McCann vs. Salty

[SamtheBravesFan]

what about Schmidt.

point is you can compare to HOFers and nobodies but you don't know what he is going to turn into but i'll take my chances.

What about Schmidt, yeah, I know. You know, I trotted him out in a discussion about how Sammy Sosa's low BA doesn't "feel" like a Hall of Famer. Schmidt was a better slugger than Murphy. But then again, who was better than him at the time?

[TheJourneyman]

Schmidt became an elite hitter in his second full season and never looked back.

Charles

and his 2nd full season would be the same age as frenchy - Next year

point is you can't just pull names of people who start out like frenchy - is he going to be the next schmidt - no but that doesn't mean he will be armas either.

[cbenson5]

Chipper just broke Murphy's record. What a ballplayer!

Charles

[SamtheBravesFan]

Again, if Chipper Jones isn't elected to the Hall of Fame, it will be a freaking TRAVESTY.

[cbenson5]

and his 2nd full season would be the same age as frenchy - Next year

point is you can't just pull names of people who start out like frenchy - is he going to be the next schmidt - no but that doesn't mean he will be armas either.

Sir,

I agree completely. Only time will tell. I hope he turns into a Hall of Fame player. However, all I am doing is commenting on his performance to date. I believe he will improve.

Charles

[TheJourneyman]

Sir,

I agree completely. Only time will tell. I hope he turns into a Hall of Fame player. However, all I am doing is commenting on his performance to date. I believe he will improve.

Charles

yeah i agree with your views on his play so far. the only issues i had were A. you can't sit him and expect him to get better and B. that anyone in MLB can hit with runner's on making them RBI guys. and i don't think either of those points were made by you.

[PureBaseballFan]

People lets stop camparing Frenchy to other players. The only real time that you can compare numbers is at the end of the careers not at the beginning.

Triples rarely occur in today's game. A hit to the gap is pretty much a double for all but a handful of players. Runners would be less likely to score from second on a single to Francoeur than one to Harris and Diaz. This doesn't make a major difference in runs scored.

Also, Baseball Prospectus shows Diaz to be a much better fielder than Franceour. Diaz was 11 runs above average last year and is 2 runs above average so far this year. Francoeur was 8 runs below average last year and is 4 runs below average this year.

Those numbers suprised me quite a bit. I don't usually put a lot of faith in BP's stats, but I don't think they should simply be dismissed. Diaz does not look as fluid in the outfield as Francoeur, but he is a long way from Lonnie Smith.

I'm not trying to bash Franceour. I really like him and hope he turns into a good ballplayer, but we have to accept him for what he is now. And the ballplayer that he is right now might not be the best option for the Braves in right. However, I have the utmost confidence in Bobby Cox and trust him to make the best decisions. If Mr. Cox believes starting Franceour in right is the best decision, then that is probably the case.

I'm afraid I'll get more criticism for my endorsement of Mr. Cox than my 'bashing' of Franceour, but it's the way I feel.

Take Care,
Charles

cbenson I understand that you are only really being the devil's advocate and might not believe in benching Frenchy and you mention good stats. I might disagree with some of those stats only because when you have a player that didn't play defense as much as another it is hard to compare defensive stats and that Francoeur played 160 more innning then Diaz in the outfield will lower the average of his compared to Diaz. Also assists can be misleading as guys like Cliff Floyd or Manny Ramirez can have a lot of those that stat doesn't mean they are outfield aces but that people are more likely to run on them.

Diaz is not anywhere close to being horrible in the field don't get me wrong I think his defense is underrated and he has a nice accurate arm. Diaz is no Wily Mo Pena or Manny Ramirez but he doesn't have the range of Francoeur and will sometimes have to make diving catches that others would easily catch. Diaz is a good player but I think it would hurt Francoeur development if he was benched as he might think that the team has lost faith in him.

Could Francoeur do for a day off every now and then of course but I like that he has the drive to want to start every game and try to help his team win. I think the majority of people calling for him to be benched is frustration at seeing young guys like Pujols, Wright, Reyes, and Fielder developing at the plate quicker then Francoeur. People develop at different times people need to stop expecting that every single person is the same and if you don't learn quicker then normal you are somehow sub par. Will Francoeur be the next Dale Murphy none of us know that because if we did we would be a GM and not talking on a Baseball forum but let his career play out and then we can compare him to other greats but not now..