But now at 25, Francoeur has struggled for the last year and a half. On Friday, the Braves decided to go in a new direction. They traded Francoeur to the New York Mets for Ryan Church.

On the season, Francoeur is hitting .250 with five homers, 35 RBIs and 32 runs. After hitting 29 homers in 2006, his power numbers have dropped considerably. In 2007, he hit 19 homers. In 2008, it dropped to 11 home runs.

Church, like Francoeur, hasn’t lived up to expectations this season. The 30-year-old is hitting .280 with two homers, 22 RBIs and 26 runs. Considering that he has 12 homers, 49 RBIs and 54 runs last year in only 90 games, much more was expected from him this season.

With the Braves (41-44) and the Mets (40-45) both struggling in the NL East, this trade was made in hopes of adding a spark to their lineups before it is too late.

Post from: Knuckle Curve

In case you forgot, these two were traded for each other in November. First up, Mr. Church:

They’d play me, sit me, play me, make a trade, sit me… It’s a business, and I totally understand that, and not everybody is going to like it. But I think I lost about 100-something at-bats, and there was a reason for that. People who were there know [what that reason was]. You could see it. There’s a business side.

The implication here is that the Nats sat Church to save a few bucks. Actually, it’s more than implication: the article states that while talking about the “business side,” Church starts rubbing his fingers against his thumb in the “universal sign for ‘money’.”

Okay, how about Mr. Milledge. Any thoughts? Yeah, a few:

I can’t go through anything worse than I went through in New York. It only gets better from here. A lot of veterans didn’t like the way I play the game. They thought I didn’t respect it.

And how did the Mets react to Milledge’s comments? Here’s third baseman David Wright:

Enough is enough. You’re a Washington National now. Don’t worry about what happened last year or the year before that. Just go out there and try to help the Nationals win.

It makes no sense to bash your former team. He just needs to turn the page and worry about helping the Washington Nationals. Forget about what we’re doing over here. Forget about the New York Mets.

So, here’s my question. Do you suppose Wright has talked to Church yet? You know, to remind him that he’s a New York Met, don’t worry about what happened last year, go out there and try to help the Mets win, turn the page, and forget about the Washington Nationals?

I’m thinking maybe not, but I could be wrong…

Post from: Knuckle Curve