Francoeur fumed after demotion to AA

Three years ago, almost to the day, the Atlanta Braves brought up Jeff Francoeur.

And for three seasons, he's been a fixture in right field.

Every single day.

He even had the active Major League record for most consecutive games played at 370 broken earlier this year in the twilight game of a doubleheader.

But Thursday night, after his batting average had dipped to .234, the Braves called him into a private meeting and delivered the news.

You're going to Pearl, Mississippi, son.

Francoeur was sent down to the Braves AA franchise, just outside of Jackson, Miss., so he could work on his swing. The news was received about as well as a question to ARod about Lenny Kravitz's upcoming album.

"This has really put a damper on my relationship with the Atlanta Braves," Francoeur told the AJC.

Reportedly, Francoeur had been putting many extra hours of batting practice working on his swing and you could notice him trying different things in the box.

"I do not agree with this, but I have to do what I have to do," he said. "I'm disappointed with the decision and how the whole process went down."

Unless Bobby Cox can pull off some magic in fence-mending, you may be looking at Francoeur in another uniform next year. He's passed up signing long-term deals with the Braves, settling for year-by-year contracts the past two seasons.

It's not too often you see a regular of Francoeur's stature sent down like this, but the right-handed power hitter is only 24.

Fantasy spin: After Clayton Kershaw's demotion yesterday, I thought my team couldn't get hit any harder, then this. But this isn't about my team. It's about yours. It's simple if you have a bench spot to stash Francoeur, as he's relevant in almost all formats, as soon as he gets back up.

But without bench spots, you are in a tight spot. If you're power numbers are hurting, it's probably time to just cut him loose, as we could be looking at two, three or four weeks until he figures things out.

In deep mixed or NL-only leagues, you're probably better off just riding this out, but let the quality of your wire be your guide.

Kershaw demoted; Bartlett DL'd

Well, that was short-lived.

Clayton Kershaw, the can't-miss Los Angeles Dodgers southpaw drew the short straw today, getting demoted back to Double-A Jacksonville.

For those of you who heeded my advice and plucked him off the wire on the day of his May 25 debut, the ride is temporarily halted. Please exit to your left.

Say hello to the dreaded red letters: N/A.

One of the main culprit to the Kershaw squeeze was the emergence of Eric Stults, who has compiled a 2.21 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP in 20 1/3 IP.

And with Hiroki Kuroda and Brad Penny both coming off the DL and Chan Ho Park looking like the 18-game winner from 2000, Kershaw was deemed the odd-man out.

Kershaw was surprised, if not shocked by the news.

"Any way you want to spin it, I'm getting sent down," Kershaw said. "They can say they didn't have enough room, but they (brought) me up when they didn't have enough room. All those guys were healthy then."

But Kershaw couldn't seem to find the plate. His 24 walks in 38 2/3 innings kept getting him in trouble and despite giving up 2 or less ER in five of his eight starts, Kershaw struggled mightily with his pitch count and only reached six full innings once and that was his debut.

His 1.63 WHIP probably led to most folks giving up on the 20-year-old already. Surely, he was still owned in all NL-only and deeper mixed leagues.

I may have been one of his last owners in a 10-team format.


Bartlett on DL: A sneaky source of steals, Rays SS Jason Bartlett sprained his knee and hit the DL today, with Ben Zobrist, who homered against the Charlotte Knights Tuesday night, getting the call up.

Bartlett had ripped off 13 steals since May 25 and while his avg. (256), HR (0), RBI (20) and runs (24) have been below fantasy Mendoza lines, those type of steals don't grow on waiver wires.

Keep Bartlett on a DL spot, unless you have a legitimate guy already there. In cases where you can't DL him, let the waiver be your guide to replacing him or not.

Knee injuries can be dicey and linger and with speed as Bartlett's only redeeming quality, it may just be time to cut ties, unless your SS pile is just bone dry.

Waiver wired: Add Ellis, Edmonds?

AMERICAN LEAGUE

MARK ELLIS, 2B, ATHLETICS

Running the Disney Marathon in January, I saw a plethora of creative signs. One that comes to mind recently: "Run like you stole something."

Enter Mark Ellis.

Not that this is a slow guy. He stole at least 21 bases three seasons in the minors. But he's never swiped more than 9 in a big league season. And now, he's running like he stole something - and it's usually second base.

Counting today's first-inning swipe, Ellis has four steals in the last five games and 11 for the season.

Does this mean, we're seeing the second-coming of Rickey Henderson in Oakland? Ha.

But Ellis is suddenly looking like a 20-20 guy (he has 9 HR so far), with outside 20-30 potential. And there's not too many folks like that still hanging around your waiver. He's also a great source of runs for you 5x5ers.

Take a look at what your 2B is doing lately. Or utility spot.

There's gotta be room for this power-hitting rabbit somewhere.


NATIONAL LEAGUE

JIM EDMONDS, OF, CUBS

I've been very up front to many of my colleagues here, I'm still not an Edmonds fan.

Yeah, he's helped my Cubbies win a few games, make a few spectacular catches, blah, blah, blah ... but I still look at him as a Cardinal. The enemy. (Growing up in central Illinois, you simply had to pick sides).

Maybe if Edmonds helps lead the North Siders to a World Series title, I can finally get the hated Redbird Edmonds taste out of my mind. Maybe. (It taste a little like feathers, btw).

Still, most of you probably don't have these psychological or emotional issues when you look at Edmonds' name on the wire.

Lou Piniella seems to love the guy, playing him virtually every day in center field. And even when Alfonso Soriano comes back, he's still probably getting all starts against righties.

Over the past month, Edmonds has ranked 41st of all OF in the Yahoo! game with 6 HR, 17 RBI, 10 runs and a .292 average.

I'll admit, tThose are nothing to shake a stick at.

Unless you're this Cubs fan.

Percival goes down; Chipper stays up

Not the hammy. Again.

Trying to back up third base on a throw in Monday night's 5-4 victory over the Red Sox, Troy Percival either tweaked or twinged his hamstring, depending on which verb lingo you prefer.

As a Percival owner, the obvious reaction is shock, disappointment and a loud harrumph.

But honestly, what did you expect with this guy? He's already hit the DL once for the hamstring injury. You probably got him in round 15 or later in your mixed league draft and his injuries cost him all of the 2006 season. And he turns 39 next month.

I'd say we're on borrowed time to begin with.

Not that the whole Percival/Rays/baseball's best record/baseball's worst stadium story isn't fascinating. It is.

But buying a Percival is similar to plunking cash for a used Saturn. Sure, there's the fancy daytime running lights and the sides are dent-proof, but ultimately, it's going to be in the shop a lot longer than you want. It's just not that reliable.

Not that I own a Saturn or anything.

My personal Percival advice is hope he lands on the DL. Yeah, that's right. You want him to get better. Grab Dan Wheeler ASAP if you have a spot or hope they DL Percival soon so you can make the switch.

As soon as Percy gets 2 saves in a row, try packaging him and get yourself a Kevin Gregg or Jose Valverde type.

Hamstring injuries linger worse than a bad penny. Or is it that bad pennies keep showing up? I get confused in the catchy lingo that originated back when you could get gas for pennies.

Now, you rarely will stop to pick it up.

CHIPPER AVOIDS DL: For all you Chipper Jones owners, riding his .400 wave, good news.

Just as Jones was on the doorstep of the DL with a strained quadriceps, a miraculous healing occurred and - poof! - he's back in the lineup tonight.

What?!?

Bobby Cox is quoted as saying Chipper just all of a sudden started feeling better.

OK.

Jones, batting .394 going into tonight, has missed eight games, which has probably seemed like 80 to his owners, who have been giddy about his production, considering they probably plucked him in the 7th or 8th round.

Just like Percival, you have to wonder about the staying power of Jones. In the last four season, Jones has missed at least 25 games each year.

Two of those seasons, Jones missed 50+ contests.

He's not quite on the sell-at-any price list like Percy, but you have to think the average is going to dip and the power numbers are not irreplaceable.

Get him healthy a week and see if you can cash in for 85 cents on his value, pull the trigger.

Time to clear your head?

There have been times when we all get frustrated in this game.

Hitters aren't hitting. Pitchers are nibbling. Your average is headed south for the summer, while that WHIP is skyrocketing halfway to the moon.

And your team is dropping like a shiny heavy rock in the overall standings.

What do you do?

Sometimes, it's best to turn off the computer. Not for good, mind you. But maybe for a couple days.

It's easy to start making drastic pickups, wild trade offers, ridiculous managerial decisions.

Jason Bartlett for Derek Jeter? Ahhh, why not!?

Pick up Russell Branyan for Garrett Atkins? That sounds about right.

Not.

Psychologists will advise you to count to 10. Clear your mind.

Two days may be the fantasy equivalent. Just long enough for your slumping players to snap out of it. But not long enough to miss any key updates.

Maybe take your wife - or significant other - out to a movie. Get Smart is a good laugh, especially if you're a Steve Carrell fan.

But don't worry. The Fantasy Baseblog won't take a day off.

We'll be back tomorrow.

Butler called back up in K.C.

What went wrong with Billy Butler?

Too much pressure? Too high expectations?

For those of you who took a chance on the Royals seemingly can't-miss slugger, his demotion after the May 28 home loss to Minnesota was particularly frustrating.

Four times in the first week, Butler recorded multi-hit games, then only four more times in the next seven weeks, frustrating not just his fantasy owners, but the owners of the struggling K.C. franchise.

Butler, however, took his month-long trip to Omaha seriously, worked hard on his swing and in 26 games, after hitting .337 with 5 HR and a .417 on-base-percentage, he's back.

Called up in time to register one pinch-hit at-bat, Butler popped out to shortstop to end the game, a 9-6 loss to St. Louis this afternoon.

But the Royals have too much faith in the slugger who can hit basically any pitch thrown his way.

After striking out 26 times in 186 at-bats, Butler whiffed only 7 times in 101 plate appearances with Omaha and his 14 walks are also evidence that his plate discipline is improving.

Don't expect tons of pop from this true-to-form DH, but you could get double digits the rest of the way and he should be an RBI machine, maybe 40-45, if he can keep that average up around .300.

It's time to call the Butler again in almost all formats but the deepest ones. He's too good of a hitter not to get regular PT. 

Take a quick look at this clip from his days in Wichita. There's not much to see here, but listen to how the ball comes off his bat. 

The ear doesn't lie. You can always tell a hitter by the sound his lumber makes.

Update: YouTube video of switch pitcher

Last week, I blogged about Pat Venditte, the switch pitcher for Class-A Staten Island.

That's right, switch pitcher.

Venditte and Brooklyn Cyclones DH Ralph Henriquez were locked in a rare faceoff: Switch hitter vs. switch pitcher. With each sides changing back and forth several times.

Eventually, umps huddled and ruled each player could change sides once, but the hitter has to declare first.

Check out this Venditte vignette from YouTube.





If you have a cup of coffee and are relaxed or simply would like to watch a full-length version, check this out. This is an issue that won't go away and baseball's rule book will be modified likely quicker than we see instant replay.