Franceour out of Atlanta.....

[bucsfan67]

Wonder is this is a sign of a fire sale from the Mets if they cant get healthy this year.....they are slowly falling out of it, and most of their injured players arent near returning...however, this seems like a fairly even trade...maybe just personality clashes, and they will fit in better in new homes....Franceour has a lot of potential and a great arm......Church is solid as well.....he will fit in well behind Chipper and McLouth....it appears the Braves are going to go for it this year, since they are still hanging around the Phils so far....sweeping the Phils at home last week might have made the difference...if they GOT SWEPT they might be selling off themselves...





NEW YORK -- The Atlanta Braves traded Jeff Francoeur and cash to the New York Mets for

Ryan Church on Friday in a swap of outfielders who had fallen out of favor with their teams.



The deal came with both NL East teams below .500. The Mets have especially struggled to

score lately with stars Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado on the disabled list.

Church is hitting .280 with two home runs and 22 RBI. Solid at the plate and in the field,

the oft-injured Church was slowed last year by two concussions.

Mets manager Jerry Manuel never seemed to warm up to him, and seemed particularly peeved

after Church missed third base while running home earlier this season in a game New York

eventually lost.

The 30-year-old Church is in his sixth major league season and is a career .273 hitter.

The 25-year-old Francoeur is hitting .250 with five homers and 35 RBI. He was a favorite

with Braves fans and management during his first full season in 2006, when hit 29 home

runs with 103 RBI while playing all 162 games.

Francoeur hit .293 with 19 homers and 105 RBI in 2007, but slumped badly last year and

was sent to the minors, a move that he found embarrassing.

Francoeur recently was benched for three games by Atlanta manager Bobby Cox.

 

[Betallsports]

Reports here in NY, say Money was exchanged as well.

I guess Wilpon needs the Money :grandmais

 

[Donnybasbl]

Manuel always had a hard on for Church. He downplayed the severity of Church's concussions on a couple of occasions and Church wasn't happy about that.

I thought he was a solid player and this trade puzzles me a bit.

 

[bigtendominator]

I believe money went South to ATL.

Frenchy is overrated. He can't hit fucking breaking ball.

 

[Sammy439]

I honestly cant believe the Braves would give up on that kind of raw talent so early. The guy had 1.5 years in a slump and they get rid of him. He was from Atlanta, I am a big braves fan from the region, and it just makes me not give a dam anymore about the Braves if they are that willing to let go of home grown kids. Church is a joke. He hasn't played at all in his career and he is in his 30's. Horrible trade on Atlanta's part.

Frenchy is a potential .280 40 HR 110 RBI 20 SB type of player. If the Braves would ever use their speed Frenchy would steal 30 bases a year. Cox refuses to run at all even when struggling to score runs. Its infuriating. Braves needed potential power in the outfield not this single hitting guy in his 30's.

That said when Hudson comes back the Braves will have the best starting pitching in MLB, by a long shot. It is their year if they could just get some power in the outfield. Once Hudson is back all the braves need to do is average 4.5 runs a game and they are as good as any team in baseball simply because of starting pitching. They will then have 5 aces in their rotation with the Japanese starter being the 6th man out.

Church is a backup player. He is not an every day player like Frenchy. Embarrassing trade.

 

[Betallsports]

I believe money went South to ATL.

Frenchy is overrated. He can't hit fucking breaking ball.

NEW YORK (AP) - The free-falling Mets finally made a move, trading Ryan Church to the Atlanta Braves for Jeff Francoeur and cash on Friday in a swap of outfielders who had fallen out of favor with their teams.

Money Went to the Mets....

Discussions began only this week, and Church was told when he came in from batting practice Friday, just before he was to get taped up. The Mets receive $270,218 as part of the trade to equalize salaries.

 

[billhill999]

Francoeur is what he is, a solid corner outfileder with 25 homer a season pop that strikes out too much.
He does have a lot of potential.
I'm hearing the Braves were fooling around with his batting stance and overcoaching him to the point where he is confused.
Hitting coach Howard Johnson reportedly told Manuel and Minaya that he can get Francoeur back to 2006 form.

Yeah, Manuel and Church never really saw eye to eye.
Could be a good deal for the Mets.

 

[VIEJODINOSAUR]

This could be one of those deals that 5/6 years from now, people will be saying how the Mets pulled a fast one on the Braves....kind of like Ernie Broligo for Lou Brock...

 

[AlwayzRight]

This could be one of those deals that 5/6 years from now, people will be saying how the Mets pulled a fast one on the Braves....kind of like Ernie Broligo for Lou Brock...

hopefully

 

[Donnybasbl]

hopefully

Yeah....they need one of those. They always seem to be on the business end of these. Heath Bell is the most recent one I can think of.

Although, the Neil Allen/Rick Ownby for Keith Hernandez trade will always be one of the most one sided trades of all time.

 

[JoeFalls]

This could be one of those deals that 5/6 years from now, people will be saying how the Mets pulled a fast one on the Braves....kind of like Ernie Broligo for Lou Brock...

francouer couldn't nor ever will be able to sniff lou brock's jockstrap.

 

[Sammy439]

Worst trade for the braves since they got Crotchman (Kotchman) for Tiexiera. Oh yeah that was only 2 years ago.

The Braves are really slipping with their general management decisions, which is what led to all those division titles in a row.

 

[Lifelessdead]

I know they get these homegrown kids, like Franceour, isn't he from atlanta? then you get rid of them, real loyal team

 

[bucsfan67]

actually compared to alot of teams, Atlanta has tended to try and hold on to good players as well as any team has.....be hard pressed to find a team who has had as many players in last couple of decades play for the team 10+ years.....


Dale Murphy
Bob Horner
Tom Glavine
Greg Maddux
John Smoltz
Chipper Jones
Andruw Jones
Bruce Benedict


and god knows they took the brunt of it with Mike Hampton...they hung on for several years, and he NEVER really pitched for them......

 

[bucsfan67]

well he's gonna get his shot to win fans over right off the bat...

first at bat as Met comes with bases loaded, 1 out in 1st inning, after Sheffield failed to deliver with 0 outs..

he can win some fans right away

 

[bucsfan67]

haha, he delivers with a bases loaded single and gets 2 rbi's on his first appearance....crowd going nuts......great way for the young guy to start out.....

 

[ThEjAcK]

thank god he left .. lucky for the kids that have my high school draft teacher now .. every year he would want us to go and sit with him to cheer franceour on .. more then one player on the team dude lol..