AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2008 > March > 03
Monday, March 3, 2008
A new deal for Frenchy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sorry I’m late with the blog, denizens. Quite a bit going on this morning with Frency’s contract renewal.
Got word of it while driving down to Port St. Lucie this morning. Trying to scribble notes on a pad while driving wasn’t such a good plan (hope Mom’s not reading) but thankfully I had an exit appear out of nowhere. Anybody been on the Florida Turnpike? Desolate.
Anyway, it’s official. Braves renew Francoeur. He’s getting around $450,000 and probably just cost himself about $20,000. Looks like the long-term talks are over for now, though I imagine if either side wants to talk in the next three weeks, they will. Otherwise Frenchy said he wanted to concentrate on the season once the Braves break camp.
I’m not going to quote a bunch of folks here and repeat what should be in the news story on-line, but I’ll just say Frenchy said this: “Would I like to have gotten something worked out? Absolutely. At the same time, I’m looking forward to this year and having a big season. I have a year until I’m eligible for arbitration, then we’ll see what happens.”
Translation, the kid will take some time to earn some leverage. One more season until he’ll more much to say, really. And for in the grand scheme, this is not that big a deal. The Braves renew him on their pay scale and both sides move on. So he won’t be Brian McCann and lock up early. That was a rare thing. And there’s still every chance in the world the Braves will try to lock him up to a long-term contract in the coming years. Francoeur, 24, is not a free agent until following the 2011 season.
I hear the Marlins just renewed 12 players yesterday. It’s not something the Braves have seen a lot of in recent years, and Frank Wren said he doesn’t understand the motives, but he respects that it’s part of the process.
From what I understand, it’s a practice that Scott Boras used to employ so that once players got to arbitration, they could use it as a point in negotiation to say the player should be redeemed for that. Last year, Ryan Howard got renewed for $900,000 by the Phillies. Perhaps agents are using that as some kind of benchmark now. Then again he was coming off an MVP season.
Don’t know that Francoeur was looking for something like that, but maybe his point is just to say he has more value than what the Braves slot for players with zero to three years of service. But I don’t think settling for renewal was any big stance for him or big issue. When I talked to him on the phone a little while ago, he was munching on a Chick-fil-A sandwich and heading out to meet Smoltz and Glavine to play a round with Tiger Woods. Nice.
In addition to renewing Francouer’s contract today, the Braves agreed to terms on one-year deals with Jeff Bennett, Anthony Lerew, Peter Moylan, Brayan Pena and Scott Thorman. All 40-man roster players are signed now.
Now, as for what’s happening at Port St. Lucie. Kelly Johnson and Yunel Escobar are hitting first and second. Jordan Schafer is batting third, Scott Thorman fourth, Javy Lopez fifth and catching, Matt Diaz is hitting sixth and playing left. Josh Anderson is in right, hitting seventh. Martin Prado is playing third, batting eighth and Pena is the DH.
The Mets have had a ton of injuries, as you know. 10 of their 13 position players are nursing injuries. But the Braves do get to see Jose Reyes, David Wright and Moises Alou.
It’s breezy and beautiful down here, and when we weren’t talking about Francoeur, Bobby was just gushing about Tyler Flowers. He hit an absolute bomb during batting practice that went off the back screen of a minor league field behind the wall in left center field. Talking to Marty Noble of MLB.com, we determined it might have been 500 feet. But it’s hard to say. Maybe more like 480. Still, an absolute shot.
And Bobby had this to say about Flowers: “He’s got it. And our guys love throwing to him. He’s got a great swing. He keeps that left shoulder down like Escobar, stays over the ball. He hits the ball probably as hard as anybody we’ve got. His swing is impressive. Doesn’t have a lot of moving parts.”
Oh and Bobby reiterated that Chipper’s hamstring injury is not believed to be that serious. That’s it for now. Will try to keep you updated through the game. Jo-Jo Reyes has the honors today.
Permalink | Comments (47) | Post your comment |
A new deal for Frenchy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sorry I’m late with the blog, denizens. Quite a bit going on this morning with Frenchy’s contract renewal.
Got word of it while driving down to Port St. Lucie this morning. Trying to scribble notes on a pad while driving wasn’t such a good plan (hope Mom’s not reading) but thankfully I had an exit appear out of nowhere. Anybody been on the Florida Turnpike? Desolate.
Anyway, it’s official. Braves renew Francoeur. He’s getting around $450,000 and probably just cost himself about $20,000. Looks like the long-term talks are over for now, though I imagine if either side wants to talk in the next three weeks, they will. Otherwise Frenchy said he wanted to concentrate on the season once the Braves break camp.
I’m not going to quote a bunch of folks here and repeat what should be in the news story on-line, but I’ll just say Frenchy said this: “Would I like to have gotten something worked out? Absolutely. At the same time, I’m looking forward to this year and having a big season. I have a year until I’m eligible for arbitration, then we’ll see what happens.”
Translation, the kid will take some time to earn some leverage. One more season until he’ll more much to say, really. And for in the grand scheme, this is not that big a deal. The Braves renew him on their pay scale and both sides move on. So he won’t be Brian McCann and lock up early. That was a rare thing. And there’s still every chance in the world the Braves will try to lock him up to a long-term contract in the coming years. Francoeur, 24, is not a free agent until following the 2011 season.
I hear the Marlins just renewed 12 players yesterday. It’s not something the Braves have seen a lot of in recent years, and Frank Wren said he doesn’t understand the motives, but he respects that it’s part of the process.
From what I understand, it’s a practice that Scott Boras used to employ so that once players got to arbitration, they could use it as a point in negotiation to say the player should be redeemed for that. Last year, Ryan Howard got renewed for $900,000 by the Phillies. Perhaps agents are using that as some kind of benchmark now. Then again he was coming off an MVP season.
Don't know that Francoeur was looking for something like that, but maybe his point is just to say he has more value than what the Braves slot for players with zero to three years of service. But I don’t think settling for renewal was any big stance for him or big issue. When I talked to him on the phone a little while ago, he was munching on a Chick-fil-A sandwich and heading out to meet Smoltz and Glavine to play a round with Tiger Woods. Nice.
In addition to renewing Francoeur’s contract today, the Braves agreed to terms on one-year deals with Jeff Bennett, Anthony Lerew, Peter Moylan, Brayan Pena and Scott Thorman. All 40-man roster players are signed now.
Now, as for what’s happening at Port St. Lucie. Kelly Johnson and Yunel Escobar are hitting first and second. Jordan Schafer is batting third, Scott Thorman fourth, Javy Lopez fifth and catching, Matt Diaz is hitting sixth and playing left. Josh Anderson is in right, hitting seventh. Martin Prado is playing third, batting eighth and Pena is the DH.
The Mets have had a ton of injuries, as you know. 10 of their 13 position players are nursing injuries. But the Braves do get to see Jose Reyes, David Wright and Moises Alou. Mike Pelphrey is on the mound.
It’s breezy and beautiful down here, and when we weren’t talking about Francoeur, Bobby was just gushing about Tyler Flowers. He hit an absolute bomb during batting practice that went off the back screen of a minor league field behind the wall in left center field. Talking to Marty Noble of MLB.com, we determined it might have been 500 feet. But it’s hard to say. Maybe more like 480. Still, an absolute shot.
And Bobby had this to say about Flowers: “He’s got it. And our guys love throwing to him. He’s got a great swing. He keeps that left shoulder down like Escobar, stays over the ball. He hits the ball probably as hard as anybody we’ve got. His swing is impressive. Doesn’t have a lot of moving parts.”
Oh and Bobby reiterated that Chipper’s hamstring injury is not believed to be that serious. That’s it for now. Will try to keep you updated through the game. Jo-Jo Reyes has the honors today.
.JPG)
-1.JPG)
Services »
