TODAY: The Orioles are one of the teams interested in Franco, Heyman tweets.
MARCH 5: There hasn’t been much buzz centering on third baseman Maikel Franco since the Royals non-tendered him at the beginning of December, but his market is now “heating up,” according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network. It’s unclear which teams are interested in Franco.
MLBTR’s Matt Swartz projected in October that Franco would land anywhere from $4.5MM to $8MM in 2021, his final season of arbitration control, though the Royals were unwilling to go to those lengths to keep him. But the 28-year-old did have a productive 2020 in his lone season as a member of the Royals, with whom he batted .278/.321/.457 (106 wRC+) with eight home runs in 243 plate appearances. Franco also appeared in all 60 of Kansas City’s games, earned nice marks at third (zero DRS, 1.3 UZR) and struck out in only 15.6 percent of his trips to the plate – which aligns with his lifetime K rate of 15.3.
Franco now looks like one of the most appealing players remaining on an ever-shrinking free-agent market, and it’s easier to dream on him when considering his past promise. He ranked as high as 17th in Baseball America’s top 100 list of prospects as a Phillies farmhand back in 2014, the year he made his major league debut. Franco didn’t play much that season, but he opened eyes over 80 games in 2015, hitting .280/.343/.497 (129 wRC+) with 14 HRs across 335 PA. He wasn’t able to keep that up from 2016-19 as a Phillie, however, as he batted an uninspiring .247/.299/.427 (86 wRC+) in 2,146 PA. The Phillies gave up on Franco when they non-tendered him going into 2020.
Rockies and Rangers come to mind. Seems like a better 3B/PH option for Atlanta than Pablo Sandoval as well.
Right about all three.
Panda? Didn’t realize he was in a camp. Definitely a possibility if they have the budget left. After last year, some teams might not have what would have otherwise been a non tax-threshold issue.
He’s in Braves camp. Looking awful so far.
My question is: when a player is signed to a minor league contract, does the team have to provide meal money?
Looks like Panda hasn’t missed many
He’s on a mass program, burgers and shakes.
Can’t count out the nationals either…Keiboom ain’t cutting it for a playoff hopeful team.
Mike Rizzo’s MO has been to be patient with young homegrown players. Look at the rope he gave Michael A. Taylor for years.
I agree that Kieboom is overmatched offensively, but he’s only 23 years old and still growing. From what I’ve seen of his play he’s out of position at 3B. He’s more of a SS in the Dansby Swanson mold. But Trey Turner has a better arm, better range, is a better hitter, and along with his speed impacts a game at a major level (were he courting controversy and drawing attention to himself like the Manny Machados’ of the world, the MLBTR types would be referring to him as a “Superstar”….. especially at contract time).
The Nationals approach in cases like this has been to give the youngster playing time. Playoffs are not won in March. If Kieboom is healthy but doesn’t pick up his game by late July, the Nationals will see what they have in Josh Harrison, and then pick up a veteran or two that can play 3B during the stretch run. At that point a Franco may be a possibility.
Neither is Franco
Yes on Rangers. Rather have McMahon at 3rd if I’m the Rockies.
he can play 2nd
That’s occupied by their #1 prospect. No way. Mac’s 2B career is over. Though he could play first.
This is really good news. I also want to see Cole Hamels in the majors this season.
Ehhhh, it looks like the Braves are content with Riley and Lamb as their #1 and #2 options for their 3B and bench roles…
It will really just depend on which versions of Riley and Lamb we get to see whether or not they’ll need to make some changes, but both players have a bright enough upside where they’re in fairly good shape for now…
Braves should be fine at 3B, hopefully../:
@bravesfan. So far Riley is looking great. Look for this year to be his breakout.
Rockies are too cheap to buy major league players
Even Franco fits in the Rockies miserly budget. And he would probably mash in Coors Field
True and true. Hopefully they are too stingy.
They don’t have the money. Not even to extend Trevor Story.
Well, extending Story would cost a lot.
Rockies’ player payroll is among the highest in baseball in terms of percentage of revenue. Or if you want to grade by market size, either way. Has been for years until 2021. They just got killed by the pandemic since so much of their revenue is gate. Their owner is one of the least wealthy in the game, and their TV contract is tiny.
Or too broke…
Always the bridesbaseman never the… happy Friday yalllll
Why not Brew Crew? Gotta go for it, put Franco out on 3rd and let Urias or Arcia be the super utility guy.
I thought Franco would have been a good fit for the Brewers too, but they already signed Travis Shaw.
Was Shaw a non-roster spring training invitee or did he actually receive a guaranteed contract?
I don’t think Shaw has anything left in the tank while Franco showed last year he can still be a solid player, the Brewers need one more right handed bat.
Shaw is on a non guaranteed deal. But I could see a platoon
Lol
With the Rockies no longer interested in being competitive — and fans rejecting them — how long will it take until we hear about the franchise kicking the tires on a move to Vegas, Portland or Nashville??
Lol as if they had some dynasty before that trade. Nobody in Colorado ever expects them to win, trust me.
Plus, with all the weed-smoking in Colorado nobody’s paying attention anyway.
What is wrong with weed smoking? It helps me immensely to cope with my cancer
I thought cancer patients took edibles? Smoking anything is bad for you.
I’m dying it does not matter
May as well start a team in Vegas at this point. They would need a dome.
You might hear it but nothing will happen to any MLB teams until Oakland’s and Tampa’s situations are resolved.
Haven’t see much evidence Rockies fans are “rejecting” the team. Yes, we are unhappy with the state of the team and the Arenado trade. But team still has good attendance numbers. They could threaten to move, but they would have to break their lease and get MLB approval, which isn’t going to happen.
Orioles and Pirates should be in play too. Flip-able 28 yr old
Way too expensive for the Pirates
You never heard of Ke-Bryan Hayes? He’ll be Bucs’ 3B for the next 10 years. Plus, Bucs already have the Toddfather to fill in at 3B and 1B. No need for Franco.
Todd Frazier is a 35 year old non roster invitee. He and colin Moore are projected to split time at first. If Todd Frazier shows not to be even serviceable in spring, Franco certainly makes sense
If Ke-Bryan Hayes is that good I doubt he stays in Pittsburg for 10 years.
He could still be a “late bloomer” as he as at times showed all the skills necessary to be a legitimate AS caliber player… he’s just never showed them all at the same time. But there are several similar hitters who didn’t really ‘click’ until they were about his age (Jose Bautista, Encarnacion, Cruz) and sure while it’s easily as likely that won’t happen… given the solid batting average and contact rate he posted last season along with the power he’s demonstrated at times… it is also certainly possible. Best of luck to him… I hope he gets a decent chance to play regularly somewhere even if maybe not a full time starter.
never thought I’d see the words “heating up” and “Maikel Franco” together in a sentence. good for him.
Definitely not Hot Stove. More like Maikrowave leftovers.
You are not a contender if Franco is an upgrade over what is already on the roster. Fact
I think you mean as a starter because he makes most of, if not all as a bench piece.
Sounds more like your opinion than provable fact.
Local man says market for his partially disabled 2012 Ford Focus is starting to starting to “heat up.”, and that he will begin accepting offers.
A for effort I suppose.
Wtf, you grading on a curve? That’s C effort at best.
I believe he would do very well in Colorado seeing that he makes contact and doesn’t strike out and has some power. Putting the ball in play is a great advantage there
Brewers are a logical fit. Shaw has had his chances and he is not the answer
I’d love him in Baltimore over Rio Ruiz. I actually believe he’d have a big year at Camden.
Orioles should pounce on Franco and hope he plays well enough to play somewhere else before July 31st. Low-cost gamble in the $5 million range that might net the O’s a decent prospect in a trade. Yes, Franco makes a lot of contact for a guy with pop. Alas, he’s yet to learn that all contact is not necessarily good contact. Just because you can put the bat on a pitch doesn’t mean it’s a good pitch to hit. Second basemen camping under yet another Franco pop up can attest to that.
He’d be a bench upgrade over Panda and Lamb in ATL. He could cover the corners with Camargo covering the middle infield and suddenly that bench goes from terrible to decent.
He won’t take up NEARLY the space that Panda takes up on the bench.
Nothing wrong with his numbers at all. Slightly surprised after reading that that he hasn’t gotten much interest
Very little of interest to talk about on the FA market. Time to focus on ST and then the season. I hope it’s mostly baseball and less about how MLB and MLBPA can’t manage themselves out of a paper bag. Ditto anything Covid related, but realistically Covid and its successors are endemic. Well likely see a new interpretation of Stadium Capacity going forward
I wish Franco well…as a Phillie, he had his moments..he would go on a run and hit some awesome bombs..his range wasn’t good but this says he had improved there…nothing wrong with his arm because he could get it to first in a hurry..
Franco would make some sense to the Orioles and it would make a ton of sense if they were willing to cut the cord with Chris Davis. Or, Stewart is not the answer in LF and Mancini plays out there with Franco DH’ing.
Boston and Toronto have lefty SP. Although Franco’s career numbers say he hits RHP slightly better, Stewart can’t hit lefties.
MILWAUKEE!
I believe he would be a improvement at 3rd than any one in camp right now.
I believe he would be a improvement at 3rd more than any one in camp right now.
Mancini is expected to play 1B with Ryan Mountcastle playing LF. Franco would probably DH as Renato Nunez did for the past two seasons. The Orioles have to be hoping Chris Davis shows any signs of life this spring because $46 million dollars is a lot of money for any team to eat but it may just be time for the Orioles to eat crow on this one
Pretty sure they’ve already ate plenty of crow for that deal
No room at DH, especially with an already overcrowded outfield. He would have to be 3b.