œI want him to continue to make it very difficult for them to not play him every day, Jeff Francoeur’s agent, Molly Fletcher tells the The Star-Ledger’s Andy McCullough. “We prefer to play in New York. But if we™re not going to play every day in New York, we absolutely welcome the opportunity to play every day somewhere else. I don’t know how Ms. Fletcher fares against right handed pitching, but her client is hitting just .217 against ’em, while compiling a putrid .697 OPS this season. For all the blather about Francoeur’s allegedly positive clubhouse attitude (particularly compared to that cancerous Carlos Beltran), it’s telling that with the club clinging to it’s very last shred of postseason hope, the Mets’ rotten rightfielder is demanding a trade, this from a guy Hardball Talk’s Craig Calcaterra describes as someone who “every year comes out and puts up a substandard performance that, if baseball was truly a meritocracy, would render him a platoon player at best.”
If any other player pulled this garbage they’d be excoriated in the press and on talk radio, but I can bet you good money that won’t happen to Francoeur. His alleged misuse will still be cited by those seeking Jerry Manuel’s head (never mind that trying to bench Francoeur is one of the few smart things he’s done this year). He’ll still have his supporters calling in to WFAN arguing that he just needs to be given a chance, notwithstanding the fact that he’s had 3300+ plate appearances which conclusively prove that he is, regrettably, what he is.
And what he is, at best, is a fourth outfielder. A platoon guy. A player who has no business starting for a team with pretensions of contention, and may not even be worthy of a starting slot on a rebuilder. His agent wants him to go someplace where he’ll play everyday? Tell me which team would be wise to hand him their starting job. Because, really, I can’t see one who should.