Time for Francoeur and Braves to Part Ways

This is tough to write because I have wanted him to succeed as much as anyone in the Atlanta organization. After one of the most prolonged slumps in the history of baseball, I must finally admit that the Braves need to trade Jeff Francoeur. No more waiting for him to turn it around. No more hoping a team is going to actually give up a top prospect for him. The right fielder has run his course in Atlanta.

The Braves are at a pivotal point in the season. They just dealt three prospects for Nate McLouth, and appear to be in it to win it this year. However, that is not going to happen when they pencil Francoeur in the lineup every night. Maybe they could hold out a little longer if he was a Gold Glover at a position in which defense is incredibly important, like second base or shortstop. That is not the case. He is a corner outfielder, with an incredible arm, mind you. But his arm doesn't even come close in making up for his abysmal production at the plate.

I could bore you with countless statistics and numbers on just how bad he is, but I'll save you a great deal of time. Here are a few of the key ones. Last year his OBP was .294, due in large part to his inability to draw a walk. A .294 OBP is terrible. This year he is getting on base at a whopping .272 clip. Twenty-two points worse than last year's showing. His slugging percentage was even more disappointing. Last year Jeff slugged .359. For a corner outfielder that is especially poor. This year it has dropped to .336. There are absolutely no signs pointing toward him improving or coming out of this awful trend. If Francoeur was hitting for great power, you could almost swallow the .272 OBP. If somehow he was hitting the ball out of the park when he did make contact, the Atlanta Braves could afford to be more patient with him. It is simply not happening.

"Frenchy" has become a black hole in the Atlanta lineup, and no matter how you try to hide him, his spot has to come up eventually. The Braves have just had to pray that he isn't in the batters box in the middle of a rally. It is not as if Atlanta needs to trade for a Matt Holliday caliber player for right field. They at least need someone who can hit around .270 and make the pitcher work. Somebody who can occasionally extend an inning rather than kill it.

So, Atlanta is left with their backs against the wall. They must trade a player with negative trade value and pray they can get more than a water cooler and bag of baseballs in return. Once deemed, "The Natural," by Sports Illustrated, Francoeur now looks as lost as last year's Easter egg in the batter's box. It has been one of the most rapid and disturbing downfalls the sports world has ever seen. The only chance for Francoeur is a change of scenery. Somewhere he can truly relax and find the player he once was. "The Natural."

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