OK, it was more of a bloop than a smash, but new Met Jeff Francoeur gets the job done with a two-run single in the first inning, sparking the Mets to a 4-0 win over the Reds at Citi Field last night.
THIS is a marriage made in baseball purgatory. The Mets and Jeff Francoeur, reclamation projects both, perfect for each other in this hijacked season.
We all understand that much of this embarrassing baseball summer in Queens has been beyond the Mets’ control, though that is not sufficient explanation for management’s detached, woe-is-us stance throughout the club’s freefall down the division and wild-card ladders.
Important guys got hurt, no one’s fault; the injuries lingered and became worse, quite possibly the organization’s fault; and the Mets endured a system-wide breakdown that destroyed the club’s ability to pitch, catch, throw and hit the ball, everyone’s fault.
All the while, Omar Minaya was being implored to do something, to do anything, to stanch the arterial bleeding. Friday night the GM finally made his move, sending Ryan Church to the Braves for Francoeur, the 25-year-old right fielder who burned through his hometown of Atlanta his first two-plus years in the league before crashing more quickly than you can say, “Joe Charboneau.”
It’s a Can’t Lose Move for the Rarely Win Mets, who actually did take last night’s game against the Reds, 4-0, behind Johan Santana’s seven-inning, five-hit outing that was jump-started by Francoeur’s two-run, bases-loaded first-inning single to right.
It’s a can’t-lose move, that is, if the Mets, 2-6 in their last eight and 4-11 in the last 15, take the long view on Francoeur and on their season. For while the dive to fourth in the East and ninth in the wild-card standings — ninth! — has been a bitter disappointment, it does open a window of opportunity for ownership, Minaya, and manager Jerry Manuel to reassess the program and respond accordingly.
The Mets acquired Francoeur primarily for the bat that drove home more than 100 runs in 2006 and 2007, his first two full years in the majors. But his Gold Glove skill and arm are vital as well, and perhaps more valuable attributes than a big bat for a Mets outfielder to own in the expansive Citi Field gardens.
The Mets built 1969 on pitching and defense. They will have to build 2009 and beyond using the same formula.
“The ability to play defense, cover gaps and have enough arm to keep runners from advancing is very important,” Manuel said of Francoeur, who leads the majors with 65 assists since his debut on July 7, 2005. “Jeff is one of those guys who is out to prove something.
“He wants to be here. He’s excited to be here. He’s looking at this as his opportunity to perform on the big stage.”
David Wright can tell Francoeur something about playing on the big stage. Unfortunately, the all-star third baseman has already told Francoeur something about playing in the Mets’ big ballpark.
The advice indicates that Wright, who has five home runs and 43 RBIs more than halfway through the season after hitting 63 homers with 231 RBI the previous two years, is as thoroughly defeated by Citi Field as Bobby Murcer was by Shea Stadium when the Yankees played there in 1974.
“I talked to David a little bit and he told me you’re not going to hit 45 home runs in this park,” said Francoeur, who seems ready to embrace everything about making New York his home. “If you want to do that, you have to go 10 miles down the road.”
The reference to Yankee Stadium was spoken like a New Yorker, but the words could not have been music to the ears of Manuel, who surely doesn’t want his players to lower their own sights and ceilings because the outfield fences are too high.
“If you have power,” the manager said, “you can have power any place.”
Francoeur is no savior. He is a reclamation project seeking to find plate discipline and consistency on a reclamation project of a team seeking to pitch, throw, catch, run and hit like a professional outfit rather than the stumblebums they’ve been for more than a month. Last night was a start for both parties.