not a demotion? seriously?

Braves' Francoeur is sent to minors

ATLANTA (AP)"?The Atlanta Braves decided their hometown favorite needed to get away from home"?and away from the major leagues"?to work his way through the worst slump of his career.

Outfielder Jeff Francoeur, hitting only .234, was sent to Double-A Mississippi on Friday and told he'd be recalled within three weeks.

Braves general manager Frank Wren and manager Bobby Cox said the move is not a demotion.

"We look at it as stepping back for a few days and decompressing and getting his game going again,"? Wren said. "It gives him the ability to do that."?

Francoeur was told of the decision after he was booed at home Thursday night when he went 0-for-4. He hit .206 in June and is 1-for-12 in three games this month.

"We were very clear with him last night it would be for less than 20 days and that we just want him to get a chance to relax and play well."?

The move is designed to be temporary, but it is still a dramatic development for one of the team's top young stars.

Wren said he considered the move for three weeks as Francoeur's average continued to fall. Wren and other team officials concluded a move had to be made after the Braves were swept in a three-game series by the Phillies to fall seven games out of first in the NL East and a season-low six games below .500.

"This is my 32nd year in professional baseball,"? Wren said, "... and in the last 23 making decisions, this was the toughest."?

Cox said Francoeur's high profile"?and long list of friends and relatives"? in Atlanta made it more difficult for him to shake the slump at home.

"We didn't know what to do,"? Cox said. "He had probably 150 tips the last two weeks on how to hit a baseball. ... It doesn't work. He needs to just get away by himself with a few guys and get it going."?

Francoeur has taken hours of extra batting practice but has been unable to match the power he showed in 2006 when he hit 29 homers or the improved discipline at the plate when he hit .292 last season.

"It seems I can't catch a break, or when I feel I start to roll I just can't get things to keep rolling my way,"? Francoeur said.

The Braves hope a more relaxed Francoeur can find his swing while working with Mississippi manager Phillip Wellman, who previously worked with Francoeur in the minors.

"When he was with Wellman a couple years ago, he's never been as hot as he was,"? said Braves catcher Brian McCann, Francoeur's longtime friend and former roommate. "I think if he gets back with him for a couple weeks it's gonna be good for Jeff."?

The plan is for Francoeur to rejoin the team following the All-Star break.

Pitcher John Smoltz, Francoeur's clubhouse neighbor, predicted the outfielder would be back with the team in 10 days"?the minimum time he must spend in the minors.

"I told him I can't experience what he's experiencing, I can't feel what he's feeling,"? Smoltz said. "The only thing I could tell him was that I can't wait to see him in 10 days. Because he's going to be so much better for it."?

The Braves purchased Jason Perry's contract from Triple-A Richmond and put him in the lineup in right field for Friday night's game against the Houston Astros. Perry hit .314 with 13 homers and 41 RBIs in 137 at-bats at Double-A Mississippi before he moved up to Richmond, where he hit .302 with five homers and 14 RBIs.

Francoeur was expected to join Chipper Jones, Mark Teixeira and Brian McCann in the middle of the lineup but was dropped to seventh in the batting order. Francoeur hit .293 with 19 homers and drove in 105 runs last season. This year, he has eight homers and 41 RBIs.

The boos are unusual for Francoeur, a local favorite who signed with the Braves from Parkview High School near Atlanta.

"I feel for him,"? Jones said. "He's never struggled up until this point. Ever. He's always been the chosen one. But this game will humble you. He's got a million hitting coaches right now. What he needs to do is just go back to the basics."?

Jones said the slump has affected Francoeur's mental approach.

"I'd like to see a little more of the enthusiasm he showed early on in his career,"? Jones said. "He's really down on himself right now and I think it will help him come out of it a little faster if he doesn't take the game as seriously."?

Francoeur has tinkered with his stance and tried a new contact lens to help his vision at night.

Matt Diaz, who also began the season as a starting outfielder, will join Francoeur at Mississippi. He is recovering from a knee injury and is on a rehab assignment.

I was late catching the game tonight and noticed he wasn't in the lineup and he just had a day off maybe a week ago so I knew something was up. Hopefully this will get him back on track. I personally don't like the move but Bobby Cox hasn't been as successful as he has by being stupid so maybe he knows what he is doing.

but AA not a demotion?

cox is smoking something

AAA maybe i could see it......but AA?

come on

Sending them to AA is pretty common for the Braves. Closer to home than Richmond.....however, not for long, I don't think AAA will be in Richmond too much longer. When McCann and Francoeur were both called up it was from Mississippi

its only like 100 mile difference and richmond is easier to get a flight from than pearl MS

i dont buy that as the reason

Maybe it has something to do with the hitting coach at Miss or something hell I don't know, just an observation on my part. I didn't check on direct flights in and out of each city. Since you normally seem to know everything you should already have the answer. They said he would be called back up within 20 days. If Bobby Cox says it will happen, then, it will normally happen.

they have to wait at least 10 days before he could come back anyway

but yeah the flights thing plays a big role in the minor leagues

most callups are from AAA......ever notice that most AAA teams are in or near decent size cities with decent size airports?

It was Francouers option to go to Mississippi because of the facilities. There are better facilities at Miss than Richmond. Ever been to their stadium in Richmond, real shithole. That is the reason for AA, they gave him the option and he felt more comfortable there.

Atlanta Braves Moving Their AAA Team to Gwinnett County Georgia in 2009

At a news conference earlier today, it was announced that the Atlanta Braves AAA team will move
from Richmond, Virginia to Gwinnett County, Georgia beginning in 2009. The announcement
was made after the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners unanimous vote.

"We have known that Gwinnett County was interested in building a baseball stadium for about a
year coupled with the fact that we have had some challenges getting a new AAA ballpark built in
Richmond, made this attractive to have them in our backyard,"? said Terry McGuirk, Atlanta Braves
Chairman and CEO.

The ballpark will be located at 2500 Buford Drive in Lawrenceville, on the west side of Buford
Drive, just north of the Buford Drive and Old Peachtree Road intersection. The team will play the
2008 season in Richmond before relocating to the new state-of-the-art facility starting in April of
2009.

"I am extremely proud and excited for the actions that are being announced today,"? said Richard
Tucker, Chairman of the Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Directors. "The
Atlanta Braves organization has no equal in Major League Baseball, and the partnership with the
Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau will bring a new level of enthusiasm for the citizens of
Gwinnett County and the great State of Georgia."?

thats driving distance and still close to atlanta

makes sense

Richmond wouldn't build a new stadium for the team so they are moving elsewhere. Richmond will still be a minor league team, just a smaller classification.

McCann, and Franceour were both called up without playing in Richmond if I am not mistaken. Luckily for the Braves, their skill posititon players havent been much different at either location. Generally they pull pitchers from AAA and skill players from AA it seems like. Different than most teams, but it has worked for years.

a demotion would have been a trip down without being told he'd be back before the end of the month.

I didn't think it would last long!

LOS ANGELES -- Jeff Francoeur's stay in the Minor Leagues was a short one. The Braves recalled him from Double-A Mississippi and he is expected to be with them in Los Angeles for Monday night's series opener against the Dodgers.
Francoeur was shocked when the Braves told him late Thursday night that they were sending him to Mississippi. At the time, he was hitting .234 and had batted just .121 (8-for-66) in his previous 18 games.

But the 24-year-old outfielder's dismay turned into excitement on Monday, when he learned that his Minor League stay was going to consist of just three days.

"All the reports we got from [Mississippi's staff] said that he was smiling, having fun and being relaxed at the plate," Braves general manager Frank Wren said. "That really all we wanted him to do."

As Francoeur continued to stress about the first severe hitting slump of his young career, his mechanics suffered to the point where he was changing his stance and approach with nearly every plate appearance.

This prompted the Braves to move him to a less stressful environment, where he could relax again and enjoy the game of baseball. At Mississippi, he was reunited with manager Phillip Wellman, who had served as that club's hitting coach when Francoeur played there in 2005.

Three years ago, Wellman helped Francoeur get to the Majors -- and now Wellman can enjoy the fact that he played a role in getting Francoeur back.

In three games with Mississippi, Francoeur had seven hits, including a triple, in 13 at-bats. His best performance came on Sunday, when he had four hits in five at-bats against Charlotte.

"The last couple of days, he's been relaxed and swinging the bat like he's capable of doing," Wren said of Francoeur, who hit .293 while playing every game and winning his first career Gold Glove last year.

When the Braves sent Francoeur to Mississippi, their expectation was that he'd return after the All-Star break. Their primary reason for this plan stemmed from rules that stipulate a player optioned to the Minors can't be recalled less than 10 days later, unless he is recalled to replace somebody going on the disabled list.

After Sunday's game, the Braves were forced to place three players -- utilityman Omar Infante and right-handed relievers Jeff Bennett and Manny Acosta -- on the disabled list. This opened the door for the Braves to bring Francoeur back, but it wasn't the sole reason for the quick return.

If nothing else, the timing was good in multiple ways. These multiple injuries opened this opportunity for Francoeur immediately after he'd had a four-hit performance -- and not after one of those inevitable rough days any professional baseball player at any level can endure.

"This move was predicated on the reports we were getting from Mississippi," Wren said. "We were hearing what we wanted to hear."

The Braves will also be welcoming right-handed reliever Vladimir Nunez and infielder Brent Lillibridge to their re-shuffled roster on Monday night. Nunez, the former Marlins closer who hasn't pitched in the Majors since 2004, had posted a 1.62 ERA in his previous 10 appearances with Triple-A Richmond.

Lillibridge has had two previous stints this year in Atlanta, with the most recent one ending on Thursday, when Martin Prado was activated from the 15-day disabled list. He has recorded four hits in 26 Major League at-bats this year.

seen on the news last night that Jeff is upset with the Braves organization for sending him down...Stating that he has always been there for the ball club when he was sick or injured, and the bailed on him the second he was no producing...

ATLANTA -- Jeff Francoeur's stay in the minor leagues barely lasted a weekend.


Jeff Francoeur

Right Field
Atlanta Braves

Profile

2008 Season Stats GM HR RBI R OBP AVG
85 8 41 40 .287 .234

Francoeur, who had four hits in his third game with Double-A Mississippi on Sunday, was recalled to the Atlanta Braves on Monday.

Under normal circumstances, Francoeur would have had to spend 10 days in the minors. The four-year veteran, who was 7-for-13 during his three-game stint in the minors, would have been in the starting lineup against the Dodgers but was unable to get on an earlier flight.

The recall came after Francoeur, who played in three games at Mississippi, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he felt "betrayed" by the Double-A assignment.


"After three years, after playing hurt, playing every day, going in every day whether I got a hit and never complaining, I just played because Bobby [Cox] kept putting me in the lineup," Francoeur told the newspaper. "But I just felt like a little three-minute thing -- 'Hey, you're going down' -- I feel like after three years, I was owed a little more of an explanation. But that's Frank's deal and that's what I guess they decided to do.

"My question is, what if I had hit a home run or had two hits [Thursday night]? Does it delay it one day, until I was 0-for-4? I was left standing outside in the dark on that. You almost felt like they had made [their minds] up before the game. That's where I felt frustrated, where I felt a little betrayed," he told the newspaper.


The timing of Francoeur's four-hit game on Sunday was perfect for the Braves, who could recall the outfielder so quickly because they placed three other players on the disabled list -- relief pitchers Jeff Bennett and Manny Acosta and infielder Omar Infante.

Infante, primarily an infielder, started in left field on Sunday but left with a strained hamstring following his first-inning double.


Neyer: Head-Scratching Move

Now that Jeff Francouer is back in the big leagues after a three-day demotion to the minors, the whole scenario makes no sense, Rob Neyer writes. Blog

A player can be recalled after spending less than 10 days in the minors if replacing an injured player.

"Yes, the three guys going on the DL made it possible, but it really was Jeff's performance down there that made this happen," said Braves general manager Frank Wren. "Jeff's performance made it something we could consider."

I agree with Jeff, dumb move by the Braves front office. You just pissed off one of your future stars. When Jeff's contract is up, which I am not sure when that is, will he think twice now about signing back. Being a hometown boy, I doubt it, but the thought is now in the back of his head, when before, it never would have been.

i agree...

very dumb