The rumors are abuzz as we approach the MLB trade deadline. Many sources have said that the Kansas City Royals are very interested in trading one (or both) of Jeff Francoeur and Melky Cabrera.
The decision with Francoeur seems more straightforward for the Royals on its face. He is only under team control until the end of this current season. His peripheral stats are largely the same as they have always been, the one difference for him this season has been increased power output. Francoeur is going for extra bases at a rate similar to that of his second season in Atlanta when everybody thought he might be a breakout player for the Braves. Francoeur has demonstrated this type of power before, and has fallen off this level of power production before. Unfortunately, because Francoeur does not hit for a high average or take many walks, his value is pretty much entirely tied to his power output, which largely cannot be trusted at its current level. Especially when you consider that his production since the first month of the season has fallen off dramatically. As such the decision for KC is easy, with no team control and a player who is not all that valuable going forward, trade him for whatever you can get and move on.
Showing posts with label Jeff Francouer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeff Francouer. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Lornezo Cain Begging For Promotion
No, not literally, though he could be forgiven if he was.
Twenty five year old Lornezo Cain, who was acquired in the Zach Grinke trade this winter has been crushing AAA pitching to the tune of a .301/.373/.513 triple slash. Following this winter's trade however I fully expected that Cain would be handed the starting center fielder job given his solid .306/.348/.415 line in 158 plate appearances with the Brewers last season, even though it was heavily BABIP fueled. On top of the solid offense, Cain also played strong defense, posting a +5.7 UZR/150.
The team however followed up that trade by bringing in Melky Cabrera from the Braves, and it became apparent early in spring training that the center field job was his to lose. So far, he hasn't really done anything to lose it, per se, he's hitting .275/.315/.435, good for a .750 OPS that's above the MLB average of .750. He's been worth a total of 1.7 WAR so far in 2011, a solid mark that would put him on pace for around 3.0.
Twenty five year old Lornezo Cain, who was acquired in the Zach Grinke trade this winter has been crushing AAA pitching to the tune of a .301/.373/.513 triple slash. Following this winter's trade however I fully expected that Cain would be handed the starting center fielder job given his solid .306/.348/.415 line in 158 plate appearances with the Brewers last season, even though it was heavily BABIP fueled. On top of the solid offense, Cain also played strong defense, posting a +5.7 UZR/150.
The team however followed up that trade by bringing in Melky Cabrera from the Braves, and it became apparent early in spring training that the center field job was his to lose. So far, he hasn't really done anything to lose it, per se, he's hitting .275/.315/.435, good for a .750 OPS that's above the MLB average of .750. He's been worth a total of 1.7 WAR so far in 2011, a solid mark that would put him on pace for around 3.0.
Monday, December 20, 2010
The Kansas City Braves
I've been made aware that there has been "Bigger News" out of Kansas City recently than the signings of Melky Cabrera and Jeff Francouer, and I will certainly expound on that subject soon. But with Alex Gordon likely to spend his first full season in the outfield in 2010, and long-time outfield David DeJesus having been traded away, the Royals were in need of some help in the outfield.
They could've done better. Or maybe I should say, they couldn't have done much worse. It's moves like these by General Manager Dayton Moore that I just don't get.
It's not that the price tags of either Francouer (2.5m) or Cabrera (1.25m with another 250k in incentives) are exorbitant - it's that the signings are essentially pointless. Neither Cabrera, who was worth a stunningly bad -1.2 WAR (which is astonishingly hard to pull off) nor Francouer, who was worth 0.7 WAR are going to add anything of value to the Royals. Francouer hasn't posted an OPS over .740 since 2007, and Cabrera has a career OPS of just .707 and was in the .670 range last year.
Why, pray tell, would a team that will be entering it's 20th or so straight rebuilding year waste two roster spots on that pair? Is there something that Cabrera is going to give you in center that Mitch Maier or Jarrod Dyson wont?
Is there something that Jeff Francouer is going to do for a franchise that Andrew Jones couldn't do? Word is he wants a full-time job, and heavens knows he isn't going to get one with a playoff caliber squad. He still looks like he has at least a little something to give.
I understand that the outfield situation for the Royals was a bit more unsettled prior to the "Bigger News" of this week, but still, these signings made little sense. It just seems such a needless waste of 3.75m perfectly good dollars.
That might not seem like much to most, but properly invested, that money could've been used to bring in a player who at least had a chance, with a good year, of qualifying as a Type-B free agent and potentially helping the Royals in 2011, and more importantly, providing the franchise with another valuable draft pick.
Given a chance to do something useful, it's disappointing to see Moore make moves with essentially zero chance of helping the Royals either now or in the future.
They could've done better. Or maybe I should say, they couldn't have done much worse. It's moves like these by General Manager Dayton Moore that I just don't get.
It's not that the price tags of either Francouer (2.5m) or Cabrera (1.25m with another 250k in incentives) are exorbitant - it's that the signings are essentially pointless. Neither Cabrera, who was worth a stunningly bad -1.2 WAR (which is astonishingly hard to pull off) nor Francouer, who was worth 0.7 WAR are going to add anything of value to the Royals. Francouer hasn't posted an OPS over .740 since 2007, and Cabrera has a career OPS of just .707 and was in the .670 range last year.
Why, pray tell, would a team that will be entering it's 20th or so straight rebuilding year waste two roster spots on that pair? Is there something that Cabrera is going to give you in center that Mitch Maier or Jarrod Dyson wont?
Is there something that Jeff Francouer is going to do for a franchise that Andrew Jones couldn't do? Word is he wants a full-time job, and heavens knows he isn't going to get one with a playoff caliber squad. He still looks like he has at least a little something to give.
I understand that the outfield situation for the Royals was a bit more unsettled prior to the "Bigger News" of this week, but still, these signings made little sense. It just seems such a needless waste of 3.75m perfectly good dollars.
That might not seem like much to most, but properly invested, that money could've been used to bring in a player who at least had a chance, with a good year, of qualifying as a Type-B free agent and potentially helping the Royals in 2011, and more importantly, providing the franchise with another valuable draft pick.
Given a chance to do something useful, it's disappointing to see Moore make moves with essentially zero chance of helping the Royals either now or in the future.
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