Rangers acquire Francoeur from Mets
Battling injury problems, the Texas Rangers added some depth to their outfield, trading for Jeff Francoeur from the New York Mets. In return, the Rangers sent infielder Joaquin Arias to New York. Francoeur’s remaining salary will be paid by the Mets while Arias’ salary will be paid by the Rangers.
"Obviously they see that I don't fit in the plans next year here," Francoeur said. "We all saw that coming the last two, three weeks especially. They're giving me an opportunity and taking care of me. And to that I could forever be grateful for."
Francoeur is eligible to play in the post-season as the Mets and Rangers completed the trade just before the deadline. Francoeur provides some help to the Rangers batting as he hits against lefties really well. Francoeur has averaged .278 against lefties with three homers and 12 RBIs this season. In total, he’s averaged .237 this season with 11 home runs and 54 RBIs. He has struggled recently which has brought his average down.
"This is going to be obviously a good opportunity for me to go play obviously against some lefties and go to the playoffs," Francoeur said.
The Rangers needed some help as they are 3-8 in their last 11 starts against left-handed pitchers. Last weekend, the Oakland Athletics capitalized on that weakness and started lefties in all three games against the Rangers, taking two out of three.
The Rangers are also trying to catch the Minnesota Twins and the New York Yankees for a higher seed heading into the playoffs. The Twins have a left-handed ace in Francisco Liriano while the Yankees have the 2009 Cy Young award winner in C.C Sabathia. The Rangers currently hold a comfortable 8.5 game lead over their own division.
Francoeur is thrilled to go to the Rangers given the fact that they are in a pennant race. The Mets are well out of the race in their division while the Rangers are quickly closing in on their first division title in 11 years.
"For me, the last four years I haven't really been in a pennant race. So to get a chance to go out there and hopefully help out in every way I can and go to the playoffs, that's going to be a fun opportunity I'm going to relish," said Francoeur.
Josh Hamilton is battling knee problems and has not been able to play the outfield. He has been playing as the team’s designated hitter while the usual DH Vladimir Guerrero has been playing in right field. Francoeur will now give the Rangers more options as to what they can do as Hamilton tries to fully recover.
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