should run on him. Also, it would suck to have to cancel the rest of this season’s Frenchy Quarter Thursdays.
I agree. We knew for years that Frenchy was coming to KC, and now that he has, it would be sad to see him go. I know he got a lot of flak in his post Braves years, but like you said, how can you not love watching runners challenging his arm?
would not mind seeing back in atlanta. could move him around some while prado is either covering for chip or giving somebody else the night off.
Frenchy is a lot of things, he’s not a .230 hitter. You can pencil him in for a guaranteed .260/.300/.425. He’s going to swing at a lot of bad balls (and make contact, just poor contact), he’s going to go on two or three week tears where he hits 6 HRs and he’s going to gun down 10-15 people from RF. He is what he is and as long as you can compensate for the low OBP elsewhere in your lineup, I think he can be valuable. The problem is when you need him to be the 3rd or 4th best hitter. He’s going to torch lefties and struggle against righties, but he has not handled platoons very well at all (see Rangers, Mets).
Monday: Wil Myers 4-4 with 2 hrs
Royals: We are taking offers on franceour!
Tuesday: Wil Myers 0-4 with a walk
Royals: We are going to hold onto franceour, sorry guys!
I agree with your assessment of what the Royals can expect in return, but not your player comparison. Frenchy hasn’t ever been a .230 hitter in his career. The last three seasons he’s batted .280, .249, and .285 while playing for four different teams, which seems fairly consistent for a guy who’s played in three different divisions during that time. He’s also led MLB in OF assists since he came into the league, and it’s not even close. Ludwick is six years older, doesn’t have an arm anywhere near as good as Francoeur’s, and his offensive numbers have declined every year since his incredibly flukish 2008. Those don’t seem like similar players at all.