It's World Series time, which means it's time to see if any of Joe Morgan's preseason predictions have come true. I am kidding of course, he doesn't make any preseason predictions, other than the standard "anything can happen." Joe does want us to know that he isn't surprised by anything that has happened in this MLB postseason because anything can happen in baseball. It's easy to not be surprised when you make no assumptions or refuse to use your position as an "expert" to educate the masses.
If Joe was a executive with a financial firm during the 2008 financial crisis he would have sent out a newsletter to his clients that said,
"I am not surprised the stock market has tanked like it has. There are no consistent stocks anymore. As I always say, if you invest money in the stock market anything can happen. Sorry everyone lost 78% of the average value of their investments, but this downturn did not shock me at all. I wasn't in a position to give you financial advice because I didn't know what the stock market would do. I thought it would have a huge downturn, but it was too early to tell. Fortunately, I got all of my money out in time. Please provide the names of any family members who would like to invest their money with me. I have included a reference form in this letter."
Joe would not be a good financial executive. Of course it doesn't matter what he can't do when he is such a master chatter.
Buzzmaster: We've got Joe!
This fake excitement for Joe's arrival only has to be kept up for a few more weeks.
JM: I have always felt that anyone who makes the playoffs can become World Series champions.
Joe comes out of the gate swinging with his standard, incredibly obvious statement. I wonder how long he thinks about what he is going to write to begin the chat? I am guessing he thinks about it all week.
(Joe Morgan's brain) "What should I lead off with this week? A long paragraph about how Ryan Howard's contract isn't bad compared to Matt Holliday? A brief discussion of how the Rangers beat the Yankees? Nah, even I don't understand what happened exactly. Perhaps I should talk about how the Phillies were the best team in the National League and they are proof there aren't any consistent teams anymore? No, because then I will have to list why the Phillies weren't consistent and I didn't watch a single game in that series. It's so hard to have to talk about the sport I have spent the majority of my life playing...what should I say?:
(stares blankly at the wall for 27 minutes while only moving to eat an entire bag of Fritos)
"I know! I will blow them all away with the thought that the playoffs are a guessing game. No one knows what could happen, which is why I can't predict what will happen. I'm not sure anyone has ever realized that once the playoffs start, any team can win the World Series. Few people understand this. I'm going to blow some minds this week."
When the playoffs started, everyone felt that it would be Philadelphia and the Yankees playing for the world championship and with the Rays having an outside chance.
"Everyone" is including Joe himself, despite the fact he didn't come out and say it. He beat around the bush for a while that the Phillies and Yankees were the ones he thought would make it, but he never actually predicted it. It looks like Joe has outfoxed us this time. He thought the Phillies and Yankees were the two best teams, but continuously said anything could happen. His inability to make an opinion has paid off because two teams few expected to make the World Series ended up doing just that. Well played Joe Morgan. Well played.
Neither were given much of a chance against the mighty Yankees and the two-time NL champions Phillies,
The Phillies have actually won the NL more than two times over their history, but I won't nitpick Joe today because I know what he means.
but both the Rangers and the Giants have proven that if you can just get in the playoffs, you have a chance to be world champions.
You want what else proves if a team just gets in the playoffs they have a chance to be world champions? Common sense. Anyone with a firm grasp on common sense can look at the teams in the playoffs and deduce that any of them could win the World Series.
Jason (Philly)
Philly had the best record in baseball and with Roy Halladay seemed to be a lock for the World Series. What happened?
JM: Well, first of all, there is no such thing as a lock in baseball. Maybe in some of the other sports, the best team will win a series.
If a two teams play a series then isn't the team that won the "best team?" Maybe they weren't the best team during the season, but at that point they are the best team.
But in baseball, it's not always the best team, but also the team that's playing the best at that time.
Because in the playoffs anything can happen...except for the Twins beating the Yankees in a five game series. That may never happen.
John (Dallas)
Bigger home-field advantage... Arlington or San Fran?
JM: I think they both are home field advantages, or pretty equal.
There's a shock, Joe Morgan doesn't give an answer to a straightforward question. There is no advantage in regard to homefield, both teams are equal, both teams are equally as good at their home field, and all of the games will end in 0-0 ties, until the homefield advantage kicks in during the 10th inning when the home team will win the game 1-0. Even though the Giants have homefield advantage, there's no way of knowing if the Giants will win 4-3 or not.
San Francisco is relying on its pitching staff and AT&T Park is a pitcher friendly park. The Rangers are more of an offensive minded team, with good pitching.
That's right. I almost forgot the Rangers ballpark is perfectly suited for a team with speed and a team with power...(cue Joe's comment from last week's chat)
JM: But I think they can win at home. Their ballpark fits their team, just like Yankee Stadiums fits the Yankees. Texas has a powerful lineup. They have speed. All of those things are better suited for their park.
The Rangers ballpark holds a huge disadvantage for teams that are slow and can't hit home runs. Otherwise known as "a team that didn't make the playoffs."
Mike (Attleboro)
The Yankees paid two players as much as the entire Rangers team made. How can other small-market do to mirror the Ranger's success?
Make a trade with the Braves (cries over the Mark Teixeira trade for the fifth time today).
JM: When you have as much money to spend as the Yankees do, you can throw stuff up against the wall and see what sticks. You can make mistakes as far as free agents. What you have to do if you're a small market or mid-market team is make smart decisions.
Here's the thing though. Even the Yankees have to make smart decisions. They don't win the World Series every year because they still have to make smart decisions. Trading for Javier Vazquez was not a smart decision for them. So ALL teams have to make smart decisions, other teams have more leeway in getting the decisions wrong.
The Giants did sign Barry Zito to a huge ill-advised contract, their pitching depth in the minors helped cover that mistake up.
Although some might say that the Giants made a mistake in signing Barry Zito to that big contract.
Is there anyone who doesn't think the Giants made a mistake in signing Zito? Here goes Joe refusing to take a stand. I think EVERYONE, including Zito himself, think that huge contract was a mistake. They owe him $57.5 million over the next three years. The Giants also owe Aaron Rowand $27.2 million over the next two years. Both players are not even close to being worth the money they are making. The Giants have made mistakes with players, but it has worked out for them. So they were able to spend a lot of money on players and still make the World Series.
But, it's clear that the Rangers did not make many mistakes, as far as payroll is concerned. You just have to make better decisions if you're a small market team.
Chan Ho Park and Alex Rodriguez beg to differ.
Tito (Brooklyn)
Does the emergence of the Rangers prove that the Mets were wrong to give up on Jeff Francoeur?
Francoeur has made a World Series. The end is near.
JM: Sometimes a change of scenery helps a player. When that change of scenery takes you from a team that's really struggling to a team that's in first place, it helps you focus better.
What also helps Francoeur focus better is that the Rangers are only starting Francoeur against LH pitchers. As soon as he learned to swallow his ego and realize he sucks against RH pitchers and can hit LH pitchers well, then he was a productive player for the Rangers. It has nothing to do with a change of scenery and has everything to do with the fact he doesn't play against RH pitchers.
I've always thought that Jeff Francoeur was a pretty good player,
Then Joe is a bigger idiot than I thought...and I have always thought Joe could be a pretty big idiot at times.
but he had not performed that well during the last year or so after being traded from the Braves.
He also didn't perform well WITH the Braves...unless Joe is impressed with Francoeur's .239/.294/.359 line in 2008 or his followup year in 2009 that consisted of .280/.309/.423.
But I can't blame the Mets for trading him. That would be like blaming the Angels for not re-signing Vladimir. He did not play well there the last year and he had been struggling with injuries.
That injury Francoeur suffered from? A blow to the head that must have led him to believe he was an everyday RF and led him so far astray from reality as to demand a trade from the Mets where he can play everyday...the Mets got no offers for him to be able to do this.
Tito (Brooklyn)
If the Reds could get a do-over on the Josh Hamilton and Volquez trade from 3 years ago, do you think they would keep Hamilton? Have the Rangers "won" that trade?
JM: That's a hard question and I don't think it's been answered yet.
It's been three seasons. I think we are close to answering this question. Texas won the trade. Texas has an MVP candidate over a pitcher that has been injured and suspended for violating the league's drug policy.
Last year Volquez, when he was healthy, was one of the best pitchers in the NL.
I'm confused. Is "last year" 2009 when Volquez pitched in 9 games and put up a 4-2 record, 4.35 ERA, and a 1.329 WHIP? That isn't even close to being of the NL's best pitchers.
Was "last year" 2010 when Volquez pitched in 12 games and put up a 4-3 record with a 4.31 ERA and a 1.500 WHIP? That's not one of the NL's best pitchers either.
Possibly Joe was talking about 2008 (which isn't "last year"), when Volquez had a pretty good year. Volquez hasn't been healthy since the 2008 season, so Joe should take his Reds-colored glasses off and realize the Rangers won this trade.
I think the jury is still out on who got the better end of that trade. But there is no doubt that Josh Hamilton has proven in two of the last three years that he's one of the best hitters in the game. When Volquez is healthy, though, he's one of the best pitchers in the game.
No, the jury is now in. The Rangers got the better end of the deal. Volquez isn't healthy, so it doesn't matter what Joe believes Volquez could do when healthy. Hamilton has been a great hitter and Volquez hasn't even be a great pitcher even when he was healthy. So Joe is pretty much wrong about everything. Volquez isn't one of the better pitchers in the game and the Rangers have won the trade.
As I've always said, an every day player who is as good as a pitcher is always better because he can help in more games.
That doesn't make sense Joe.
(If this comment did make sense, wouldn't it mean the Rangers got the better end of the deal because they got the everyday player?)
John (Dallas)
What do you think of Ron Washington? Like em? Hate em?
JM: He's the reason that they're in the World Series.
Ron Washington is the reason the Rangers are in the World Series...outside of the fact the team is playing very well and the players on the team are the reason they are in the World Series. Otherwise, Washington has done a great job managing the players who have caused the team he manages to be in the World Series.
Not just this year, but when he took over, he changed the entire mindset of the organization.
The new mindset of the organization? More cocaine please.
(I'm sorry, I had to say something like that once. It's the first and last time)
He asked for a team that's more well-rounded. They put a lot of pressure on the defense with stealing bases, hitting and running, bunting. Hitting home runs is great, but what happens when you're not hitting them?
The Rangers, even when prorating for having played more games than other teams in the playoffs have easily hit more home runs during the playoffs than any other team.
So the answer to what happens they don't hit home runs is still up in the air...because they got to the World Series by hitting home runs. The Rangers were 10th in the majors in home runs hit during the season as well. It's not like they are a light-hitting team that has "manufactured" runs in the postseason.
They had tried to just load up with sluggers and try to outslug you and that didn't work.
Except that is exactly how they got to the World Series. They have outslugged the Rays and the Yankees to get to this point. So while the Rangers don't rely on the home run from Joe's point of view, they sure have hit a lot of home runs while making their way to the World Series.
John (Dallas)
Do you think the best two teams made the WS?
Tito from Brooklyn, you have competition from John from Dallas. Game on.
JM: Over the long stretch, Philadelphia was the best team in the NL and the Yankees or the Rays were the best in the AL. But when you get to a playoff system, it's different than a 162-game schedule.
It is good to know that Joe pays enough attention to statistics to be aware that 162 games is more than the maximum 19 game season a team can play in the postseason and the playoff schedule is different from the regular season schedule.
As we saw last year, the Yankees only used three starting pitchers over the course of the postseason. Over the course of 162 games, it's a test of consistency, but it tests your entire team, because you have to use all of your players. In a short series, you only use your best players and your best pitchers and that changes the outcome sometimes.
I am not sure I can argue with Joe's reasoning here. It is true, but what it fails to explain is how the Phillies and Yankees lost in a short series. If a short series causes teams to only use their best pitchers and best players, wouldn't that be an advantage for the Yankees and Phillies? Both teams don't have deep rotations, so they would prefer to pitch with only 3 guys. The Phillies had the best rotation in the National League with Halladay, Oswalt and Hamels and the Yankees had a strong rotation in Sabathia, Pettitte, and Hughes. Both teams also had deep and strong lineups. So using this reasoning of a short series allowing a team to use the best pitchers and players on that team, the Phillies and Yankees would have won their series.
I'm just saying, on paper the short series seemed to favor those two teams. Reality was much different obviously.
To use another analogy, the regular season is a marathon; the playoffs are a short sprint. That takes two different skills.
But the Yankees and even more specifically, the Phillies (at least from a pitching point of view) were built for a sprint.
Jen (Mississippi)
What player's performance has surprised you most this postseason?
JM: A lot of players have impressed me.
What players have surprised you, not impressed you. Seriously, read the question or buy a dictionary to figure out what "surprised" means. It sounds cruel, but there's no point in answering questions that aren't asked.
Of course, Cliff Lee. Pitching was the dominant position in the playoffs. I was very impressed with Robinson Cano and how he handled the postseason this year. I was impressed with Josh Hamilton's performance in the LCS, after sitting out for a month of the season, it took him a while to get his timing back. In the NL, you had to be impressed with Halladay pitching a no-hitter in the first round and by winning Game 5 to extend the series against San Francisco. And you have to be impressed with the game by Tim Lincecum in his first playoff start against the Braves.
Since Joe is answering this question however he would like to answer it, he was impressed by five players...all of whom made the All-Star team this year and actually deserved it. So Joe Morgan was impressed by five All-Stars, but not Ian Kinsler, Nelson Cruz, Cody Ross, CJ Wilson, or Matt Cain.
I find it interesting the best players in the majors are the ones that impress Joe while he leaves out players that played well in the LDS and LCS who did not make an All-Star team as impressing him...of course the question asked was about which players "surprised" him, so it's just a fail all around for Joe.
Only All-Stars are impressive to Joe Morgan.
There are other players that have done well too. Molina and Uribe hitting game-winning home runs.
So then Joe names a player, Juan Uribe, as a player who impressed him with a game-winning home run...even though Uribe hit .071/.133/.071 in the LDS and .214/.250/.429 in the LCS. Joe is obviously more impressed with a player that had one important hit over a player who has a consistently (!) good series, like Cody Ross. That's not the Joe Morgan we know. He loves consistency. He fears the Inconsistency Monster. The man writing this is an imposter...release Joe Morgan!
I guess the unusual thing is that it's not any of the big names of the Yankees - Jeter, A-Rod, Teixeira - had good playoffs. Same thing for the Phillies.
No big names for the Phillies and Yankees except for the two players that Joe personally singled-out as having done well in the playoffs, Roy Halladay and Robinson Cano.
Tito (Brooklyn)
Do you think replay needs to be used more in the playoffs?
JM: I would not be against expanding some of the plays that can be reviewed. But I'm not for wholesale changes, because the game would last forever...To have to go in and review every close play, it would kill the pace of the game, which hurts the pitchers who have to stand around.
And as anyone who has ever watched playoff baseball or watch Andy Pettitte pitch, pitchers hate to stand around...unless that standing around involves taking 1 minute between pitches or throwing over to first base three or four times. We wouldn't want to have pitchers stand around to ensure a call on the field was correct when this valuable time could be used wandering around the pitcher's mound and lightly throwing the ball to first base in an attempt to hold the runner on.
There is a rhythm to a baseball game and I think we would destroy that rhythm if we expanded replay a lot.
The rhythm (that doesn't exist) is more important than making sure calls are right? I am not for replaying balls and strikes, but what is the harm in expanding some replay? There may be 1-2 calls per game that would take 1-2 minutes each to review...or about as long as it takes a guy like Bobby Cox to waddle to the mound to talk with his pitcher in order to buy time for a pitcher in the bullpen to warm up or as long as it takes for a manager to come out and argue with the umpire over what the correct call should have been. Instead of wasting 1-2 minutes with the manager getting angry on the field, spend that time in the replay booth getting the call correct.
I know they aren't the two biggest markets in baseball, but there are a lot of new faces and a lot of new names in the World Series.
There are new names and faces if you haven't followed baseball all year. So to Joe most of these players will be new. For everyone else who is a baseball fan, many of these names will be familiar.
I'm looking forward the Rangers and Giants in the World Series.
I'm looking backward the chat on ESPN.
Showing posts with label jeff francoeur. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jeff francoeur. Show all posts
Friday, October 29, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
6 comments Failure Ball: The Art of Not Learning A Player Isn't Very Good
I have set up a Yahoo Fantasy Football League and those of you who have already expressed interest can feel free to join. Anyone else who wants to join can feel free to do so as well. I am planning on having a 12 team league and we currently have 8 teams. The ID is 269298 and the password is "eckstein."
I also set up a College Football Pick 'Em League for Yahoo. Personally, this is my second favorite fantasy league because it keeps my interest in college football games I wouldn't normally care about on Saturdays. I have set it up against the spread and the games we will be choosing are Top 25 games and games the Yahoo editors choose as "worthy" of being chosen. The ID is 1704 and the password is "asu." Feel free to join and it doesn't take long each week to pick the games, plus it is fun to go against the spread.
There are certain players many members of the mainstream sports media love to talk about in fond terms. These are guys who have "heart" and "intangibles," which is secret code for "they always look like they are trying harder than other players even though this isn't true" and "we can't say anything positive about them in regard to baseball skill so we will assume the player has some unseen skill that makes him successful." Some of the favorites for the mainstream sports media to write about in regard to this are David Eckstein, Juan Pierre, Darin Erstad, Eric Byrnes and any other white (the media must think Pierre is white) utility infielder or hustling outfielder who always seems to try hard.
Often times the media's love of these players and a GM's blindness to these player's true skill causes these players to sign outrageous contracts. This explains Eric Byrnes' 3 year $30 million deal with the Diamondbacks when they had plenty of outfielders in their system who could potentially do what Byrnes did and Juan Pierre's 5 year $44 million deal with the Dodgers. It's not the fault of these players really. Byrnes wasn't terrible for a period of time and Juan Pierre can steal bases and is a valuable 4th outfielder. The important part is that these players don't seem to buy the media's love for them and were/are willing to (gritty cliche alert) do whatever it took to help the team win.
There's one exception to this rule. Jeff Francoeur is that exception. He is a guy who the media loves because he has a pretty smile and he always seems so sincere. Francoeur has many, many media members fooled into thinking he is a worthwhile player. What makes Francoeur different is that he thinks he is a great player as well. His agent and he will tell anyone who will listen the same thing, and even though it isn't true, somehow he still has some magical hold on the sports media that they write articles about how he needs or deserves more playing time. He's delusional and so are those same people who called him "The Natural" on the cover of Sports Illustrated very prematurely in 2005.
Really, Francoeur is a selfish guy. I can think of three different times (off the top of my head) when he has put himself above the team. First, he did so after Brian McCann got his arbitration years bought out by the Braves and they didn't do the same for Francoeur. Privately, Francoeur grumbled about how he wanted and deserved to have his arbitration years bought out. It did not cause a distraction to the team, but it was all about him not getting the recognition that McCann got. That would have ended up being a nightmare for the Braves if they had signed him to a long-term deal. Then in the summer of 2008 when he was in the process of being terrible (again), the Braves demoted him to AAA to work on his swing and Francoeur kicked and moaned about how he didn't deserve nor did he want to go to the minors. The Braves called him back up to the big leagues a couple of days later just to shut him up.
Now, Francoeur wants a trade from the Mets to become a starting right fielder. He and his agent are willing to go to the New York media to announce this and the media falls for it. I am amazed how Francoeur now has the New York media fooled into believing he could be a great player. It's ridiculous really. He fooled, not one, but two writers in the New York area to write about him and his newest demands without the writer(s) inserting one sentence strongly questioning the sanity of starting Francoeur..
Is Bob Costas going to bring his gravitas to Citi Field? Will the MLB Network preempt its regular programming to cover this chase?
If this article started off as a parody and ended with the writer mocking Jeff Francoeur, then I would be 100% behind this article. If this article was bringing to light the selfishness and entitled attitude Francoeur has come to show then I would think it was a great article. Unfortunately, Mike Sielski buys in and then doubles down on some pity for poor Jeff Francoeur.
It was only last week that Alex Rodriguez hit his 600th home run, and already another New York ballplayer is pursuing a milestone.
Carlos Beltran is trying to play in 40 games this season?
Funny thing, though: Few people have noticed that Jeff Francoeur, the Mets rightfielder, needs just one more home run to reach 100.
Few people have also noticed that Angel Pagan is working on the best season of his career. No one has probably noticed this because they are too busy worrying about a mediocre 4th outfielder reaching a milestone that has very little historical significance.
Instead of giving him every opportunity to reach the mark (and only 4.35% of all Major League Baseball players have, according to Stats Inc.) the Mets are trying to shove the guy out of their starting lineup.
Matt Stairs has 261 career home runs. Why isn't anyone giving him a starting position? Why must have be relegated to the bench? He's a home run threat, put him in the game everyday.
Why didn't anyone notice Mike Jacobs has 100 career home runs? How dare the Mets treat him so poorly as to leave him on the bench over Ike Davis? What's Ike Davis done in the majors? Mike Jacobs has 100 career home runs and only 4.35% of all MLB players have ever done that. Bench Ike Davis for Mike Jacobs!
The Mets have lost three of their past five games. During that period, center fielder Carlos Beltran has gone 2-for-22. Third baseman David Wright has gone 2-for-23. Shortstop Jose Reyes has made three errors that led to two losses.
I can just feel the joy Sielski feels with this circle jerk of small sample size numbers. Screw an entire career's worth of numbers, what about those five games where no other players for the Mets played well, but Jeff Francoeur did? Which of these players should sit the bench in favor of Francoeur?
Yet Mr. Francoeur, who has batted .357 and hit two game-winning home runs over that span, will be relegated to a quasi-platoon in the outfield, manager Jerry Manuel said, now that the team has recalled prospect Fernando Martinez.
A normal player would say, "I've had a chance with two MLB teams to prove I am an everyday right fielder. I've been given more chances than most players ever get and I have a career line of .267/.309/.426 with 587 strikeouts to 161 walks. In fact that line I have for my career has been actually declining based on my performance since 2008. I get paid WAY more money than I should get paid for my performance. It's best to just platoon and when the Mets DFA me after this year try to get on with another team and work on my weaknesses."
Not Jeff Francoeur. He hasn't been given enough time dammit! He just wants a fair shake...perhaps 3,000 more at-bats to prove what any MLB team with a scouting department already knows. Francoeur is a great 4th outfielder or a platoon hitter against LH pitchers.
This is to suggest that if the Mets are doing all they can to stay in contention—"We're still trying to win as many games as we can," Mr. Manuel said Sunday—it might behoove them to play their hottest hitter as much as possible.
I've said this before, but at what point during the season does Francoeur go from the hottest hitter to just the below average hitter he has become? What signifies that he will be going from "hot" to "crappy" again? Is it a game where he goes 0-3? What if he goes 2-4 the next day? Is he still "hot?"
Jason Bay is in left field, Carlos Beltran is struggling but he will play a good amount, there is no reason to keep Fernando Martinez off the field, and Angel Pagan is simply the best outfield option regardless exactly of where in the outfield he plays.
So Pagan/Martinez would fit in right field and Bay in left field, and Beltran/Martinez/Pagan in centerfield. It's great to keep a hot hitter in the lineup, but not when that hot hitter (over five total games is the sample size being used here) is the 4th/5th best outfield option overall.
When Mr. Beltran returned to the active roster last month, Angel Pagan moved from center field to right field to accommodate him, relegating Mr. Francoeur to a part-time role. Mr. Francoeur wasn't pleased that he was no longer a starting player, but it was difficult for him to argue.
Yet, I bet he did still argue. He argued and threw a hissy-fit when the Braves put him in the minors in 2008 despite the fact he was dragging the entire lineup down. There's very little chance the Mets offer arbitration this next offseason and there is a good chance he will be gone from the team completely. That's the thing about Francoeur, he doesn't understand his limitations. He's a 4th outfielder. So unlike the other "gritty" players the sports media loves, Francoeur only loves himself and thinks he is perpetually underrated, though 3,000 MLB at-bats tell a much different story.
Francoeur has been told so much his entire life about how great he is that he actually believed it himself and has never felt the need to adjust his swing or approach how he bats differently in any manner. It's always worked for him, so why don't teams see that?
Pagan leads the Mets with a .311 batting average. Mr. Francoeur is still hitting just .241 with a less-than-stellar .294 on-base percentage. "That's the frustrating thing," Mr. Francoeur said Sunday. "Last time, I understood. I don't understand this one."
Here's the hypocrisy of Jeff Francoeur. In 2005, he didn't worry about stealing the RF job from a washed-up Raul Mondesi, who wasn't hitting too much worse than Francoeur's current .239/.291/.381 line. Mondesi hit .211/.271/.359 in 2005 and the decision to replace him was a no-brainer. Francoeur didn't care that he it was frustrating for another player to be replaced by because he understood at the time that is how baseball works. Now, he doesn't understand this at all.
Francoeur didn't mind jumping up to the big leagues and being the new young guy who helped save the team, but when the time comes where HE is the veteran being replaced by a 21 year old highly touted prospect, he pitches a fit and demands a trade.
Mr. Francoeur doesn't hide his desire to be an everyday right fielder.
I don't hide my desire to be a multi-millionaire, but I am not stupid enough to realize no matter how hard I work at achieving this goal it may not be realistic.
His agent, Molly Fletcher, has contacted Mets general manager Omar Minaya and asked about the possibility of moving Mr. Francoeur to another team where he might play more, Mr. Minaya confirmed.
Moving him? Like trading him? Like a team gives something in return for Francoeur? How the hell do the Mets manage to do this? This is how delusional Francoeur is. He thinks he has some market value. The sad part is that some GM will take a look at Francoeur's smiling face (but only smiling when he is the starting RF and getting everything he wants) and then trade some low level prospect for him...then hand him the starting RF job and watch him struggle.
Mr. Francoeur is making $5 million and is arbitration-eligible at season's end, and the Mets are unlikely to tender him.
He's making $5 million this year. When we hear about players crying about having to go to arbitration instead of get a long-term deal or read about Murray Chass whining that teams are holding players back to keep them longer, just think of Jeff Francoeur and how the arbitration system helps him steal money from the Mets.
"They haven't directly said that to me, but that's the message being sent," Ms. Fletcher said.
Personally, I think the clearest message is in Francoeur's Baseball-Reference page. He is 26 years old and his production seems to actually be declining because he refuses to try and adjust to how pitchers pitch to him. I think he holds the MLB unofficial record for most slow dribblers back to the pitcher.
Mr. Francoeur is well-liked among his teammates. Mr. Manuel said Sunday that he wanted to keep playing Mr. Francoeur "as much as possible, bringing those intangibles."
Those intangibles are more easily defined as "We are paying him $5 million per year and can't trade him right now, so we have to settle with him being the 4th outfielder on the team or a platoon against LH pitchers."
It doesn't matter how well-liked by his teammates Francoeur currently is. It really doesn't. What shocks me is that a mediocre-baseball player demands a trade and the New York media doesn't rip him a new asshole, but seems to understand his demand. What kind of spell does he have them under?
There is still time for Mr. Francouer to blossom in his late 20s, of course.
There's still more time for Fernando Martinez to blossom and Angel Pagan is currently blossoming. There's time for anything to happen, but nothing about Jeff Francoeur indicates he will blossom in the future. Injuries haven't held him back, he hasn't been platooned, neither team he played for as yanked him in and out of the lineup, and his swing is still as awful as it ever was.
"I have to remind myself sometimes that I'm only 26," he said. "I hope to keep going and get to 200 home runs."
Home runs really don't matter. Mike Jacobs has 100 home runs and he is sitting the bench for the Mets, which is somewhat ironic because that's exactly where Jeff Francoeur should be three or four out of every five games.
I don't know why the media insists on helping Francoeur create the illusion that he is a useful baseball player. It's just not true. The thing about Francoeur is that he is wrapped up in his own beliefs about what makes him successful as a baseball player. When asked about his OBP while with the Braves, he commented "if OBP is so important then why isn't it on the scoreboard"...which it actually was at Turner Field.
Now he thinks he should be judged by how many home runs he hits, like he is Adam Dunn or another player who strikes out a lot but hits home runs and gets on-base. He's deluded because that isn't true. He's Rob Deer without the power, which makes him a guy who strikes out a lot, doesn't get on-base, and doesn't hit enough home runs to bat higher in the order. Basically, he's a drag on the lineup.
Here is another example of Francoeur somehow getting some sympathy from a sports writer that follows the Mets. How come these guys haven't turned on him at this point? I wish this article was tongue-in-cheek and then I would enjoy it much more.
Benched to make room for a 21-year-old rookie, marginalized as a platoon player,
How is it possible to marginalize a player who is a platoon player at-best? You can't marginalize someone by using them in the exact role they are good enough to play. If the Mets kept Angel Pagan on the bench, then they would be marginalizing someone.
Jeff Francoeur has been potential and false promises since the year 2007. In 2007 he was going to start being more selective at the plate. That didn't happen really. In 2008, he got bigger so he could hit more home runs instead of doubles. That didn't happen. In 2009, he lost some weight so he could be the player he was in 2007 and that didn't happen because he regressed. In 2010, he had a change of scenery and was ready to show the world what he could do. That's not happening. At what point do the excuses and "changes" end and the actual production begins?
The answer is that the production is already here. Francoeur is what he is. A platoon outfielder or a 4th outfielder. The only one who hasn't realized this yet is him.
Mets outfielder Jeff Francoeur has told the club through his representatives that he is interested in being traded to a team that would play him more,
My softball team has an open spot in left field. I know Francoeur is a Hall of Fame right fielder in his mind, so that may not work for him.
“We want to play every day,” Francoeur’s agent Molly Fletcher said yesterday. “We prefer to play in New York. But if we’re not going to play every day in New York, we absolutely welcome the opportunity to play every day somewhere else.”
Perhaps Japan? Would that work for Francoeur? It might need to because at this point that could be his only option.
The Mets are aware of Francoeur’s position, a team official indicated.
That position is "the 4th outfielder on the Mets team."
Eligible for arbitration, Francoeur is a candidate to be non-tendered by the team and cut loose at season’s end.
What team wouldn't want a struggling outfielder who is not as good as he believes himself to be and is looking for a raise on his current $5 million salary. Of course we all know Francoeur is going to have a great year before he becomes a free agent and then look terrible again after he gets paid. This is a guarantee to happen and please try to remember I said it would happen.
In a telephone interview, Fletcher indicated she would monitor Francoeur’s playing time over the next week, interested in whether or not manager Jerry Manuel follows through on his amended plan to let Francoeur face right-handed pitchers, a group he historically struggles against and is hitting just .217 against this season.
For his career he is hitting .255 against right-handed pitchers. I really, really hope the Mets don't let a mediocre outfielder hold the team hostage over his playing time. Francoeur should be in to face left-handed pitchers and that is it.
“Talk to me is just that: It’s talk,” Fletcher said. “What matters is what happens and is he in right field every day. And that’s what we’re watching.”
Hey shithead (I can call Francoeur's agent, who is a woman, a shithead right?), Francoeur sucks. The only thing you should monitor is why his batting average and on-base percentage are so damn low for a guy who somehow believes he is actually good at the game of baseball. If Francoeur is in right field everyday the Mets should sell the franchise, fire Jerry Manuel, and boycott any further Mets home games until it has been proven over an entire year Francoeur deserves to start in right field for a MLB team.
But with two left-handers scheduled to pitch in these next two series, Manuel explained two days later, Francoeur would remain on the bench against righties. So Martinez started yesterday against Colorado right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez while Francoeur sat.
Martinez went 1-2 with a walk and a strikeout and saw 21 pitches in #2 spot, which was the most on the team. The next night against Jeff Francis who is left handed, which is Francoeur's "specialty," he went 0-3 with a strikeout and saw 11 pitches, the least amount on the team. How do you see 11 pitches in three plate appearances AND strike out? Shouldn't the strikeout take at least 5 pitches?
This is the second time this season Francoeur has lost his starting position in right field.
The first came after the All-Star break, when center fielder Carlos Beltran returned and Angel Pagan, the team’s leading hitter, shifted to right. Francoeur started mostly against left-handers, against whom he is hitting .319 this year.
That is an impressive average against LH pitchers and is pretty close to his career average against LH pitchers. No one is questioning Francoeur is a good platoon player, but we are questioning is need to start in right field every single game. He's delusional and pretty selfish to be not willing to accept the obvious conclusion he isn't an everyday player. He is willing to demand a trade and hurt the team rather than accept this truth. He is a selfish player who cares more about making sure he gets to play everyday at the expense of the Mets, who are in the middle of a pennant race.
When left fielder Jason Bay sustained a concussion in late July, Francoeur moved back into the lineup. He did not show consistent improvement.
This is the story of his career. Then he whined privately about it and made it clear publicly he didn't like being benched. He did the same thing in 2008 when he got sent down to the minors by the Braves. He's a baby like that.
This second benching was tougher to swallow. Francoeur avoided lashing out, but his distaste was apparent.
“I show up and if my name’s in the lineup, I’m playing,” Francoeur said Saturday night. “That’s pretty much all I have to say.”
Has the New York media turned on him and I am missing it? How can a player as terrible as Jeff Francoeur actually whine about his playing time? He's a drag on a team. Joe Posnanski named him one of the ten worst everyday players in MLB. It's true, he is. Does he really think he can continue to perform at a low level and still be a starting outfielder in the majors? Somebody in his past must have really told him how good he is and Francoeur must have really believed it.
This year has been difficult: His .679 OPS is the second-lowest of his career. But he felt heartened by a trio of home runs that aided the club the past three weeks.
That's right, he felt good about three home runs he had hit over the last three weeks. This is from a corner outfielder and this is that corner outfielder's "hot" stretch. This is when he felt he was really contributing to the team, when he hit three home runs over a three week stretch and had five good games strung together.
That’s all he can do, his agent said.
No literally. That's ALL he can do. He can hit a few home runs and then will go cold again for a few weeks.
“I want him to continue to make it very difficult for them to not play him every day,” Fletcher said. “And the only way to do that, like in anything in sports, is execute when you’re at the plate and in the field.”
Which is something he has failed to do while batting through nearly his entire career and he is actually regressing at the plate.
As much as I mock guys like Juan Pierre, David Eckstein and Darin Erstad, they are guys who don't publicly try to demand a trade in the middle of their team's pennant race and undermine the purpose of their team for their own personal game. The sports media loves them because they are scrappy players and allow the sports media to use all their pent-up comparisons to "gritty" in print. Jeff Francoeur appears to be a media darling in some ways too, except there are differences.
The differences are that Francoeur doesn't care his team isn't winning, he cares that he isn't playing everyday because he believes his needs are greater than the needs of the team. He's a guy who deserves more at-bats because he is Jeff Francoeur, he's a guy should be playing everyday because he thinks that's where he should be, and he is a guy who still has some supporters who are as deluded as he is that he can be an everyday right fielder in the major leagues.
Sure, maybe his teammates love him and that's all a part of his charm, but he has spent a few years now dragging down teams and complaining when he gets accused of doing so. His reality and the true reality just don't match up and they probably never will.
I also set up a College Football Pick 'Em League for Yahoo. Personally, this is my second favorite fantasy league because it keeps my interest in college football games I wouldn't normally care about on Saturdays. I have set it up against the spread and the games we will be choosing are Top 25 games and games the Yahoo editors choose as "worthy" of being chosen. The ID is 1704 and the password is "asu." Feel free to join and it doesn't take long each week to pick the games, plus it is fun to go against the spread.
There are certain players many members of the mainstream sports media love to talk about in fond terms. These are guys who have "heart" and "intangibles," which is secret code for "they always look like they are trying harder than other players even though this isn't true" and "we can't say anything positive about them in regard to baseball skill so we will assume the player has some unseen skill that makes him successful." Some of the favorites for the mainstream sports media to write about in regard to this are David Eckstein, Juan Pierre, Darin Erstad, Eric Byrnes and any other white (the media must think Pierre is white) utility infielder or hustling outfielder who always seems to try hard.
Often times the media's love of these players and a GM's blindness to these player's true skill causes these players to sign outrageous contracts. This explains Eric Byrnes' 3 year $30 million deal with the Diamondbacks when they had plenty of outfielders in their system who could potentially do what Byrnes did and Juan Pierre's 5 year $44 million deal with the Dodgers. It's not the fault of these players really. Byrnes wasn't terrible for a period of time and Juan Pierre can steal bases and is a valuable 4th outfielder. The important part is that these players don't seem to buy the media's love for them and were/are willing to (gritty cliche alert) do whatever it took to help the team win.
There's one exception to this rule. Jeff Francoeur is that exception. He is a guy who the media loves because he has a pretty smile and he always seems so sincere. Francoeur has many, many media members fooled into thinking he is a worthwhile player. What makes Francoeur different is that he thinks he is a great player as well. His agent and he will tell anyone who will listen the same thing, and even though it isn't true, somehow he still has some magical hold on the sports media that they write articles about how he needs or deserves more playing time. He's delusional and so are those same people who called him "The Natural" on the cover of Sports Illustrated very prematurely in 2005.
Really, Francoeur is a selfish guy. I can think of three different times (off the top of my head) when he has put himself above the team. First, he did so after Brian McCann got his arbitration years bought out by the Braves and they didn't do the same for Francoeur. Privately, Francoeur grumbled about how he wanted and deserved to have his arbitration years bought out. It did not cause a distraction to the team, but it was all about him not getting the recognition that McCann got. That would have ended up being a nightmare for the Braves if they had signed him to a long-term deal. Then in the summer of 2008 when he was in the process of being terrible (again), the Braves demoted him to AAA to work on his swing and Francoeur kicked and moaned about how he didn't deserve nor did he want to go to the minors. The Braves called him back up to the big leagues a couple of days later just to shut him up.
Now, Francoeur wants a trade from the Mets to become a starting right fielder. He and his agent are willing to go to the New York media to announce this and the media falls for it. I am amazed how Francoeur now has the New York media fooled into believing he could be a great player. It's ridiculous really. He fooled, not one, but two writers in the New York area to write about him and his newest demands without the writer(s) inserting one sentence strongly questioning the sanity of starting Francoeur..
Is Bob Costas going to bring his gravitas to Citi Field? Will the MLB Network preempt its regular programming to cover this chase?
If this article started off as a parody and ended with the writer mocking Jeff Francoeur, then I would be 100% behind this article. If this article was bringing to light the selfishness and entitled attitude Francoeur has come to show then I would think it was a great article. Unfortunately, Mike Sielski buys in and then doubles down on some pity for poor Jeff Francoeur.
It was only last week that Alex Rodriguez hit his 600th home run, and already another New York ballplayer is pursuing a milestone.
Carlos Beltran is trying to play in 40 games this season?
Funny thing, though: Few people have noticed that Jeff Francoeur, the Mets rightfielder, needs just one more home run to reach 100.
Few people have also noticed that Angel Pagan is working on the best season of his career. No one has probably noticed this because they are too busy worrying about a mediocre 4th outfielder reaching a milestone that has very little historical significance.
Instead of giving him every opportunity to reach the mark (and only 4.35% of all Major League Baseball players have, according to Stats Inc.) the Mets are trying to shove the guy out of their starting lineup.
Matt Stairs has 261 career home runs. Why isn't anyone giving him a starting position? Why must have be relegated to the bench? He's a home run threat, put him in the game everyday.
Why didn't anyone notice Mike Jacobs has 100 career home runs? How dare the Mets treat him so poorly as to leave him on the bench over Ike Davis? What's Ike Davis done in the majors? Mike Jacobs has 100 career home runs and only 4.35% of all MLB players have ever done that. Bench Ike Davis for Mike Jacobs!
The Mets have lost three of their past five games. During that period, center fielder Carlos Beltran has gone 2-for-22. Third baseman David Wright has gone 2-for-23. Shortstop Jose Reyes has made three errors that led to two losses.
I can just feel the joy Sielski feels with this circle jerk of small sample size numbers. Screw an entire career's worth of numbers, what about those five games where no other players for the Mets played well, but Jeff Francoeur did? Which of these players should sit the bench in favor of Francoeur?
Yet Mr. Francoeur, who has batted .357 and hit two game-winning home runs over that span, will be relegated to a quasi-platoon in the outfield, manager Jerry Manuel said, now that the team has recalled prospect Fernando Martinez.
A normal player would say, "I've had a chance with two MLB teams to prove I am an everyday right fielder. I've been given more chances than most players ever get and I have a career line of .267/.309/.426 with 587 strikeouts to 161 walks. In fact that line I have for my career has been actually declining based on my performance since 2008. I get paid WAY more money than I should get paid for my performance. It's best to just platoon and when the Mets DFA me after this year try to get on with another team and work on my weaknesses."
Not Jeff Francoeur. He hasn't been given enough time dammit! He just wants a fair shake...perhaps 3,000 more at-bats to prove what any MLB team with a scouting department already knows. Francoeur is a great 4th outfielder or a platoon hitter against LH pitchers.
This is to suggest that if the Mets are doing all they can to stay in contention—"We're still trying to win as many games as we can," Mr. Manuel said Sunday—it might behoove them to play their hottest hitter as much as possible.
I've said this before, but at what point during the season does Francoeur go from the hottest hitter to just the below average hitter he has become? What signifies that he will be going from "hot" to "crappy" again? Is it a game where he goes 0-3? What if he goes 2-4 the next day? Is he still "hot?"
Jason Bay is in left field, Carlos Beltran is struggling but he will play a good amount, there is no reason to keep Fernando Martinez off the field, and Angel Pagan is simply the best outfield option regardless exactly of where in the outfield he plays.
So Pagan/Martinez would fit in right field and Bay in left field, and Beltran/Martinez/Pagan in centerfield. It's great to keep a hot hitter in the lineup, but not when that hot hitter (over five total games is the sample size being used here) is the 4th/5th best outfield option overall.
When Mr. Beltran returned to the active roster last month, Angel Pagan moved from center field to right field to accommodate him, relegating Mr. Francoeur to a part-time role. Mr. Francoeur wasn't pleased that he was no longer a starting player, but it was difficult for him to argue.
Yet, I bet he did still argue. He argued and threw a hissy-fit when the Braves put him in the minors in 2008 despite the fact he was dragging the entire lineup down. There's very little chance the Mets offer arbitration this next offseason and there is a good chance he will be gone from the team completely. That's the thing about Francoeur, he doesn't understand his limitations. He's a 4th outfielder. So unlike the other "gritty" players the sports media loves, Francoeur only loves himself and thinks he is perpetually underrated, though 3,000 MLB at-bats tell a much different story.
Francoeur has been told so much his entire life about how great he is that he actually believed it himself and has never felt the need to adjust his swing or approach how he bats differently in any manner. It's always worked for him, so why don't teams see that?
Pagan leads the Mets with a .311 batting average. Mr. Francoeur is still hitting just .241 with a less-than-stellar .294 on-base percentage. "That's the frustrating thing," Mr. Francoeur said Sunday. "Last time, I understood. I don't understand this one."
Here's the hypocrisy of Jeff Francoeur. In 2005, he didn't worry about stealing the RF job from a washed-up Raul Mondesi, who wasn't hitting too much worse than Francoeur's current .239/.291/.381 line. Mondesi hit .211/.271/.359 in 2005 and the decision to replace him was a no-brainer. Francoeur didn't care that he it was frustrating for another player to be replaced by because he understood at the time that is how baseball works. Now, he doesn't understand this at all.
Francoeur didn't mind jumping up to the big leagues and being the new young guy who helped save the team, but when the time comes where HE is the veteran being replaced by a 21 year old highly touted prospect, he pitches a fit and demands a trade.
Mr. Francoeur doesn't hide his desire to be an everyday right fielder.
I don't hide my desire to be a multi-millionaire, but I am not stupid enough to realize no matter how hard I work at achieving this goal it may not be realistic.
His agent, Molly Fletcher, has contacted Mets general manager Omar Minaya and asked about the possibility of moving Mr. Francoeur to another team where he might play more, Mr. Minaya confirmed.
Moving him? Like trading him? Like a team gives something in return for Francoeur? How the hell do the Mets manage to do this? This is how delusional Francoeur is. He thinks he has some market value. The sad part is that some GM will take a look at Francoeur's smiling face (but only smiling when he is the starting RF and getting everything he wants) and then trade some low level prospect for him...then hand him the starting RF job and watch him struggle.
Mr. Francoeur is making $5 million and is arbitration-eligible at season's end, and the Mets are unlikely to tender him.
He's making $5 million this year. When we hear about players crying about having to go to arbitration instead of get a long-term deal or read about Murray Chass whining that teams are holding players back to keep them longer, just think of Jeff Francoeur and how the arbitration system helps him steal money from the Mets.
"They haven't directly said that to me, but that's the message being sent," Ms. Fletcher said.
Personally, I think the clearest message is in Francoeur's Baseball-Reference page. He is 26 years old and his production seems to actually be declining because he refuses to try and adjust to how pitchers pitch to him. I think he holds the MLB unofficial record for most slow dribblers back to the pitcher.
Mr. Francoeur is well-liked among his teammates. Mr. Manuel said Sunday that he wanted to keep playing Mr. Francoeur "as much as possible, bringing those intangibles."
Those intangibles are more easily defined as "We are paying him $5 million per year and can't trade him right now, so we have to settle with him being the 4th outfielder on the team or a platoon against LH pitchers."
It doesn't matter how well-liked by his teammates Francoeur currently is. It really doesn't. What shocks me is that a mediocre-baseball player demands a trade and the New York media doesn't rip him a new asshole, but seems to understand his demand. What kind of spell does he have them under?
There is still time for Mr. Francouer to blossom in his late 20s, of course.
There's still more time for Fernando Martinez to blossom and Angel Pagan is currently blossoming. There's time for anything to happen, but nothing about Jeff Francoeur indicates he will blossom in the future. Injuries haven't held him back, he hasn't been platooned, neither team he played for as yanked him in and out of the lineup, and his swing is still as awful as it ever was.
"I have to remind myself sometimes that I'm only 26," he said. "I hope to keep going and get to 200 home runs."
Home runs really don't matter. Mike Jacobs has 100 home runs and he is sitting the bench for the Mets, which is somewhat ironic because that's exactly where Jeff Francoeur should be three or four out of every five games.
I don't know why the media insists on helping Francoeur create the illusion that he is a useful baseball player. It's just not true. The thing about Francoeur is that he is wrapped up in his own beliefs about what makes him successful as a baseball player. When asked about his OBP while with the Braves, he commented "if OBP is so important then why isn't it on the scoreboard"...which it actually was at Turner Field.
Now he thinks he should be judged by how many home runs he hits, like he is Adam Dunn or another player who strikes out a lot but hits home runs and gets on-base. He's deluded because that isn't true. He's Rob Deer without the power, which makes him a guy who strikes out a lot, doesn't get on-base, and doesn't hit enough home runs to bat higher in the order. Basically, he's a drag on the lineup.
Here is another example of Francoeur somehow getting some sympathy from a sports writer that follows the Mets. How come these guys haven't turned on him at this point? I wish this article was tongue-in-cheek and then I would enjoy it much more.
Benched to make room for a 21-year-old rookie, marginalized as a platoon player,
How is it possible to marginalize a player who is a platoon player at-best? You can't marginalize someone by using them in the exact role they are good enough to play. If the Mets kept Angel Pagan on the bench, then they would be marginalizing someone.
Jeff Francoeur has been potential and false promises since the year 2007. In 2007 he was going to start being more selective at the plate. That didn't happen really. In 2008, he got bigger so he could hit more home runs instead of doubles. That didn't happen. In 2009, he lost some weight so he could be the player he was in 2007 and that didn't happen because he regressed. In 2010, he had a change of scenery and was ready to show the world what he could do. That's not happening. At what point do the excuses and "changes" end and the actual production begins?
The answer is that the production is already here. Francoeur is what he is. A platoon outfielder or a 4th outfielder. The only one who hasn't realized this yet is him.
Mets outfielder Jeff Francoeur has told the club through his representatives that he is interested in being traded to a team that would play him more,
My softball team has an open spot in left field. I know Francoeur is a Hall of Fame right fielder in his mind, so that may not work for him.
“We want to play every day,” Francoeur’s agent Molly Fletcher said yesterday. “We prefer to play in New York. But if we’re not going to play every day in New York, we absolutely welcome the opportunity to play every day somewhere else.”
Perhaps Japan? Would that work for Francoeur? It might need to because at this point that could be his only option.
The Mets are aware of Francoeur’s position, a team official indicated.
That position is "the 4th outfielder on the Mets team."
Eligible for arbitration, Francoeur is a candidate to be non-tendered by the team and cut loose at season’s end.
What team wouldn't want a struggling outfielder who is not as good as he believes himself to be and is looking for a raise on his current $5 million salary. Of course we all know Francoeur is going to have a great year before he becomes a free agent and then look terrible again after he gets paid. This is a guarantee to happen and please try to remember I said it would happen.
In a telephone interview, Fletcher indicated she would monitor Francoeur’s playing time over the next week, interested in whether or not manager Jerry Manuel follows through on his amended plan to let Francoeur face right-handed pitchers, a group he historically struggles against and is hitting just .217 against this season.
For his career he is hitting .255 against right-handed pitchers. I really, really hope the Mets don't let a mediocre outfielder hold the team hostage over his playing time. Francoeur should be in to face left-handed pitchers and that is it.
“Talk to me is just that: It’s talk,” Fletcher said. “What matters is what happens and is he in right field every day. And that’s what we’re watching.”
Hey shithead (I can call Francoeur's agent, who is a woman, a shithead right?), Francoeur sucks. The only thing you should monitor is why his batting average and on-base percentage are so damn low for a guy who somehow believes he is actually good at the game of baseball. If Francoeur is in right field everyday the Mets should sell the franchise, fire Jerry Manuel, and boycott any further Mets home games until it has been proven over an entire year Francoeur deserves to start in right field for a MLB team.
But with two left-handers scheduled to pitch in these next two series, Manuel explained two days later, Francoeur would remain on the bench against righties. So Martinez started yesterday against Colorado right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez while Francoeur sat.
Martinez went 1-2 with a walk and a strikeout and saw 21 pitches in #2 spot, which was the most on the team. The next night against Jeff Francis who is left handed, which is Francoeur's "specialty," he went 0-3 with a strikeout and saw 11 pitches, the least amount on the team. How do you see 11 pitches in three plate appearances AND strike out? Shouldn't the strikeout take at least 5 pitches?
This is the second time this season Francoeur has lost his starting position in right field.
The first came after the All-Star break, when center fielder Carlos Beltran returned and Angel Pagan, the team’s leading hitter, shifted to right. Francoeur started mostly against left-handers, against whom he is hitting .319 this year.
That is an impressive average against LH pitchers and is pretty close to his career average against LH pitchers. No one is questioning Francoeur is a good platoon player, but we are questioning is need to start in right field every single game. He's delusional and pretty selfish to be not willing to accept the obvious conclusion he isn't an everyday player. He is willing to demand a trade and hurt the team rather than accept this truth. He is a selfish player who cares more about making sure he gets to play everyday at the expense of the Mets, who are in the middle of a pennant race.
When left fielder Jason Bay sustained a concussion in late July, Francoeur moved back into the lineup. He did not show consistent improvement.
This is the story of his career. Then he whined privately about it and made it clear publicly he didn't like being benched. He did the same thing in 2008 when he got sent down to the minors by the Braves. He's a baby like that.
This second benching was tougher to swallow. Francoeur avoided lashing out, but his distaste was apparent.
“I show up and if my name’s in the lineup, I’m playing,” Francoeur said Saturday night. “That’s pretty much all I have to say.”
Has the New York media turned on him and I am missing it? How can a player as terrible as Jeff Francoeur actually whine about his playing time? He's a drag on a team. Joe Posnanski named him one of the ten worst everyday players in MLB. It's true, he is. Does he really think he can continue to perform at a low level and still be a starting outfielder in the majors? Somebody in his past must have really told him how good he is and Francoeur must have really believed it.
This year has been difficult: His .679 OPS is the second-lowest of his career. But he felt heartened by a trio of home runs that aided the club the past three weeks.
That's right, he felt good about three home runs he had hit over the last three weeks. This is from a corner outfielder and this is that corner outfielder's "hot" stretch. This is when he felt he was really contributing to the team, when he hit three home runs over a three week stretch and had five good games strung together.
That’s all he can do, his agent said.
No literally. That's ALL he can do. He can hit a few home runs and then will go cold again for a few weeks.
“I want him to continue to make it very difficult for them to not play him every day,” Fletcher said. “And the only way to do that, like in anything in sports, is execute when you’re at the plate and in the field.”
Which is something he has failed to do while batting through nearly his entire career and he is actually regressing at the plate.
As much as I mock guys like Juan Pierre, David Eckstein and Darin Erstad, they are guys who don't publicly try to demand a trade in the middle of their team's pennant race and undermine the purpose of their team for their own personal game. The sports media loves them because they are scrappy players and allow the sports media to use all their pent-up comparisons to "gritty" in print. Jeff Francoeur appears to be a media darling in some ways too, except there are differences.
The differences are that Francoeur doesn't care his team isn't winning, he cares that he isn't playing everyday because he believes his needs are greater than the needs of the team. He's a guy who deserves more at-bats because he is Jeff Francoeur, he's a guy should be playing everyday because he thinks that's where he should be, and he is a guy who still has some supporters who are as deluded as he is that he can be an everyday right fielder in the major leagues.
Sure, maybe his teammates love him and that's all a part of his charm, but he has spent a few years now dragging down teams and complaining when he gets accused of doing so. His reality and the true reality just don't match up and they probably never will.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
11 comments Joe Morgan. Consistency.
I have set up a Yahoo Fantasy Football League and those of you who have already expressed interest can feel free to join. Anyone else who wants to join can feel free to do so as well. I am planning on having a 12 team league and I have set up the league like last year's Yahoo league, but am open to any changes. The ID is 269298 and the password is "eckstein."
Last week when we caught up with Joe Morgan he explained to us all how it is easier for a 19 year old catcher to come to the majors and play at a high level as compared to a 19 year old shortstop. In fact, Joe thinks shortstop is the hardest position in baseball for a player who is 19 years old to play at an elite level. Then he topped it all off by saying a catcher just catches the ball and veteran pitchers call their own games. Both statements over-simplify what catchers at the major league level do. Despite the fact Joe has played professional baseball at a high level, he still believed this, contrary to the many quotes from veterans pitchers about their catcher helping them call games.
This week Joe is running a bit late for his chat and displays again that he couldn't give a shit about providing any baseball intellect to his chats nor does he really even care to pay attention to the question asked. Asking Joe a chat question is like being an 8 year old and asking your grandfather a question while he is watching Larry King. Because you are just a gnat to him, he just gives you a quick answer so he can get back to what he was doing previously. Joe just wants to watch "The View" on Tuesdays and doesn't have time for these stupid questions he can't answer. Today Joe avoids chat questions by giving non-answers for a full 25 minutes.
I think ESPN continues having Joe's weekly chat just out of spite.
Buzzmaster: Hang on everyone. Joe's at the airport and will join us in about 10 minutes, as soon as he gets through security.
How can Joe show up late for his weekly chat? Maybe Joe's plane was very, very late. It is every Tuesday at 11am. Build your schedule around this time and be consistent Joe!
Joe at airport security:
(Security officer) "Can you please remove your shoes sir?"
(Joe Morgan) "I bought these shoes at Payless Shoes and got a very good deal on them. I have always said Payless has shoes that are on par with other shoe stores."
(Security officer keeping his composure) "Please remove your shoes sir. This has the potential to be a security risk if you keep them on. You could have a weapon hidden."
(Joe Morgan getting angry) "I don't get what you mean by 'potential.' I don't know what that means at all. I can't really tell you if I am a security risk or not at this point. We will know more after I pass through the metal detectors."
(Security officer calling for help and then pulling Joe aside) "I need you to speak with me sir. Did you leave your bags at any point unattended?"
(Joe Morgan) "I am sure at some point I left my bags unattended. By unattended do you mean I wasn't looking at my bag or I actually left my bag? I'm not sure what you mean."
(Security officer getting angry) "Did you leave the bag and walk away at any point?"
(Joe Morgan) "I don't think I did."
(Security officer) "Please open your bag and tell me if everything is in the bag that was there before you came to the airport."
(Joe Morgan opens bag and looks in quickly) "I can't really tell you if everything is there or not. I won't know until I get home if I have everything I left with. It's too early to tell. I can't really tell you that right now. Why am I being harassed? I am not of Middle Eastern descent, leave me alone!"
(Security officer) "Sir it doesn't matter what descent you are, statistics actually show that---"
(Joe Morgan yelling now) "Statistics! I don't need statistics to tell me anything. I can look at airplane travelers with my eyes and see if they are terrorists or not. I think we all get caught up in statistics too much when people who know other people very well and can view others can tell better if a person is a terrorist. All this technology and statistics doesn't make up for the old security officers who could pick the terrorist out of a crowd of two thousand people. I work for ESPN and I am important. If you will excuse me I have to answer questions being asked of me about baseball by a computer that changes its name depending on the question asked." (Joe storms away)
JM: As we approach the trade deadline, I don't think we're going to see as many stars move as people might think.
Or as Steve Phillips would say, "there are more trades discussed than actually take place."
It's getting more difficult to make those trades now, because most teams want to keep their young players and not give them up to get the veteran players.
One to two days after Joe did this chat, the Phillies traded for Roy Oswalt and a couple days before the chat Dan Haren got traded to the Angels...all for young players. This of course doesn't include the other trades that were made in exchange for prospects at the trade deadline. I don't have data to support this, but I am pretty sure teams have always been careful to keep their young players and not give them up for veteran players. As far as I can remember, teams have always been careful in trading prospects.
Nathan (Missouri)
Hey Joe, Braves to the World Series or do they need more help?
Why do people ask the same question about the Braves to Joe every week? They always ask Joe if the Braves have enough to make the playoffs or World Series. Yes, they need help. They need an outfielder and another bullpen arm for when Bobby Cox tries to use Peter Moylan in 65 games out of the next 70 games. Fortunately, that's why they traded for Kyle Farnsworth. I will reserve comment on Rick Ankiel until I see him play more (now I sound like Joe Morgan).
More importantly they need an outfielder who isn't useless (McLouth), sort of useless (Melky Cabrera, useless against RH pitchers (Matt Diaz) or an infielder by trade (Omar Infante). I keep waking up every damn morning hoping the Braves haven't continued to try and put a band-aid on a gaping wound I feel the team has, but assume they know what they are doing in the front office.
Sure, I'm fine right now. I'm not at all worried about the Phillies, who now have Halladay and Roy Oswalt, along with an incredibly potent offense.
(Bengoodfella vomits)
JM: Every team that's in first place can reach the World Series.
(Bengoodfella continues to vomit)
I'm pretty sure every team that is in first place and continues to be in first place can make the World Series. (Spoiler alert) In fact, every team that makes the playoffs can make the World Series too! Isn't that neat?
If you get into the playoffs, you can make it.
BUT IF YOU MAKE THE NLCS OR ALCS CAN YOU MAKE THE WORLD SERIES???????????
But there's a long way to go. Every team has a weakness. The Braves are the same.
I am a computer disguised as Joe Morgan. Please don't unplug me. I write short sentences that are cut and pasted. From previous chats.
They need a little more consistent offense and their pitching could use a little help.
No, no, no. They don't need a consistent offense. The offense is very consistent. Consistently inferior to what it will may take to win the World Series or even get in the playoffs. The Braves need a stronger offense despite the fact they have good offensive numbers. They may or may not now have a stronger offense after the trade deadline. Stronger is the word we are looking for. Not consistent. I know Joe is afraid of the Inconsistency Monster, but the word "consistent" can't be substituted for words like "stronger," "better," or "less shitty."
Also, the Braves needed one more bullpen arm and don't need a starter, which is what I assumed Joe meant by "pitching." They currently have six starters and don't need another one. Though Kenshin Kawakami can be had for the low price of "make us an offer."
Paul (Boston)
Do you think that the Red Soxs can overcome all their injuries and make a run at the wild card over the next couple months? Who needs to step up to make that happen?
David Ortiz. Person who makes the team better. Offense is better when he hits well. Computer tired.
JM: Boston is going to have to get all of their players healthy and play to their full potential. Tampa Bay and the Yankees are not going to go away.
First off, the Rays nor the Yankees have to go anywhere. They are currently in first and second place in the AL East, so there is really nowhere for them to go. The Red Sox are the team doing the chasing, not the Yankees or Rays.
Why I am arguing semantics with Joe? It's like discussing the plague of world hunger with a 5 year old.
If they can get their starting pitching on line and healthy, they can they be led by their pitching. I don't think their offense is consistent enough to lead them.
The offense isn't consistent (there's that word again) because the offense is what needs to get healthy. Ellsbury and Pedroia have missed large parts of this season. The starting pitching has had injuries, but Joe can't blame the offense for not being consistent when the good players in the offense have been injured this year.
I really think the problem with the Red Sox this year is the games are too long and the Red Sox don't have enough exciting players. I am sure it has nothing to do with the injuries and underperformance of key players.
Kevin (Simsbury, CT)
Joe, now that we have seen 5 no-hitters this season, it is easy to wonder why so many in just over half a season of baseball. As sportsnation asked, do you credit this trend mostly to better pitching talent, weaker hitting, or is are we just whitnessing a fluke here?
JM: Everything goes in cycles in baseball. We've gone from an offensive decade and now maybe we'll go into a pitching era. I don't think the hitters have adjusted yet, but they will.
How will hitters adjust? They will find a way to take less detectable steroids.
Tito (Brooklyn)
Hi Joe. Do you think the Mets should give more playing time to Jeff Francoeur? They've been struggling to score runs since he's been benched for Beltran's return.
Our good friend Tito is back. This has to be a JoeBait question. There's no way Tito could think Francouer deserves more playing time. I just took a shit that has a higher OBP than Jeff Francoeur.
JM: He's been hot and cold all year. He got off to a great start, then he struggled after that long game in St. Louis. Then he got hot again and cold again. He's been very inconsistent.
Apparently Joe had some nightmares about the Inconsistency Monster because he has used the word "consistent" very consistently in this chat.
Francoeur's version of "hot" is this. Hot for Francoeur is a 0.355 OBP, while he is currently at 0.215 for the month of July. So the word "hot" is all relative.
I'm just not sure how much they can get out of Francoeur. I've been a fan of his for a long time, but he's been very up and down this year.
Kudos to Francoeur for being up and down this year. This is better than his normal straight out sucking the entire year.
jordan (missouri)
i know that there i still a lot of baseball to be played but how do you see the NL central shaking out come playoff time?
JM: I think that's a tough call. Obviously, I'm a Reds fan
Well obviously. It is too much to ask for Joe to put aside his personal feelings and broadcast a game or give an opinion without him inserting his own personal biases into his answer. That's just unreasonable to expect the #1 analyst on ESPN to do this.
They have good defense and pitching. I'm not sure about the experience factor. They lost last night on a home run by Jim Edmonds. I definitely think they have the talent to win their division or wild card.
Which of these four sentences don't have a place in Joe giving his answer?
-They have good defense and pitching.
-I'm not sure about the experience factor.
-They lost last night on a home run by Jim Edmonds.
-I definitely think they have the talent to win their division or the wild card.
I'll give you a hint...the sentence about how the Reds lost last night. Joe must have seen something shiny and got distracted.
"The Reds have a pretty good team this year. I think the pitching will carry them for the rest of the season. I can't believe the WB didn't renew 'Melrose Place.' I think the Reds can make the playoffs.
John (Dallas)
Are there any big deals made at the trade deadline this year? Or have we already seen all the excitement for this year? (Lee, Haren)
JM: I don't think we'll see the big trades. I don't think teams are willing to part with the young players. The game is changing and they need to deal from within. I don't think we'll see as many.
I like how Joe types like Dustin Hoffman's character from "Rain Man" talked. He's a very good typist. He doesn't think there will be many trades. Teams have changed the way they do business. He is a very good typist.
They're not as many players out there that can make that big of a difference.
Roy Oswalt got traded two days after Joe made this comment.
Tito (Brooklyn)
How much of a catalyst has Juan Pierre been for the White Sox this year?
Another JoeBait from Tito. It is almost unfair to bait him with a question about Juan Pierre. Of course Joe loves Juan Pierre because "stat-heads" don't like Pierre.
JM: I thought he would be better.
Really? Joe thought Pierre would be better? His OBP is above his career average by a lot, (as pointed out by a commenter, I am wrong about this. His OBP is below his career average. I'm not sure why I got this wrong and then linked it for further proof I was wrong) yet his OPS is way down. Who would have thought a hitter who made outs and had zero power wouldn't start getting on-base and hitting home runs as he gets older?
I'm a big Juan Pierre fan.
So is every team that gets to play against Juan Pierre. He is good at stealing bases though...unless you don't like guys who steal a lot of bases AND get caught a lot.
I actually thought he would have a great season there, because he had such a good season last year with the Dodgers.
Last year Pierre had an OPS+ of 105 and a WAR of 0.2. This was the second time in his career he had an OPS+ above 100.
But he has added that element of speed and I think that's helped in close ball games.
So has the 12 times he has been caught stealing...which does lead the league.
Joe B (Aiter, NY)
Why is the Angels bullpen so inconsistent this year?
I get it this week. Joe B (Aiter, NY) Somehow I missed this in last week's chat.
Unfortunately, this JoeBait question just a template response from the computer that Joe Morgan has become.
No one is consistent. The Angels aren't the only one. Teams aren't consistent.
dave w. (omaha)
You mentioned that things go in cycles (hitting, pitching, etc.). How about umpiring? Is this just a really bad year for umpires, or does MLB need to do something to address this problem?
JM: This may be the best question I've had in a long time.
It is a good question, but this isn't the best question Joe has had in a long time. There have been better questions, but Joe just took a shit all over them by misunderstanding what the questioner was saying or was too lazy to make a prediction or give an answer.
I think we have to hold the umpires more accountable. I think MLB needs to step in and force that to happen. They made a change and Frank Robinson is now in charge of the umpires. He said that there will be some changes. I think we will see some changes.
I think public executions are the only real answer. This should solve the problem of human error on split second calls.
Ed (Saginaw, MI)
Hi Joe. The Tigers are really struggling and now they've been hit HARD by the injury bug. Should they try and acquire another bat (Adam Dunn maybe) or just stay with what they've got and hope a couple of guys get hot?
JM: What they have is not enough right now. They just lost Ordonnez.
The Tigers lost Magglio Ordonez and Ordonnez? Tough week, but at least they have Jhonny Peralta now. I am sure this makes Tigers fans feel better.
Their offense hasn't been that good all year.
Remember this comment that the Tigers offense hasn't been good all year. If the Tigers turn it around and win their division, Joe will say that Miguel Cabrera should be the MVP. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve to be the MVP, I am saying as soon as the Tigers start winning then Joe will think the Tigers have enough offense.
Dave (Columbus)
Any thoughts on why the Reds can lead the league in offensive categories but have everyone go so cold on the ssame night?
JM: The problem is, when you talk about leading the league in runs scored and all of those things, it's realy a lot of averages.
I hope Joe knows that averages involve numbers, which he has a strict sense of duty to fight against the use of.
They have a good offense, but it has not been consistent, especially lately.
Nothing is ever consistent according to Joe Morgan. Does he even know what the word means? Does he think if the same thing doesn't happen the exact same way every single game then a team isn't consistent?
Joe B (Aiter, NY)
Do you think it is easier for a pitcher to win a 1-0 game than it is to win a 6-5 game? If so, why?
JM: That's always been an interesting question. I don't believe that it is. I think it's just as hard to win a 6-5 game.
Of course Joe is wrong about this one. Assuming the pitcher throws a complete game, naturally it is harder to win a game 1-0 because it involves shutting down the opposing team completely, which isn't easy to do. Any one-run game is hard to win, but as a pitcher it is hard to win a game 1-0, as opposed to giving up 5 runs and then having your team score 6 runs for you. I would think giving up zero runs in a game is harder than giving up 5 runs. Much his perception of the duties of a catcher and nearly everything else involving baseball, Joe and I disagree on this issue.
There will be more guys on base and you'll have to make a lot of tough pitches.
Just because a pitcher wins a 6-5 game doesn't mean there were a lot of guys on base. The runs could all have come on a solo home run and a grand slam in one inning. Again, I would think keeping guys off base in a 1-0 game and not letting them score is harder than letting guys on base and making tough pitches will a few runs still score.
In the minors, a pitcher told me that he liked the 1-0 games, because he was on and controlling the game.
He said he liked the 1-0 games because he was pitching well and controlling the game. Is it harder for a pitcher to pitch well and control the game and win 1-0 or pitch decent and let runs score, but get bailed out by your offense? The answer to that seems pretty obvious to many, many people that aren't Joe Morgan.
Looking forward to the trade deadline.
He's looking forward to it despite the fact he thinks nothing of great importance will happen.
We'll know which teams are set after that the rest of the way. I don't think there are many big difference makers out there. We'll see if the GMs agree with me.
If the GMs do agree with Joe on anything, they should be immediately fired.
Last week when we caught up with Joe Morgan he explained to us all how it is easier for a 19 year old catcher to come to the majors and play at a high level as compared to a 19 year old shortstop. In fact, Joe thinks shortstop is the hardest position in baseball for a player who is 19 years old to play at an elite level. Then he topped it all off by saying a catcher just catches the ball and veteran pitchers call their own games. Both statements over-simplify what catchers at the major league level do. Despite the fact Joe has played professional baseball at a high level, he still believed this, contrary to the many quotes from veterans pitchers about their catcher helping them call games.
This week Joe is running a bit late for his chat and displays again that he couldn't give a shit about providing any baseball intellect to his chats nor does he really even care to pay attention to the question asked. Asking Joe a chat question is like being an 8 year old and asking your grandfather a question while he is watching Larry King. Because you are just a gnat to him, he just gives you a quick answer so he can get back to what he was doing previously. Joe just wants to watch "The View" on Tuesdays and doesn't have time for these stupid questions he can't answer. Today Joe avoids chat questions by giving non-answers for a full 25 minutes.
I think ESPN continues having Joe's weekly chat just out of spite.
Buzzmaster: Hang on everyone. Joe's at the airport and will join us in about 10 minutes, as soon as he gets through security.
How can Joe show up late for his weekly chat? Maybe Joe's plane was very, very late. It is every Tuesday at 11am. Build your schedule around this time and be consistent Joe!
Joe at airport security:
(Security officer) "Can you please remove your shoes sir?"
(Joe Morgan) "I bought these shoes at Payless Shoes and got a very good deal on them. I have always said Payless has shoes that are on par with other shoe stores."
(Security officer keeping his composure) "Please remove your shoes sir. This has the potential to be a security risk if you keep them on. You could have a weapon hidden."
(Joe Morgan getting angry) "I don't get what you mean by 'potential.' I don't know what that means at all. I can't really tell you if I am a security risk or not at this point. We will know more after I pass through the metal detectors."
(Security officer calling for help and then pulling Joe aside) "I need you to speak with me sir. Did you leave your bags at any point unattended?"
(Joe Morgan) "I am sure at some point I left my bags unattended. By unattended do you mean I wasn't looking at my bag or I actually left my bag? I'm not sure what you mean."
(Security officer getting angry) "Did you leave the bag and walk away at any point?"
(Joe Morgan) "I don't think I did."
(Security officer) "Please open your bag and tell me if everything is in the bag that was there before you came to the airport."
(Joe Morgan opens bag and looks in quickly) "I can't really tell you if everything is there or not. I won't know until I get home if I have everything I left with. It's too early to tell. I can't really tell you that right now. Why am I being harassed? I am not of Middle Eastern descent, leave me alone!"
(Security officer) "Sir it doesn't matter what descent you are, statistics actually show that---"
(Joe Morgan yelling now) "Statistics! I don't need statistics to tell me anything. I can look at airplane travelers with my eyes and see if they are terrorists or not. I think we all get caught up in statistics too much when people who know other people very well and can view others can tell better if a person is a terrorist. All this technology and statistics doesn't make up for the old security officers who could pick the terrorist out of a crowd of two thousand people. I work for ESPN and I am important. If you will excuse me I have to answer questions being asked of me about baseball by a computer that changes its name depending on the question asked." (Joe storms away)
JM: As we approach the trade deadline, I don't think we're going to see as many stars move as people might think.
Or as Steve Phillips would say, "there are more trades discussed than actually take place."
It's getting more difficult to make those trades now, because most teams want to keep their young players and not give them up to get the veteran players.
One to two days after Joe did this chat, the Phillies traded for Roy Oswalt and a couple days before the chat Dan Haren got traded to the Angels...all for young players. This of course doesn't include the other trades that were made in exchange for prospects at the trade deadline. I don't have data to support this, but I am pretty sure teams have always been careful to keep their young players and not give them up for veteran players. As far as I can remember, teams have always been careful in trading prospects.
Nathan (Missouri)
Hey Joe, Braves to the World Series or do they need more help?
Why do people ask the same question about the Braves to Joe every week? They always ask Joe if the Braves have enough to make the playoffs or World Series. Yes, they need help. They need an outfielder and another bullpen arm for when Bobby Cox tries to use Peter Moylan in 65 games out of the next 70 games. Fortunately, that's why they traded for Kyle Farnsworth. I will reserve comment on Rick Ankiel until I see him play more (now I sound like Joe Morgan).
More importantly they need an outfielder who isn't useless (McLouth), sort of useless (Melky Cabrera, useless against RH pitchers (Matt Diaz) or an infielder by trade (Omar Infante). I keep waking up every damn morning hoping the Braves haven't continued to try and put a band-aid on a gaping wound I feel the team has, but assume they know what they are doing in the front office.
Sure, I'm fine right now. I'm not at all worried about the Phillies, who now have Halladay and Roy Oswalt, along with an incredibly potent offense.
(Bengoodfella vomits)
JM: Every team that's in first place can reach the World Series.
(Bengoodfella continues to vomit)
I'm pretty sure every team that is in first place and continues to be in first place can make the World Series. (Spoiler alert) In fact, every team that makes the playoffs can make the World Series too! Isn't that neat?
If you get into the playoffs, you can make it.
BUT IF YOU MAKE THE NLCS OR ALCS CAN YOU MAKE THE WORLD SERIES???????????
But there's a long way to go. Every team has a weakness. The Braves are the same.
I am a computer disguised as Joe Morgan. Please don't unplug me. I write short sentences that are cut and pasted. From previous chats.
They need a little more consistent offense and their pitching could use a little help.
No, no, no. They don't need a consistent offense. The offense is very consistent. Consistently inferior to what it will may take to win the World Series or even get in the playoffs. The Braves need a stronger offense despite the fact they have good offensive numbers. They may or may not now have a stronger offense after the trade deadline. Stronger is the word we are looking for. Not consistent. I know Joe is afraid of the Inconsistency Monster, but the word "consistent" can't be substituted for words like "stronger," "better," or "less shitty."
Also, the Braves needed one more bullpen arm and don't need a starter, which is what I assumed Joe meant by "pitching." They currently have six starters and don't need another one. Though Kenshin Kawakami can be had for the low price of "make us an offer."
Paul (Boston)
Do you think that the Red Soxs can overcome all their injuries and make a run at the wild card over the next couple months? Who needs to step up to make that happen?
David Ortiz. Person who makes the team better. Offense is better when he hits well. Computer tired.
JM: Boston is going to have to get all of their players healthy and play to their full potential. Tampa Bay and the Yankees are not going to go away.
First off, the Rays nor the Yankees have to go anywhere. They are currently in first and second place in the AL East, so there is really nowhere for them to go. The Red Sox are the team doing the chasing, not the Yankees or Rays.
Why I am arguing semantics with Joe? It's like discussing the plague of world hunger with a 5 year old.
If they can get their starting pitching on line and healthy, they can they be led by their pitching. I don't think their offense is consistent enough to lead them.
The offense isn't consistent (there's that word again) because the offense is what needs to get healthy. Ellsbury and Pedroia have missed large parts of this season. The starting pitching has had injuries, but Joe can't blame the offense for not being consistent when the good players in the offense have been injured this year.
I really think the problem with the Red Sox this year is the games are too long and the Red Sox don't have enough exciting players. I am sure it has nothing to do with the injuries and underperformance of key players.
Kevin (Simsbury, CT)
Joe, now that we have seen 5 no-hitters this season, it is easy to wonder why so many in just over half a season of baseball. As sportsnation asked, do you credit this trend mostly to better pitching talent, weaker hitting, or is are we just whitnessing a fluke here?
JM: Everything goes in cycles in baseball. We've gone from an offensive decade and now maybe we'll go into a pitching era. I don't think the hitters have adjusted yet, but they will.
How will hitters adjust? They will find a way to take less detectable steroids.
Tito (Brooklyn)
Hi Joe. Do you think the Mets should give more playing time to Jeff Francoeur? They've been struggling to score runs since he's been benched for Beltran's return.
Our good friend Tito is back. This has to be a JoeBait question. There's no way Tito could think Francouer deserves more playing time. I just took a shit that has a higher OBP than Jeff Francoeur.
JM: He's been hot and cold all year. He got off to a great start, then he struggled after that long game in St. Louis. Then he got hot again and cold again. He's been very inconsistent.
Apparently Joe had some nightmares about the Inconsistency Monster because he has used the word "consistent" very consistently in this chat.
Francoeur's version of "hot" is this. Hot for Francoeur is a 0.355 OBP, while he is currently at 0.215 for the month of July. So the word "hot" is all relative.
I'm just not sure how much they can get out of Francoeur. I've been a fan of his for a long time, but he's been very up and down this year.
Kudos to Francoeur for being up and down this year. This is better than his normal straight out sucking the entire year.
jordan (missouri)
i know that there i still a lot of baseball to be played but how do you see the NL central shaking out come playoff time?
JM: I think that's a tough call. Obviously, I'm a Reds fan
Well obviously. It is too much to ask for Joe to put aside his personal feelings and broadcast a game or give an opinion without him inserting his own personal biases into his answer. That's just unreasonable to expect the #1 analyst on ESPN to do this.
They have good defense and pitching. I'm not sure about the experience factor. They lost last night on a home run by Jim Edmonds. I definitely think they have the talent to win their division or wild card.
Which of these four sentences don't have a place in Joe giving his answer?
-They have good defense and pitching.
-I'm not sure about the experience factor.
-They lost last night on a home run by Jim Edmonds.
-I definitely think they have the talent to win their division or the wild card.
I'll give you a hint...the sentence about how the Reds lost last night. Joe must have seen something shiny and got distracted.
"The Reds have a pretty good team this year. I think the pitching will carry them for the rest of the season. I can't believe the WB didn't renew 'Melrose Place.' I think the Reds can make the playoffs.
John (Dallas)
Are there any big deals made at the trade deadline this year? Or have we already seen all the excitement for this year? (Lee, Haren)
JM: I don't think we'll see the big trades. I don't think teams are willing to part with the young players. The game is changing and they need to deal from within. I don't think we'll see as many.
I like how Joe types like Dustin Hoffman's character from "Rain Man" talked. He's a very good typist. He doesn't think there will be many trades. Teams have changed the way they do business. He is a very good typist.
They're not as many players out there that can make that big of a difference.
Roy Oswalt got traded two days after Joe made this comment.
Tito (Brooklyn)
How much of a catalyst has Juan Pierre been for the White Sox this year?
Another JoeBait from Tito. It is almost unfair to bait him with a question about Juan Pierre. Of course Joe loves Juan Pierre because "stat-heads" don't like Pierre.
JM: I thought he would be better.
Really? Joe thought Pierre would be better? His OBP is above his career average by a lot, (as pointed out by a commenter, I am wrong about this. His OBP is below his career average. I'm not sure why I got this wrong and then linked it for further proof I was wrong) yet his OPS is way down. Who would have thought a hitter who made outs and had zero power wouldn't start getting on-base and hitting home runs as he gets older?
I'm a big Juan Pierre fan.
So is every team that gets to play against Juan Pierre. He is good at stealing bases though...unless you don't like guys who steal a lot of bases AND get caught a lot.
I actually thought he would have a great season there, because he had such a good season last year with the Dodgers.
Last year Pierre had an OPS+ of 105 and a WAR of 0.2. This was the second time in his career he had an OPS+ above 100.
But he has added that element of speed and I think that's helped in close ball games.
So has the 12 times he has been caught stealing...which does lead the league.
Joe B (Aiter, NY)
Why is the Angels bullpen so inconsistent this year?
I get it this week. Joe B (Aiter, NY) Somehow I missed this in last week's chat.
Unfortunately, this JoeBait question just a template response from the computer that Joe Morgan has become.
No one is consistent. The Angels aren't the only one. Teams aren't consistent.
dave w. (omaha)
You mentioned that things go in cycles (hitting, pitching, etc.). How about umpiring? Is this just a really bad year for umpires, or does MLB need to do something to address this problem?
JM: This may be the best question I've had in a long time.
It is a good question, but this isn't the best question Joe has had in a long time. There have been better questions, but Joe just took a shit all over them by misunderstanding what the questioner was saying or was too lazy to make a prediction or give an answer.
I think we have to hold the umpires more accountable. I think MLB needs to step in and force that to happen. They made a change and Frank Robinson is now in charge of the umpires. He said that there will be some changes. I think we will see some changes.
I think public executions are the only real answer. This should solve the problem of human error on split second calls.
Ed (Saginaw, MI)
Hi Joe. The Tigers are really struggling and now they've been hit HARD by the injury bug. Should they try and acquire another bat (Adam Dunn maybe) or just stay with what they've got and hope a couple of guys get hot?
JM: What they have is not enough right now. They just lost Ordonnez.
The Tigers lost Magglio Ordonez and Ordonnez? Tough week, but at least they have Jhonny Peralta now. I am sure this makes Tigers fans feel better.
Their offense hasn't been that good all year.
Remember this comment that the Tigers offense hasn't been good all year. If the Tigers turn it around and win their division, Joe will say that Miguel Cabrera should be the MVP. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve to be the MVP, I am saying as soon as the Tigers start winning then Joe will think the Tigers have enough offense.
Dave (Columbus)
Any thoughts on why the Reds can lead the league in offensive categories but have everyone go so cold on the ssame night?
JM: The problem is, when you talk about leading the league in runs scored and all of those things, it's realy a lot of averages.
I hope Joe knows that averages involve numbers, which he has a strict sense of duty to fight against the use of.
They have a good offense, but it has not been consistent, especially lately.
Nothing is ever consistent according to Joe Morgan. Does he even know what the word means? Does he think if the same thing doesn't happen the exact same way every single game then a team isn't consistent?
Joe B (Aiter, NY)
Do you think it is easier for a pitcher to win a 1-0 game than it is to win a 6-5 game? If so, why?
JM: That's always been an interesting question. I don't believe that it is. I think it's just as hard to win a 6-5 game.
Of course Joe is wrong about this one. Assuming the pitcher throws a complete game, naturally it is harder to win a game 1-0 because it involves shutting down the opposing team completely, which isn't easy to do. Any one-run game is hard to win, but as a pitcher it is hard to win a game 1-0, as opposed to giving up 5 runs and then having your team score 6 runs for you. I would think giving up zero runs in a game is harder than giving up 5 runs. Much his perception of the duties of a catcher and nearly everything else involving baseball, Joe and I disagree on this issue.
There will be more guys on base and you'll have to make a lot of tough pitches.
Just because a pitcher wins a 6-5 game doesn't mean there were a lot of guys on base. The runs could all have come on a solo home run and a grand slam in one inning. Again, I would think keeping guys off base in a 1-0 game and not letting them score is harder than letting guys on base and making tough pitches will a few runs still score.
In the minors, a pitcher told me that he liked the 1-0 games, because he was on and controlling the game.
He said he liked the 1-0 games because he was pitching well and controlling the game. Is it harder for a pitcher to pitch well and control the game and win 1-0 or pitch decent and let runs score, but get bailed out by your offense? The answer to that seems pretty obvious to many, many people that aren't Joe Morgan.
Looking forward to the trade deadline.
He's looking forward to it despite the fact he thinks nothing of great importance will happen.
We'll know which teams are set after that the rest of the way. I don't think there are many big difference makers out there. We'll see if the GMs agree with me.
If the GMs do agree with Joe on anything, they should be immediately fired.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
13 comments Let's Make Fun of Two Pretty White Boys Who Smile A Lot
I woke up today and realized I haven't made fun of Jeff Francouer or Furman Bisher lately. I also have NEVER made fun of Tim Tebow and I was wondering how can I fix this. Fortunately good ol' Japanese hating Furman has given me an opportunity to fix part of this and I will fix the Tebow part myself. Francouer failing as an Atlanta Brave was an especially hard hit for Furman because Francouer is white, from the United States and came from the Braves farm system. It is like the Armageddon of failures for Furman. Let's see how he is holding up.
Sad to say, that in this fairy tale, nobody lives happily ever after.
Oh no, the Braves got some type of value for Francouer, they are living quite happily ever after. He's actually hitting better for the Mets and they still hate him.
“The Natural” has been cast off by the team that brought him in from the suburbs, gloated over him through those first two seasons when he was a steady producer, and then, suddenly, when he lost his game, there was no one to help him.
They used him dammit! When he was no longer of use to the team, or was actually hurting the team just by being in the lineup, they traded him. How dare a team look to win games and not keep a player that is dragging the team down with his inability to do his job halfway effectively! This is America dammit...people should be able to keep their job even if they suck at that job, especially if they make millions of dollars in return for sucking.
So Jeff Francoeur went searching on his own. I don’t understand how it came to that.
When there is no one in an entire MLB organization that can help you hit the ball better, that should tell you something about your prospects as a baseball player.
Neither do I understand just why a hitting slump can’t be cured like the common cold.
Apparently Furman is not aware there actually is no cure for the common cold either. I wouldn't expect him to know this, he is young and impressionable, he probably just forgot.
Mark DeRosa was one, rejected by the Braves, signed by the Rangers and under Jaramillo, as the story goes, found a swing that eventually led to a $13-million contract with the Cubs. Then Mark Teixeira passed that way, and need I say more?
Actually yes, you do need to say more. Like get the timeline correct. DeRosa started playing for the Rangers in 2005 and Tex started playing there in 2003. Not to mention Tex was the 5th pick in the draft and was a guy who got a huge bonus to play for the Rangers. He didn't need Rudy Jaramillo's help in any fashion. Mark DeRosa was also a good hitter prior to going to Texas, I think being able to play full time allowed him to get more at bats and get comfortable at the major league level, which allowed him to hit the ball better. Atlanta did not sign him, not rejected him, because they knew they could not offer him an everyday job.
So yes, you could have gotten this all much more correct.
So the season opened, Francoeur’s swing still showed some lack of discipline and his average hovered around .250.
That doesn't sound too bad, but what was his OBP Furman?
2007- 0.338
2008- 0.294
2009- 0.282 (with the Braves)
Yes, he took hitting lessons and his OPS dropped to a pathetic 0.634. How would he have hit without the hitting lessons? He was awful. Just awful and if Rudy Jaramillo and the Braves organization can't fix him, why keep him?
He became a target.
Yes, he was a victim of the organization looking to rid itself of bad baseball players.
Meanwhile, back in Atlanta, you wonder. How would Cox have reacted if Francoeur had told him of his Jaramillo plan? What if he had come back to the Braves hitting .300 with a generous sprinkling of home runs? Would he ever have been traded?
If he hit .300 and had home runs he probably would not have been traded. This is an incredibly stupid point to try and prove the Braves did not stick with him or should have done more to help him.
The Braves traded him because he did not have success as a hitter in the major leagues, if he had success then he would not have gotten traded most likely. I don't think the organization would have cared if he sacrificed kittens to hit the ball well, just as long as he contributed to the team in some other fashion other than playing above average defense.
Frank Wren, of course, handled the deal, but it had to be approved by Cox. And there went the hometown hero, who could have been a Clemson Tiger, but chose the Braves and their sweetened pot of $2 million or so. Now, all that remains of that class of golden prospects is Brian McCann.
Furman is still bemoaning the "golden days of the Braves minor league system," which was 2005 apparently. You can't just keep players around because they are from Georgia and came from the Braves' system. I know this is a difficult principle for Furman to accept, but it's true.
So Francoeur was dealt to the Mets and his name is misspelled on the lineup card.
Those fucking New York Mets, insulting Francouer for last the time by misspelling his name.
Big deal. I once walked into the Milwaukee Braves clubhouse and Henry Aaron’s name was misspelled. Besides, Francoeur isn’t easy to spell, anyway.
Nevermind, Furman forgives you.
Nor is it easy to say goodbye.
It was actually incredibly easy for me to say goodbye and it should have been for anyone who wasn't a horny woman or Furman Bisher.
-I am officially becoming annoyed with the media's obsession with Tim Tebow. I actually don't hate Tebow, which is odd since I do hate the University of Florida and pretty much anything that is related to the school. I don't know why, I have never liked the school. There have been two controversies this week concerning Tebow.
The first is SEC VoteGate.
The assembled media in the Wynfrey Hotel ballroom are trying to find the perp among the league's coaches. The crime against football reason: failing to vote for Florida's Tim Tebow as the first-team all-Southeastern Conference quarterback.
How dare someone not vote Tim Tebow first team All-SEC! Tim Tebow is a Christian man of God, by not voting for him you are pissing God himself off. Tim Tebow delivers babies for underprivileged mothers and steals orphans from poor villages and then drops them on the doorstep of wealthy and famous celebrities...then stares down the celebrity until they formally adopt the baby. Who would dare smite Tebow and not vote for him?
Well, it turns out it was Steve Spurrier who did not vote him for him, but it was an "oversight." Damn right it was, even Steve Spurrier is afraid to piss off Tebow and God.
What is the media's fascination with Tim Tebow? Who cares if someone did not vote for him first team All-SEC?
Nobody wants to admit publicly he didn't vote for Tebow. But somebody didn't.
I thank God/Tebow that Steve Spurrier stood up and said he did not vote for Tebow...but then he bitched out and said it was an "oversight." Have some balls and say you did not vote for Tebow and voted for Jevan Snead, who is actually a great quarterback in his own right, though he doesn't smile as much or have a camera in front of him as often when he is doing good deeds.
"Will it give me a little bit [of motivation]?" Tebow asked. "Yeah, I guess. But I have enough that gives me motivation right now. I honestly think it's funny."
Yeah, the fact Spurrier thought you were the second best quarterback in the SEC should really motivate you to prove him wrong. I have always thought it was a little egotistical for a player to get offended when people don't vote that player an unanimous choice for any All-Conference team. How big can your ego be that you can't accept there may be someone as good as you in the conference?
The Tebow-mania is overboard because everyone ignores the fact there are great skill players all around Tebow who can make him look good, guys like Louis Murphy and Percy Harvin....they have made Tebow's job a lot easier in the past. Tebow is great but his great teammates get ignored.
I got my Sports Illustrated for this week and Tebow was on the cover. I don't hate him but I am over all this adulation he receives.
The second controversy stirred up almost as much heat. Want to hear something else about Tebow that makes him so great? He's a virgin. I am not sure everyone heard about it.
It doesn't matter if the question what out of line or not, my favorite part is where reporters will write an entire column saying the question did not matter and was out of line...yet it is important enough to write an entire column about. Here is what Tebow-mania turns people like Dennis Dodd of CBS Sportsline into, when he should be covering the SEC meetings and talking football:
His latest job is with AOL Fanhouse. The site currently employs some of my favorite writers. Clay Travis is not one of them. Not now, because it sickens me to be reminded again that journalism has become a hobby instead of a vocation. Radio talk-show hosts who have never set foot in a locker room call themselves "journalists." Give an out-of-work linebacker an analyst job, and suddenly he's the "media."
Yes, I am not sure this is entirely an appropriate response to the question that was asked. This sounds a little bit like an off the topic rant...but this is what Tim Tebow does to sportswriters. It turns them into angry yellers who rant off topic. Who cares if Tebow was not affected by the question, when you can use that question to go off on a tangent?
But he wasn't done:
Nice day at work. Rest up and come back fresh tomorrow, Clay. There will be plenty of chances on Friday to ask a player if he has herpes. I'm sure the public is dying to know if Lane Kiffin ever "read" Playboy or if Les Miles watches HBO after midnight?
Somebody needs to take a nap.
Dan Wetzel wants us to all know that Tebow is in fact perfect.
The gushing from the media through the years – the latest being a Sports Illustrated cover appearance this week – is well-earned.
What can anyone say though? What’s his negative – that he’s too earnest? He’s too polite? Does Tim Tebow do anything wrong?
I think Tim Tebow is 1,000 times more mature than most college students and I applaud him for making choices to help out those less fortunate and do whatever he chooses to do in his personal life, but isn't this a bit much?
I find it fascinating the media is so fascinated with Tim Tebow. I am not even going to talk about the comment Thom Brennaman made during the National Championship about how "five minutes with Tim Tebow will change your life."
There is a difference between having respect for a college football player and fawning all over him. I think it has gone more to the "fawning over Tim Tebow" side of coverage of late. What is it about this smiling God fearing guy that turns sportswriters into little teenage girls gushing over the newest boy band? Other than the fact he is perfect of course...
Sad to say, that in this fairy tale, nobody lives happily ever after.
Oh no, the Braves got some type of value for Francouer, they are living quite happily ever after. He's actually hitting better for the Mets and they still hate him.
“The Natural” has been cast off by the team that brought him in from the suburbs, gloated over him through those first two seasons when he was a steady producer, and then, suddenly, when he lost his game, there was no one to help him.
They used him dammit! When he was no longer of use to the team, or was actually hurting the team just by being in the lineup, they traded him. How dare a team look to win games and not keep a player that is dragging the team down with his inability to do his job halfway effectively! This is America dammit...people should be able to keep their job even if they suck at that job, especially if they make millions of dollars in return for sucking.
So Jeff Francoeur went searching on his own. I don’t understand how it came to that.
When there is no one in an entire MLB organization that can help you hit the ball better, that should tell you something about your prospects as a baseball player.
Neither do I understand just why a hitting slump can’t be cured like the common cold.
Apparently Furman is not aware there actually is no cure for the common cold either. I wouldn't expect him to know this, he is young and impressionable, he probably just forgot.
Mark DeRosa was one, rejected by the Braves, signed by the Rangers and under Jaramillo, as the story goes, found a swing that eventually led to a $13-million contract with the Cubs. Then Mark Teixeira passed that way, and need I say more?
Actually yes, you do need to say more. Like get the timeline correct. DeRosa started playing for the Rangers in 2005 and Tex started playing there in 2003. Not to mention Tex was the 5th pick in the draft and was a guy who got a huge bonus to play for the Rangers. He didn't need Rudy Jaramillo's help in any fashion. Mark DeRosa was also a good hitter prior to going to Texas, I think being able to play full time allowed him to get more at bats and get comfortable at the major league level, which allowed him to hit the ball better. Atlanta did not sign him, not rejected him, because they knew they could not offer him an everyday job.
So yes, you could have gotten this all much more correct.
So the season opened, Francoeur’s swing still showed some lack of discipline and his average hovered around .250.
That doesn't sound too bad, but what was his OBP Furman?
2007- 0.338
2008- 0.294
2009- 0.282 (with the Braves)
Yes, he took hitting lessons and his OPS dropped to a pathetic 0.634. How would he have hit without the hitting lessons? He was awful. Just awful and if Rudy Jaramillo and the Braves organization can't fix him, why keep him?
He became a target.
Yes, he was a victim of the organization looking to rid itself of bad baseball players.
Meanwhile, back in Atlanta, you wonder. How would Cox have reacted if Francoeur had told him of his Jaramillo plan? What if he had come back to the Braves hitting .300 with a generous sprinkling of home runs? Would he ever have been traded?
If he hit .300 and had home runs he probably would not have been traded. This is an incredibly stupid point to try and prove the Braves did not stick with him or should have done more to help him.
The Braves traded him because he did not have success as a hitter in the major leagues, if he had success then he would not have gotten traded most likely. I don't think the organization would have cared if he sacrificed kittens to hit the ball well, just as long as he contributed to the team in some other fashion other than playing above average defense.
Frank Wren, of course, handled the deal, but it had to be approved by Cox. And there went the hometown hero, who could have been a Clemson Tiger, but chose the Braves and their sweetened pot of $2 million or so. Now, all that remains of that class of golden prospects is Brian McCann.
Furman is still bemoaning the "golden days of the Braves minor league system," which was 2005 apparently. You can't just keep players around because they are from Georgia and came from the Braves' system. I know this is a difficult principle for Furman to accept, but it's true.
So Francoeur was dealt to the Mets and his name is misspelled on the lineup card.
Those fucking New York Mets, insulting Francouer for last the time by misspelling his name.
Big deal. I once walked into the Milwaukee Braves clubhouse and Henry Aaron’s name was misspelled. Besides, Francoeur isn’t easy to spell, anyway.
Nevermind, Furman forgives you.
Nor is it easy to say goodbye.
It was actually incredibly easy for me to say goodbye and it should have been for anyone who wasn't a horny woman or Furman Bisher.
-I am officially becoming annoyed with the media's obsession with Tim Tebow. I actually don't hate Tebow, which is odd since I do hate the University of Florida and pretty much anything that is related to the school. I don't know why, I have never liked the school. There have been two controversies this week concerning Tebow.
The first is SEC VoteGate.
The assembled media in the Wynfrey Hotel ballroom are trying to find the perp among the league's coaches. The crime against football reason: failing to vote for Florida's Tim Tebow as the first-team all-Southeastern Conference quarterback.
How dare someone not vote Tim Tebow first team All-SEC! Tim Tebow is a Christian man of God, by not voting for him you are pissing God himself off. Tim Tebow delivers babies for underprivileged mothers and steals orphans from poor villages and then drops them on the doorstep of wealthy and famous celebrities...then stares down the celebrity until they formally adopt the baby. Who would dare smite Tebow and not vote for him?
Well, it turns out it was Steve Spurrier who did not vote him for him, but it was an "oversight." Damn right it was, even Steve Spurrier is afraid to piss off Tebow and God.
What is the media's fascination with Tim Tebow? Who cares if someone did not vote for him first team All-SEC?
Nobody wants to admit publicly he didn't vote for Tebow. But somebody didn't.
I thank God/Tebow that Steve Spurrier stood up and said he did not vote for Tebow...but then he bitched out and said it was an "oversight." Have some balls and say you did not vote for Tebow and voted for Jevan Snead, who is actually a great quarterback in his own right, though he doesn't smile as much or have a camera in front of him as often when he is doing good deeds.
"Will it give me a little bit [of motivation]?" Tebow asked. "Yeah, I guess. But I have enough that gives me motivation right now. I honestly think it's funny."
Yeah, the fact Spurrier thought you were the second best quarterback in the SEC should really motivate you to prove him wrong. I have always thought it was a little egotistical for a player to get offended when people don't vote that player an unanimous choice for any All-Conference team. How big can your ego be that you can't accept there may be someone as good as you in the conference?
The Tebow-mania is overboard because everyone ignores the fact there are great skill players all around Tebow who can make him look good, guys like Louis Murphy and Percy Harvin....they have made Tebow's job a lot easier in the past. Tebow is great but his great teammates get ignored.
I got my Sports Illustrated for this week and Tebow was on the cover. I don't hate him but I am over all this adulation he receives.
The second controversy stirred up almost as much heat. Want to hear something else about Tebow that makes him so great? He's a virgin. I am not sure everyone heard about it.
It doesn't matter if the question what out of line or not, my favorite part is where reporters will write an entire column saying the question did not matter and was out of line...yet it is important enough to write an entire column about. Here is what Tebow-mania turns people like Dennis Dodd of CBS Sportsline into, when he should be covering the SEC meetings and talking football:
His latest job is with AOL Fanhouse. The site currently employs some of my favorite writers. Clay Travis is not one of them. Not now, because it sickens me to be reminded again that journalism has become a hobby instead of a vocation. Radio talk-show hosts who have never set foot in a locker room call themselves "journalists." Give an out-of-work linebacker an analyst job, and suddenly he's the "media."
Yes, I am not sure this is entirely an appropriate response to the question that was asked. This sounds a little bit like an off the topic rant...but this is what Tim Tebow does to sportswriters. It turns them into angry yellers who rant off topic. Who cares if Tebow was not affected by the question, when you can use that question to go off on a tangent?
But he wasn't done:
Nice day at work. Rest up and come back fresh tomorrow, Clay. There will be plenty of chances on Friday to ask a player if he has herpes. I'm sure the public is dying to know if Lane Kiffin ever "read" Playboy or if Les Miles watches HBO after midnight?
Somebody needs to take a nap.
Dan Wetzel wants us to all know that Tebow is in fact perfect.
The gushing from the media through the years – the latest being a Sports Illustrated cover appearance this week – is well-earned.
What can anyone say though? What’s his negative – that he’s too earnest? He’s too polite? Does Tim Tebow do anything wrong?
I think Tim Tebow is 1,000 times more mature than most college students and I applaud him for making choices to help out those less fortunate and do whatever he chooses to do in his personal life, but isn't this a bit much?
I find it fascinating the media is so fascinated with Tim Tebow. I am not even going to talk about the comment Thom Brennaman made during the National Championship about how "five minutes with Tim Tebow will change your life."
There is a difference between having respect for a college football player and fawning all over him. I think it has gone more to the "fawning over Tim Tebow" side of coverage of late. What is it about this smiling God fearing guy that turns sportswriters into little teenage girls gushing over the newest boy band? Other than the fact he is perfect of course...
Saturday, June 6, 2009
7 comments Furman Bisher Recalls the Good Ol' Days But Can't Recall Much Else
We have all been acquainted with Furman Bisher and his extreme hatred of the Japanese people before. Today we get to learn a little bit about what Furman Bisher does like. Unsurprisingly he likes underachieving white outfielders with pretty smiles and really old pitchers who don't know when it comes time to retire...much like someone else who may be writing for the AJC on a blog nowadays (looking at Furman, but he is eating oatmeal and reading a book about birds). I would like to add that the farm system that Bisher proclaimed not bountiful enough had enough decent guys to make a trade for an above average outfielder and to replace a Hall of Fame pitcher in the starting rotation with a younger, better pitcher. I am not hinting that Furman doesn't know what he is talking about anymore, I am actually telling everyone that he doesn't know what he is talking about anymore.
-Let's start with the pretty white boy with an even prettier smile that is among the worst at his position in the major leagues.
These are disheartening days for the Braves. For Jeff Francoeur in particular.
Yes, because no matter how many trades the team makes they can't seem to put together a team good enough to challenge the Mets and Phillies. One year the pitching sucks, the next year it is the bullpen, then it is the hitting that sucks, then it is pitching again, and we are now back to the hitting stinking. Oh, and Jeff Failcoeur is a big, big part of that problem and has been for a couple of years now.
When Mark Bowman, of MLB.com, wrote that this might be a pertinent time to consider locating another employer for him, oh, did that set off a firestorm! A flurry of conjecture.
Conjecture being defined as "pure excitement," followed by the question of who would be stupid enough to trade for him?
Here was Keith Law's response to whether Jeff Francouer would be on a major league roster if he was not from Georgia:
Did anyone see the piece that indicated that Atlanta is looking at trading him? When you have an old car, and the alternator is dead, the battery is corroded, the undercarriage is rusted through so your left foot drags the pavement while you drive, the front windshield is shattered and the back windshield is gone, the starter makes a horrible noise when you turn the key, the car gets 4 mpg when it runs at all, and there's only one working headlight, it's probably too freaking late to try to sell it, don't you think? You could probably leave it on the curb with the keys in the ignition and a sign that says "TAKE ME" on the dash and still find it parked there the next morning.
So yeah, he's not real high on Failcouer right now.
Let me take you back to those Camelot days, when the Braves’ roster was plump with bright young prospects. There was a pod of them, all seeming to ripen at the same time. A sort of an informal Boy Scout troop of them, who went to each other’s weddings, and celebrated their togetherness like club members.
Here we go. I am surprised Furman can remember anything at all from more than 10 minutes ago. Did these guys also sleep in tents together and prick their fingers promising to be blood brothers until they die?
Remember their names, for some are long gone. Francoeur, Brian McCann, Macay McBride, Kelly Johnson, Ryan Langerhans, and two Canadians, Pete Orr and Scott Thorman.
I would not call these the Camelot days because out of that list there are two average to above average players in the group. These Camelot days also led to a grand total of 0 playoff series victories and have left a ton of underachieving in their wake.
Here's the problem with Furman Bisher. He is fucking stupid. He is trying to pass this rememberance off as truth, when it is revisionist history. There was no Camelot, just a lot of players who have underachieved and were called up too early because the Braves had no other options. This group of has by my count (without looking it up) 3 1st round picks, and 4 2nd round picks in the MLB Draft...there are currently three of these guys on the MLB roster and only two are even decent players. This is not Camelot, but a complete and utter failure to develop talent.
Francoeur played the odds, and banked on going to the arbitration table calling his shots. His timing couldn’t have been worse. What followed is the season of remission.
Francoeur had a salary of $460,000 in 2008 and he is making $3.3 million this year after going through arbitration. I wish my timing were this bad. How wrong can you be in making a statement about how his timing was bad? This is why I can't Furman Bisher seriously anymore. Hang up the typewriter my friend, it's time.
He heard sounds coming from the stands at Turner Field he had never heard before. Boos and taunts, mild at first, but for a local favorite who had reaped nothing but adulation through high school at Parkview and two-and-a-half gaudy seasons with the Braves?
Why is it that Furman thinks local white kids should not be booed? Sure, he was great in high school, but he is now and has been for a few seasons now, one of the worst outfielders at hitting the ball. He gets RBI's because he has hit behind McCann, Jones, and Tex for a couple of years. I could have 80 RBI's hitting behind them.
Look at these numbers for 2008 and 2009. There were red flags before that but no one paid attention to them.
While the Braves spent all manners of time waiting for two dear old relics to return to their days of pitching glory, patience ran low with Francoeur.
So the inference here is that the Braves have patience with Smoltz and Glavine, so why not with Francoeur? A simple answer will suffice. In Major League Baseball it is a lot easier to find a corner outfielder who can produce than it is to find pitchers who can go 6 innings and pitch quality starts.
Not to mention waiting on those two older pitchers was a mistake, so simply because a team makes a mistake on one or two players does not mean they have to make the same mistake again on another player. Smart teams learn from their mistakes and don't repeat them.
Was it because he had taken off to Texas in hope that Rudy Jaramillo, the Rangers’ hitting guru, might help him return to glory? It was furtively done, and true, he also recommended Andruw Jones try the same “cure.”
I'm no genius, but we have two players here coming off horrendous years last year. Both have had similar problems with striking out and bad hitting habits in the past. They both take the advice of the same hitting coach and one improves and the other players actually manages to have his numbers get worse. Why do you keep that player who doesn't improve on the roster again? How much patience does he require since he is regressing through his career? Any smart team would cut bait and bail.
Is there not enough patience to help him work his way through it?
There are other players on the team who are affected by his struggles. It's not just him out there. Baseball is a team sport, and much like Ortiz in Boston, if a player is struggling then it is time to move him as far down in the order as possible or get him out of there. How much time does a person deserve to get to perform?
Smart teams don't let one player drag them down, but just because he is a local white boy and has a pretty smile Furman thinks the Braves should stick it out with him on the field. He has moments and has potential, but that's all there is any more. Every team has a player that just seems to drag the team down and you can't fault them for trying to replace that player.
There were no good ol' days with Failcoeur on the roster, except the ones that Furman Bisher imagines in his Japanese hating head.
-ESPN had 4 items about Tom Glavine on their bottom line last night. The Braves cut a 43 year old pitcher, I did not know it would cause this much ruckus. I don't like the entire way the whole release of Glavine was done, I thought it could have been handled better, but I can't argue with them doing it because I did not think they should have signed him again in the first place. Nostalgia only gets you so far.
This doesn't stop Furman from not liking this move either. I wish the Atlanta Braves had let Furman Bisher choose the entire roster this year and then allow the team to go 51-111 with 15 players on the DL and Furman asleep by the 4th inning in his favorite rocking chair. You know what, he should just be the Commissioner of MLB. That would be interesting as well.
Well, they led him to the altar, but they couldn’t get him to say, “I do.” Speaking here of the “Tom Glavine affair,” which is not going away, and which the Braves will have plastered across their dossier for time to come.
The way it was handled was pretty poor but this move should have been made months ago when the Braves should have never signed him in the first place. There were zero other teams willing to offer him a contract this offseason. He had no other firm offers, but he gets a couple million from the Braves (he had already netted $1 million of that before he got released) this year, after getting $8 million for the worst year of his career last year. I just don't get why any team would owe a player more than an opportunity in a similar situation somewhere else.
Coming on the heels of the indifferent dealing with John Smoltz — who tired of waiting for a commitment — we now have become witness to the end of an era:
I think I am growing to hate Furman Bisher. Smoltz got $5 million guaranteed from the Red Sox and was only offered $2 million guaranteed from the Braves. It was about money, don't let my favorite Braves player ever tell you any different through his whining.
If they were going to release him, then why this agonizing process of rehabilitation tests at Gwinnett and Rome?
This is my only problem with this decision. How it was handled.
Then someone mentioned the speed readings that had been reported. “They were not accurate,” Wren said, “just ball-park figures.”
Noooooooooo...ball parks would not inflate pitch speeds. They would never do that.
A million dollars is a pittance for this club with an extended salary cap this season. They poured out millions to sign Derek Lowe, Kenshin Kawakami and Javier Vazquez.
Stupid foreigners! Taking the money of hard working Americans to play baseball and now they are taking the jobs of white American born players. Something has to be done immediately. Furman probably thinks we should bomb Japan again.
Surely another million wouldn’t have disturbed their budget, but deep down inside, you had to feel that it was a matter of, “is it worth for a 43-year-old pitcher coming back from surgery?”
No. Not when you compare it to bringing up a pitcher literally half of his age who has incredible minor league numbers. It's actually a pretty easy decision. Put a 43 year old guy on the mound who has a ceiling of 6 strong innings and a 4.00 ERA or call up a pitcher that struck out better than a batter an inning in the minor leagues and costs less money. It's not a hard decision.
For one who has won 244 games for you, yes. And for one who has been a reputable citizen, and deserves the courtesy of ending his career here, yes.
Again, Furman misses some facts. The Braves offered to let him retire, he declined to do that, so he chose not to end his career here. It wasn't a completely one way street. You also don't live in the past and expect to win here in the present and the future. No team should keep a player because of what he did for that team in the past.
They paid him $8 million last year to pitch horribly and be injured. They owe him nothing now, though the release could have been done with more grace, but it wasn't.
Details of why he left for the Mets have never been made clear,
They offered a third year and more money. I just made the details clear. You're welcome.
Who did the scouting? Who came to these decisions?
Probably the same guys who put together the Camelot you were just talking so wonderfully about and were also responsible for the glory days that you always speak so fondly of.
Why can't sportswriters get over the past and just accept that things change? There is no loyalty from teams and players now. It's an unfortunate part of the game. Actually, the Braves showed loyalty last year by signing Smoltz and Glavine for another year in the neighborhood of $22 million for both of them and that didn't turn out well...that may be the reason there is no loyalty now in baseball because many times loyalty means a team or player gets screwed over.
Here are three opposing articles from Mark Bradley, if you care to read them. No good exit strategy in these situations. Ripping Glavine. Sort of ripping Smoltz.
Thanks for reading this blog guys and girls (are there any?) I enjoy writing here (though I miss J.S. to help carry the load a little).
I think the Lakers are going to take Game 2 tonight.
-Let's start with the pretty white boy with an even prettier smile that is among the worst at his position in the major leagues.
These are disheartening days for the Braves. For Jeff Francoeur in particular.
Yes, because no matter how many trades the team makes they can't seem to put together a team good enough to challenge the Mets and Phillies. One year the pitching sucks, the next year it is the bullpen, then it is the hitting that sucks, then it is pitching again, and we are now back to the hitting stinking. Oh, and Jeff Failcoeur is a big, big part of that problem and has been for a couple of years now.
When Mark Bowman, of MLB.com, wrote that this might be a pertinent time to consider locating another employer for him, oh, did that set off a firestorm! A flurry of conjecture.
Conjecture being defined as "pure excitement," followed by the question of who would be stupid enough to trade for him?
Here was Keith Law's response to whether Jeff Francouer would be on a major league roster if he was not from Georgia:
Did anyone see the piece that indicated that Atlanta is looking at trading him? When you have an old car, and the alternator is dead, the battery is corroded, the undercarriage is rusted through so your left foot drags the pavement while you drive, the front windshield is shattered and the back windshield is gone, the starter makes a horrible noise when you turn the key, the car gets 4 mpg when it runs at all, and there's only one working headlight, it's probably too freaking late to try to sell it, don't you think? You could probably leave it on the curb with the keys in the ignition and a sign that says "TAKE ME" on the dash and still find it parked there the next morning.
So yeah, he's not real high on Failcouer right now.
Let me take you back to those Camelot days, when the Braves’ roster was plump with bright young prospects. There was a pod of them, all seeming to ripen at the same time. A sort of an informal Boy Scout troop of them, who went to each other’s weddings, and celebrated their togetherness like club members.
Here we go. I am surprised Furman can remember anything at all from more than 10 minutes ago. Did these guys also sleep in tents together and prick their fingers promising to be blood brothers until they die?
Remember their names, for some are long gone. Francoeur, Brian McCann, Macay McBride, Kelly Johnson, Ryan Langerhans, and two Canadians, Pete Orr and Scott Thorman.
I would not call these the Camelot days because out of that list there are two average to above average players in the group. These Camelot days also led to a grand total of 0 playoff series victories and have left a ton of underachieving in their wake.
Here's the problem with Furman Bisher. He is fucking stupid. He is trying to pass this rememberance off as truth, when it is revisionist history. There was no Camelot, just a lot of players who have underachieved and were called up too early because the Braves had no other options. This group of has by my count (without looking it up) 3 1st round picks, and 4 2nd round picks in the MLB Draft...there are currently three of these guys on the MLB roster and only two are even decent players. This is not Camelot, but a complete and utter failure to develop talent.
Francoeur played the odds, and banked on going to the arbitration table calling his shots. His timing couldn’t have been worse. What followed is the season of remission.
Francoeur had a salary of $460,000 in 2008 and he is making $3.3 million this year after going through arbitration. I wish my timing were this bad. How wrong can you be in making a statement about how his timing was bad? This is why I can't Furman Bisher seriously anymore. Hang up the typewriter my friend, it's time.
He heard sounds coming from the stands at Turner Field he had never heard before. Boos and taunts, mild at first, but for a local favorite who had reaped nothing but adulation through high school at Parkview and two-and-a-half gaudy seasons with the Braves?
Why is it that Furman thinks local white kids should not be booed? Sure, he was great in high school, but he is now and has been for a few seasons now, one of the worst outfielders at hitting the ball. He gets RBI's because he has hit behind McCann, Jones, and Tex for a couple of years. I could have 80 RBI's hitting behind them.
Look at these numbers for 2008 and 2009. There were red flags before that but no one paid attention to them.
While the Braves spent all manners of time waiting for two dear old relics to return to their days of pitching glory, patience ran low with Francoeur.
So the inference here is that the Braves have patience with Smoltz and Glavine, so why not with Francoeur? A simple answer will suffice. In Major League Baseball it is a lot easier to find a corner outfielder who can produce than it is to find pitchers who can go 6 innings and pitch quality starts.
Not to mention waiting on those two older pitchers was a mistake, so simply because a team makes a mistake on one or two players does not mean they have to make the same mistake again on another player. Smart teams learn from their mistakes and don't repeat them.
Was it because he had taken off to Texas in hope that Rudy Jaramillo, the Rangers’ hitting guru, might help him return to glory? It was furtively done, and true, he also recommended Andruw Jones try the same “cure.”
I'm no genius, but we have two players here coming off horrendous years last year. Both have had similar problems with striking out and bad hitting habits in the past. They both take the advice of the same hitting coach and one improves and the other players actually manages to have his numbers get worse. Why do you keep that player who doesn't improve on the roster again? How much patience does he require since he is regressing through his career? Any smart team would cut bait and bail.
Is there not enough patience to help him work his way through it?
There are other players on the team who are affected by his struggles. It's not just him out there. Baseball is a team sport, and much like Ortiz in Boston, if a player is struggling then it is time to move him as far down in the order as possible or get him out of there. How much time does a person deserve to get to perform?
Smart teams don't let one player drag them down, but just because he is a local white boy and has a pretty smile Furman thinks the Braves should stick it out with him on the field. He has moments and has potential, but that's all there is any more. Every team has a player that just seems to drag the team down and you can't fault them for trying to replace that player.
There were no good ol' days with Failcoeur on the roster, except the ones that Furman Bisher imagines in his Japanese hating head.
-ESPN had 4 items about Tom Glavine on their bottom line last night. The Braves cut a 43 year old pitcher, I did not know it would cause this much ruckus. I don't like the entire way the whole release of Glavine was done, I thought it could have been handled better, but I can't argue with them doing it because I did not think they should have signed him again in the first place. Nostalgia only gets you so far.
This doesn't stop Furman from not liking this move either. I wish the Atlanta Braves had let Furman Bisher choose the entire roster this year and then allow the team to go 51-111 with 15 players on the DL and Furman asleep by the 4th inning in his favorite rocking chair. You know what, he should just be the Commissioner of MLB. That would be interesting as well.
Well, they led him to the altar, but they couldn’t get him to say, “I do.” Speaking here of the “Tom Glavine affair,” which is not going away, and which the Braves will have plastered across their dossier for time to come.
The way it was handled was pretty poor but this move should have been made months ago when the Braves should have never signed him in the first place. There were zero other teams willing to offer him a contract this offseason. He had no other firm offers, but he gets a couple million from the Braves (he had already netted $1 million of that before he got released) this year, after getting $8 million for the worst year of his career last year. I just don't get why any team would owe a player more than an opportunity in a similar situation somewhere else.
Coming on the heels of the indifferent dealing with John Smoltz — who tired of waiting for a commitment — we now have become witness to the end of an era:
I think I am growing to hate Furman Bisher. Smoltz got $5 million guaranteed from the Red Sox and was only offered $2 million guaranteed from the Braves. It was about money, don't let my favorite Braves player ever tell you any different through his whining.
If they were going to release him, then why this agonizing process of rehabilitation tests at Gwinnett and Rome?
This is my only problem with this decision. How it was handled.
Then someone mentioned the speed readings that had been reported. “They were not accurate,” Wren said, “just ball-park figures.”
Noooooooooo...ball parks would not inflate pitch speeds. They would never do that.
A million dollars is a pittance for this club with an extended salary cap this season. They poured out millions to sign Derek Lowe, Kenshin Kawakami and Javier Vazquez.
Stupid foreigners! Taking the money of hard working Americans to play baseball and now they are taking the jobs of white American born players. Something has to be done immediately. Furman probably thinks we should bomb Japan again.
Surely another million wouldn’t have disturbed their budget, but deep down inside, you had to feel that it was a matter of, “is it worth for a 43-year-old pitcher coming back from surgery?”
No. Not when you compare it to bringing up a pitcher literally half of his age who has incredible minor league numbers. It's actually a pretty easy decision. Put a 43 year old guy on the mound who has a ceiling of 6 strong innings and a 4.00 ERA or call up a pitcher that struck out better than a batter an inning in the minor leagues and costs less money. It's not a hard decision.
For one who has won 244 games for you, yes. And for one who has been a reputable citizen, and deserves the courtesy of ending his career here, yes.
Again, Furman misses some facts. The Braves offered to let him retire, he declined to do that, so he chose not to end his career here. It wasn't a completely one way street. You also don't live in the past and expect to win here in the present and the future. No team should keep a player because of what he did for that team in the past.
They paid him $8 million last year to pitch horribly and be injured. They owe him nothing now, though the release could have been done with more grace, but it wasn't.
Details of why he left for the Mets have never been made clear,
They offered a third year and more money. I just made the details clear. You're welcome.
Who did the scouting? Who came to these decisions?
Probably the same guys who put together the Camelot you were just talking so wonderfully about and were also responsible for the glory days that you always speak so fondly of.
Why can't sportswriters get over the past and just accept that things change? There is no loyalty from teams and players now. It's an unfortunate part of the game. Actually, the Braves showed loyalty last year by signing Smoltz and Glavine for another year in the neighborhood of $22 million for both of them and that didn't turn out well...that may be the reason there is no loyalty now in baseball because many times loyalty means a team or player gets screwed over.
Here are three opposing articles from Mark Bradley, if you care to read them. No good exit strategy in these situations. Ripping Glavine. Sort of ripping Smoltz.
Thanks for reading this blog guys and girls (are there any?) I enjoy writing here (though I miss J.S. to help carry the load a little).
I think the Lakers are going to take Game 2 tonight.
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