The New York Mets had Jeff Francoeur for close to a season and a half but have traded him to the first place Texas Rangers last night for Joaquin Arias. Obviously, Francoeur must be happy that he is playing for a contender now but I am sure he is upset that he won't be exactly an every day player.
↵The Rangers were looking for right-handed bat for most of the month of August and have found it in Francoeur. Jeff gets little love around the Braves blogosphere for many reasons, mostly being a sort of arrogance and disdain of popular newer statistics. With that said, Francoeur does have good career numbers vs. left-handed pitching and has hit them decently this year.
↵The Braves got little for Jeff when they traded him to the Mets and the Mets received little for him when he was traded to the Rangers -- Arias has a career .317 minor league OBP. Getting rid of Francoeur gave the Braves the ability to make Jason Heyward the every day right fielder without having to deal with benching another Georgia bred former top prospect. Heyward was going to play that position this year, so moving Francoeur made it a much easier task.
↵Francoeur's career with the Mets was a 755 plate appearance microcosm of his tenure with the Braves. He got off to a hot start and became a fan favorite after being productive after the trade (after his call-up with Atlanta) and then failed to get on base at a decent pace or hit for much power afterwards. The Braves do not miss what Francoeur brought to the table, and I doubt the Mets will either.