New York Mets Showing Interest In Starting Pitcher Jeff Francis

Published: 21^st Jan 12 12:14 pm

Craig Williams
craigwilliams

RANT It!

Steven Bisig-US PRESSWIRE

You can correct me if I’m wrong on this, but didn’t the New York Mets say that they were not adding any more pieces to the 25-man roster? If so, what is up with the report that they are interested in Jeff Francis? I suppose the team could sign him to a minor league deal, but why would Jeff Francis – coming off of a useful season with the Kansas City Royals – want to sign a minor league deal? Sure, some of his numbers are pretty ugly – specifically his 4.82 ERA and sub-5.00 K/9. Dig a little deeper though and you can see that he did do some good things. His FIP was a much tidier 4.10 as he limited his walks (1.92 BB/9) and kept the ball on the ground fairly well (47.1%). He also logged 183 innings. I would be lying blatantly if I said that I would be excited to watch Jeff Francis in the New York Mets’ starting rotation in 2012, but I can’t say that it would be a bad deal considering the state of the team and the pitching staff at this point. Thinking about the names that the New York Mets are going to trot to the mound this season is depressing, but the most important thing is letting the kids continue to develop in the minor leagues without pressing them into Major League action that they aren’t ready for. To do so, the New York Mets need plenty of arms capable of eating innings at the big league level – especially with the uncertainty surrounding Johan Santan’s return from shoulder surgery. Jeff Francis can do that and it wouldn’t surprise me if the New York Mets made a strong attempt to bring him to Queens.