The New York Mets and Atlanta Braves have swapped right fielders, with the Mets sending Ryan Church to the Braves for Jeff Francoeur.
Francoeur had been rumored to be on the trading block for well over a month now, having been mentioned in a possible deal for Boston's Brad Penny.
Francoeur had two great years for Atlanta in '06 and '07 compiling 48 home runs and 208 RBI over that span. He's dropped off considerably since then, batting just .239 last year with 13 HR and 71 RBI. His performance this far this year hasn't been any better, batting only .250 with 5 HR and 35 RBI before being benched from his staring role in Atlanta's outfield.
Church on the other hand is hitting .280 thus far this year but with hardly any power, hitting only 2 home runs with 22 RBI.
While Francoeur is making about half a million more than Church it's hard to see the upside here for the Braves. Francoeur is 5 years younger than Church and has been a great RBI man for the Braves in the past. Church's best year statistically was also in '07 when he smacked 15 HR while driving in 70.
There had been some rancor in the contract negotiations between the Braves and their young right fielder this offseason but had things really soured to the point that the Braves felt they need to get rid of him in exchange for a mediocre at best player like Ryan Church?
There's bound to be more to this story and we'll keep you up to date as the story unfolds.
Reports are that Atlanta will also be sending cash along with Francoeur, who while playing on a one year deal is still under team control until 2011. The trade keeps looking worse and worse to me from Atlanta's perspective.
