The Phillies pulled back outfielder Jeff Francoeur from waivers after he was claimed by an unknown team, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com tweets. Philadelphia was evidently unable to work out a deal with the club that claimed him and preferred to hold onto the veteran, who now cannot be moved unless Philadelphia exposes him to waivers irrevocably.
It may seem curious at first glace that the rebuilding Phils would not have taken whatever they could get for the 31-year-old, who’ll be a free agent after the season. But he’s playing on a cheap, $950K salary this year and Philadelphia reportedly values his clubhouse presence with an increasingly youthful roster. Without knowing what (if anything) was offered, it’s hard to criticize the decision.
Since signing a minor league deal and making the roster out of camp, Francoeur has enjoyed his best season at the plate in some time. Over 265 plate appearances, he’s put up a .271/.298/.474 slash with 12 home runs. He’s actually done much of his damage against right-handed pitching this year, though he’s been more successful against opposing southpaws historically.
Hes one of the better club house guys the Phillies have had in years. The fans love him, and even if they traded him, they weren’t going to get anything for him. Might as well keep him. Hes not good in the outfield and never walks, but hes a decent bat off the bench and he can help out the likes of Altherr, Herrera and Brown improve their outfield play.
Exactly. Frenchy is a class act and wasn’t going to bring back anything in a trade and seems to really like it here. The only way I would have moved him would have been to give him a chance to play on a contender this year, basically, just to do him a favor. He’s a solid veteran presence to keep around.
Okay …..
What kind of team would you think would have been the one that claimed him,,,?,,, a CONTENDER
It doesn’t make sense for the Phillies to keep him. He’s not resigning with them, they are rebuilding, they’re in last place…. They should have worked out a trade, plain and simple.
Would have benefited both the Phillies and Francouer, who would have appreciated the chance to play contending baseball, and who knows, maybe since he’s enjoyed his time this year he might have been even slightly interested in coming back to be a veteran mentor for a rebuilding team.
Because hes been so valuable to them in the club house and as a mentor that trading him wouldn’t have benefited the Phillies because no one was going to give you anything for him. I mean hes taking ABs away from Dom Brown, not exactly like thats going to effect the future. The Phillies only have 2 (maybe 3) outfielders that would be considered “the future” in Herrera and Altherr.
Thank you Brixton so I didn’t have to explain all of that. Apparently common sense is wasted on some people.
I’m not against the move, however I wouldn’t have minded a lottery ticket type guy before we loose him to free agency. The extra roster spot could have helped in September by giving younger guys more playing time.
The rosters expand in September, so the extra roster spot is a moot point.
They don’t have any MLB ready outfielders down on the farm that they would realistically call up except maybe Jordan Danks, who already had a 40 man spot.
Plus they’ve said they won’t be calling up to many players in September because they want to see more of Altherr, Brown, Herrera, Asche and Sweeney out there.
Excellent clubhouse guy, and capable of throwing 3 bullpen innings in a pinch. Guys with pinch hit/relief capabilities are growing rare in the game.
Hmm maybe it was the Dodgers who claimed him to solidify their bullpen?
Amaro probably pulled Frenchy back and ask for Corey Seager from the Dodgers. Actually… It was probably Dayton Moore that claimed him.
Getting rid of him for garbage is block headed at best ! You CANNOT play a season next year with all young kids and no veterans ! Resign him for another year or two and keep him. He’s great with the kids, cheap and isn’t a whiner. People wanting to trade him for rubbish are morons
Not disagreeing with you as you can see by my previous posts. But theoretically they could have traded him to a contender and told him they loved having him on the team and would be interested in bringing him back in the offseason as a FA. Nothing would have prevented that from happening.
pulling franceour back off waivers gives the phillies a chance to give him a qualifying offer and amaro will thrown in a 5 year no trade clause.
It would be awesome too see Frenchy sign a $15m+ QO. By awesome… I mean insane awesome. It’ll put a price tag on the emerging pinch hitter/reliever market.
Obviously, for all his clubhouse value, he’s expendable at the right price, regardless of whatever nice things are said about him. The didn’t put him on without hoping to get an offer. And they didn’t take him off because they really really liked the guy.
Sure, he’s expendable at the right price. (Or was.) And it probably wasn’t that high a price. But they obviously put at least some value on the fact that they “really really like” him being around the next couple of weeks.
Yeah, he’s not bringing much back so there’s likely no real inclination to move him. Let him work on some of the young September call ups. Only real way he likely would have been traded would have been if a contender had called and the the Phils felt it right to give Francouer the chance to win…that’s what a class team often does.
Jeff,
Come on man, a little objectivity here.
I realize value in the clubhouse is an important commodity, especially on a contender but the Phillies (with due respect to their fan base) are far from that this year.
When you look at his stats, what is he going to instill in the “new guys” coming up. He’s not prolific hitter, far removed from his best year and he’s not winning the gold glove either. Do we reward him with good clubhouse presence because he knows that he wouldn’t be in the clubhouse on a contending team?
Phillies fans deserve better than “status quo” and getting rid of the old wood and moving forward into whatever future they might have is better than keeping the “clubhouse presence” guys around.
Not sure how I’m lacking in objectivity here. (I mean, I’m from DC.)
All the reasons you cite for Francoeur’s lack of value are the same reasons that the Phils were probably offered little in return for him. That’s my point: sometimes it makes more sense to keep a guy like that than to give him away for nothing.
They obviously like him as a mentor to the team’s young players, many of whom are getting their first MLB action ahead of schedule. And he’s at least a competent player; they may prefer not to overly expose their really raw players.
I mean, I totally agree that the status quo should be ended, but I believe it already has. They traded Rollins, Hamels, and Utley; I don’t think Francoeur is viewed as a sacred cow. But there’s a reasonable scenario where it didn’t make sense to just give him away.
Jeff,
A mentor need to have tangibles than he can instill in the “younger guys coming up”. I believe that’s where you and I differ.
I fail to see what he’s going to instill skill wise in these guys. He’s neither a highly skilled hitter nor defender and never was. Mattingly was a mentor to first basemen….Frenchy only has a slightly cool nickname.
Francouer is a just a guy — nothing more. Phillies should have taken anything for him in a trade. Unless they’re keeping him to pitch in blowouts. Then I understand completely.
you think he’d have about the same value as Marlon Byrd had and gotten something back.
if they keep Dom around next year you have Dom, Herrera, Asche, Altherr and Sweeney in the possible outfield mix plus Kelly Dugan maybe getting a shot at some point- not many ab’s for Frenchy in reality so i would have been in favor of moving him along.