It seems like Jeff Francoeur has been in the majors longer than three years. And it also seems like he was supposed to find his swing and really break out this year. While the first one is still technically true, there's no guarantee for how long, as apparently the Braves confirmed Wednesday that they have debated sending Frenchy to the minors to work on his swing.
One primary reason that the Braves haven't shipped Francoeur back to the Minors is the potential backlash they might receive from their fans, who have remained faithful to No. 7, despite the fact that he entered Wednesday night's game against the Phillies hitting just .239 with a .294 on-base percentage and .383 slugging percentage.
[...]Even before he homered in his Major League debut on July 7, 2005, Francoeur was a favorite among Braves fans. Growing up in suburban Atlanta, he was named the high school Player of the Year for Georgia in both football and baseball.
"This is really the first time he's ever struggled," said Braves All-Star catcher Brian McCann, who has been Francouer's best friend since they were 12 years old.
Francoeur has struggled mightily this season, hitting .234/.291/.379 with only eight homers and 20 walks. But, as Philly proved by sending Brett Myers down to AAA, sometimes the most awkward move is the one necessary to jumpstart a player.
But do I actually think they'll send Frenchy down there? No way. Popularity aside, the guy's confidence won't be helped by a demotion, and the Braves need his gascan arm sitting out in right field. Of course, I might be delusional, since I think the freeswinger will turn it around and have a monster second half too.
There's a company called C.B.C. Distribution and Marketing Inc. in Missouri that's been selling a fantasy baseball game on their website. They're having a minor problem though, because Major League Baseball won't let them use any of the players' names without obtaining a license from the league first.
C.B.C. thinks this is a bunch of crap, and that they don't need no stinking license to run their game. MLB thinks that they do. When there is something so important as fantasy baseball being kept from the masses of the United States, there's only a small group of nine people who can decide once and for all who is on the side of the righteous and just. They are the Supreme Court, and they don't care.
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to step into a dispute between a fantasy sports business and professional baseball.
Without comment, the justices declined to hear the case involving a segment of the $1.5 billion fantasy sports industry in the United States, in which participants manage imaginary teams based on the real-life performances of professional players.
This is actually good news for C.B.C. as it was MLB who was appealing to the Supreme Court after a federal court and the 8th District Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis both ruled in C.B.C.'s favor saying that MLB was trying to violate their right to free speech.
I'm not exactly that familiar with the way the legal system works in these cases, but I'm not quite sure how keeping a company from running a fantasy baseball site limits their free speech. Of course, as someone who plays fantasy baseball, I'm all for the decision.
Despite all signs pointing towards Dodgers uber-propsectClayton Kershaw getting the call to start this weekend, it appears as if he will not be promoted to the majors anytime soon. Tony Jackson reports that people inside the Dodgers organization believe Kershaw needs to wait a little longer in order to not exceed his innings ceiling for 2008.
Saturday's fifth-starter assignment will almost certainly go to either Kuo or Park, with no chance of it going to Kershaw. Torre said, 'To me, it's doubtful.' I got a more definitive 'no' from another source within the organization.
Torre also pointed out that in the effort to have Kershaw throw no more than 170 innings this season, that has to be projected not through Labor Day, when the minor-league season ends, or through September, when the big-league season ends, but through October and the major-league postseason. 'It would be unfair if we didn't consider October as part of his innings.' That means they have to be even more conservative with him.
Wonk, wonk. If you're a fan of young, ridiculously talented pitchers and freakish upside, this is sad news. On the other hand, if you're a Dodger fan, you should be happy. Sure, the club could use him now, but just be glad they're thinking of the future.
It could be much worse. Seriously. You could have hired Dusty Baker. Kershaw would have thrown five complete games by this point if that was the case.
Fantasy Spin: Single year leagues can hold off on grabbing Kershaw ... for now. Maybe. If you're in a league where you've got a guy who's jumpy on prospects, and you have an open spot on your bench, it wouldn't hurt to grab him now and plan to trade him. Keeper leagues absolutely want this guy.
You and I have something in common with Barry Zito. We all have the exact same number of wins as professional baseball pitchers in the month of April. No, I don't have any either. Relax.
Dollar for dollar, it's hard to fathom that any pitcher in professional baseball could be worse. And Zito knows this. Which is how he ended up in front of his locker apologizing to the freaking media following the latest shellacking that dropped him to 0-6. This was followed by a principal-office-visit-like trip to Bruce Bochy's office.
'Obviously, I'm hurting the team right now,' Zito said. 'I just have to keep grinding and fighting. For me this is an opportunity to stick it out and toe the line.'
Bochy called his pitcher into his office after the game to notify him that he may be sent to the bullpen or have his next start skipped.
Degrading? Absolutely. But better than having to visit the minors. Really, the best thing the team could do though, is just have the guy fake an injury. Send him in for fake surgery if you have to. But the Giants -- who have a pretty nice, young rotation outside of Barry -- need to get him out of the public's eye.
San Francisco is only at 11-15, but that's better or equal to five other National League teams, which, sadly, is an improvement from our preseason projections. But when Zito takes the mound and gets knocked around, which is to say every time he takes the mound, Giants fans aren't reminded of the young talented group that could make up a decent rotation in the future. They're reminded of Brian Sabean's incompetence. And it's not it will cost them any wins.
Fantasy Spin: Please don't own Zito. Much less start him.
I am one of the fantasy geeks who likes to root for my players. Thus, it is hard to get excited about these two as they are on Blue Jays. I know that bringing emotions in is not the way to go about it, but over a long season it would be hard to sit down and watch a lot of Toronto games.
Fantasy analysts everywhere are pounding their keyboards with their collective domes as they scream. You can't care in fantasy! The name of the game is to win at any cost.
For years, I've heard people say they hate certain players on the field as fans, but as fantasy players they have to get over said hatred because they need the guy on their team in order to win.
Well, this is where I'm armed and ready to be alone until kingdom come on this front when it comes to those anointed as "experts" in the fantasy field.
Seriously, Bud Selig must really hate us. To start the season he figured that keeping his customers from being able to watch his product, was a good idea. Thankfully, reason prevailed in that case. Unfortunately, since Bud couldn't get that from us, now he's going after fantasy baseball.
Attorneys representing Major League Baseball argued Thursday that online fantasy baseball companies cannot operate without paying license fees to MLB to compensate players for the use of their names. A panel of three judges at the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seemed skeptical that MLB could take financial control of a game that uses publicly available statistics and widely known names of players. "MLB is like a public religion. Everyone knows (the players') names and what they look like," said U.S. Judge Morris Arnold. "This is just part of being an American, isn't it?"
I just can't figure out why fans don't like this guy.
I wouldn't exactly worry about losing fantasy baseball, as Judge Arnold said, the case doesn't carry much weight. It's just another case where Bud Selig is so concerned about making money for the game, that he couldn't care less about us, just our dollars.
Of course, if it somehow did go through, it would be great news for everyone else in our MLB Fanhouse League. My team, ironically named Selig Ate My Baby, has a huge lead on everybody else. Their seasons are already over.
Celeb sightings at baseball games are nothing new. If Red Sox fans had a nickel for every shot of Ben Affleck playing grab-ass at Fenway Park, they'd be very rich people indeed.
But there's one celeb I'm always tickled to see taking in a game: Rush bassist, rock legend and Blue Jays season ticket holder Geddy Lee.
Next time you're watching a televised Jays home game, check the Rogers Centre luxury box seats just to the left of home plate.
See that dude with the long hair and sunglasses? Yep, it's the same guy who sings "Tom Sawyer" and "Spirit of Radio."
An admitted fantasy baseball addict, Lee's become something of a curious fixture in ESPNcommercials. But at the Rogers Centre, he's just another pennant-hungry fan, ogling the beer girls, quaffing Labatts Blue Light, occasionally taking the name of Alex Rios in vain, and praying to the Gods of Baseball that A.J. Burnett is gonna be alright this season.
It seems like Jeff Francoeur has been in the majors longer than three years. And it also seems like he was supposed to find his swing and really break out this year. While the first one is still technically true, there's no guarantee for how long, as apparently the Braves confirmed Wednesday that they have debated sending Frenchy to the minors to work on his swing.
There's a company called C.B.C. Distribution and Marketing Inc. in Missouri that's been selling a fantasy baseball game on their website. They're having a minor problem though, because Major League Baseball won't let them use any of the players' names without obtaining a license from the league first.
Despite 
You and I have something in common with 
I had already planned on broaching this topic anyway, but then 
Seriously, Bud Selig must really hate us. To start the season he figured that keeping his customers from being able to 
Celeb sightings at baseball games are nothing new. If Red Sox fans had a nickel for every shot of Ben Affleck playing grab-ass at Fenway Park, they'd be very rich people indeed.
