Atlanta Braves Purchase Contract of Jeff Francoeur

The Decision is Made – Frenchy is Returning – but questions on the rest of the roster remain

In a universally fan-popular call, Jeff Francoeur is officially reunited with his hometown team for the first time since 2009 – an era in which he famously declined the offer of a contract extension just prior to a time where his early hitting success left him.  That decision took him on a tour of multiple major league clubs before coming back ‘home’ to the Braves, where he will be for at least the start of the 2016 season.

The Braves almost didn’t get a chance this time around, either:  David O’Brien reported that there was some sentiment around the Phillies to bring him back there given his solid year with them in 2015.  They may ultimately regret letting him go, too, as Philadelphia has been scrambling for outfield help lately – signing Will Venable yesterday.

Frenchy had to earn his way back:  signing a minor-league deal as a non-roster spring invitee.  But he has, with a RHH slash line of .327/.389/.449/.838, including 4 walks and just 7 K’s in 49 plate appearances.  He has also shown off an ability to move around to other outfield positions – including Center field – to demonstrate that he can fill in just about anywhere needed.

This move today puts him on the 40-man roster with a commitment to take him to Atlanta next week on the 25-man active roster as well.  New contract terms are not known at this time.

More Heavy lifting still to Come

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Okay, that part is now settled.  Now come the harder decisions for the Braves.  3 bench players?  4 bench players?  Who stays and who goes?

We’re now down to 4 names:

• Kelly Johnson (34, corner OF; any IF position; LHH)
• Gordon Beckham (29½, any IF position; RHH)
• Michael Bourn (33, any OF position; LHH; $14 million contract)
• Emilio Bonifacio (31, any OF position, 2B/SS/3B; SWH)

As suggested this morning, the Braves do have a means of finessing a 4th bench bat even while they opt to carry an additional reliever in the bullpen for the first full week+ of the season.  Whether they try to pull that off is another story.

The widespread betting is that Bonifacio will be released or traded shortly.  If Atlanta wants to carry the other three players, then that’s the end of the discussion.  If they are thinking of just 3 bench bats, then it gets more interesting.

• Johnson played very well in 2015, hitting .265 with 14 homers.  He’d only at .219 for the Spring, though with a robust .390 OBP.
• Beckham has been raking of late, up to .364/.463/.545/1.009, though that’s against just 33 ABs.
• Bourn has been making diving catches in the OF while hitting .273 along with the odd stat of no doubles… though 2 triples.
• Bonifacio is hitting .271, but with a .730 OPS despite a triple and home run.  He leads the club in strikeouts with 16 in 48 ABs.

There has been an occasional rumbling about optioning Jace Peterson to Gwinnett while the rest stick around.  I expect that the coaching staff simply likes Jace too much to do that.  Nonetheless, it remains a possibility.

Next: Wanted: 1 More Southpaw. Must Throw Strikes

The only deadlines that matter now are the ones for setting the 25-man roster, which happens over the weekend.  Coppy will certainly do nothing until he has to, so expect this to come down to the wire unless he can engineer a trade.