Newly acquired Royals OF Jeff Francoeur was recently quoted by a K.C. scribe calling former home venue, Flushing’s Citi Field, “a damn joke”. Had such words oozed from the mouth of a hitter as prodigious as David Wright — whose power output dropped dramatically during Citi’s inaugural season — it’s unlikely they’d have been received with widespread scorn. However, coming from Francoeur, whose career  numbers in other parks are barely any better — the resulting chorus of “shut the fuck up” is so loud, I can barely hear the Dynamic Truths LP over the racket.  SNY.com’s Ted Berg sums up the situation nicely ; “at this site and many others, we laugh at your expense because you™re so bad at hitting and so good at somehow staying in the Major Leagues.”

Out of 26 qualifying right fielders in 2010, your wRC+, — probably the best offensive stat we have, even if it’s not on the scoreboard  — was dead last. And by a lot. Actually, if we tally up all the stats from 2006 when you came into the league, you’re still at the very bottom of the list. Way below Kosuke Fukudome, way below Randy Winn, way below the pathetic shell of Shawn Green that the Mets trotted out in 2006 and 2007. You are baseball’s worst-hitting right fielder, by far.

That stat, I should add, is adjusted for the park in which you play your home games. Your struggles had nothing to do with Citi Field, and everything to do with you. You swing too much, and every pitcher in the league knows it. You’re doing it wrong, sir.

In Francoeur’s defense, we’re only presuming he’s referring to Citi’s spacious dimensions and not the conditions of the park’s crumbling luxury boxes.