• Jamie Shoemaker

Braves rumors: Pence, Willingham, and Jeff Francoeur?

The Braves are starting to twirl around those trade rumors and it seems they have their eyes set on making a trade for an outfield bat. Let’s run down through some of the players that the Braves have been linked to:
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  • Dan Mennella, MLBTradeRumors.com, links Ryan Ludwick to the Braves as a possibility for outfield help.

Ludwick is due to make $6.8M this year. Ryan’s stats are below and I don’t really think he’s that much of an upgrade. If we can get him for nothing, then OK I guess, but not for a good prospect. My take: Pass.

Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP
2011 32 SDP NL 69 290 259 31 67 10 0 9 45 1 1 24 55 .259 .325 .402 .727 109 104 5
9 Seasons 720 2701 2410 341 640 135 7 113 420 17 17 229 599 .266 .336 .468 .804 114 1128 38
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/20/2011.

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Josh was signed for 1 year, $6M and has displayed a little power this year. His BA and OBP are horrendous and look too close to most of the Braves lines. I do not know why we are looking at him. The Phillies are also in the running for Willingham.

Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP
2011 32 OAK AL 64 257 229 27 53 11 0 10 42 4 1 22 76 .231 .307 .410 .718 98 94 3
8 Seasons 727 2859 2448 347 641 141 13 113 378 29 7 324 591 .262 .362 .469 .830 119 1147 55
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/20/2011.

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Pence on the other hand has been having a nice season so far. Pence is at $6M and is locked up until 2014. Pence would obviously fill the void that the Braves will have next year when they decline Nate McLouth‘s option this winter. I’m sure the Astros will demand quite a haul for him though.

Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP
2007 24 HOU NL 108 484 456 57 147 30 9 17 69 11 5 26 95 .322 .360 .539 .899 129 246 10
2008 25 HOU NL 157 642 595 78 160 34 4 25 83 11 10 40 124 .269 .318 .466 .783 105 277 14
2009 26 HOU NL 159 647 585 76 165 26 5 25 72 14 11 58 109 .282 .346 .472 .818 116 276 25
2010 27 HOU NL 156 658 614 93 173 29 3 25 91 18 9 41 105 .282 .325 .461 .786 114 283 11
2011 28 HOU NL 70 310 290 33 93 20 2 9 51 4 0 19 62 .321 .361 .497 .858 141 144 4
5 Seasons 650 2741 2540 337 738 139 23 101 366 58 35 184 495 .291 .339 .483 .821 118 1226 64
162 Game Avg. 162 683 633 84 184 35 6 25 91 14 9 46 123 .291 .339 .483 .821 118 306 16
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/20/2011.

 

Here’s what Stark had to say:

• The Braves are outpitching just about every team in baseball — including the Phillies. But the Braves continue to worry about an offense that ranks 12th in the National League and 22nd in the big leagues in runs scored per game. So they’re aggressively positioning themselves to deal for an outfield bat as soon as they can find a team ready to open its sell-off shop for business. They’ve checked in on Josh Willingham and Hunter Pence. And an exec of one team reports: “They want a right-handed bat. But at this point, I think they’d take any bat.”

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Francoeur, as Dodd puts it, would be a good addition to a team as a fourth outfielder. His stats are good and what seems like a resurging Frenchy. With Moore and Frenchy having a history and good relationship, I really don’t think they will trade him. I’m sure Jeff would be very unhappy if he got traded again.

Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP
2005 21 ATL NL 70 274 257 41 77 20 1 14 45 3 2 11 58 .300 .336 .549 .884 126 141 4
2006 22 ATL NL 162 686 651 83 169 24 6 29 103 1 6 23 132 .260 .293 .449 .742 87 292 15
2007 23 ATL NL 162 696 642 84 188 40 0 19 105 5 2 42 129 .293 .338 .444 .782 102 285 14
2008 24 ATL NL 155 652 599 70 143 33 3 11 71 0 1 39 111 .239 .294 .359 .653 72 215 18
2009 25 TOT NL 157 632 593 72 166 32 4 15 76 6 4 23 92 .280 .309 .423 .732 93 251 13
2009 25 ATL NL 82 324 304 32 76 12 2 5 35 5 1 12 46 .250 .282 .352 .634 67 107 10
2009 25 NYM NL 75 308 289 40 90 20 2 10 41 1 3 11 46 .311 .338 .498 .836 120 144 3
2010 26 TOT MLB 139 503 454 52 113 18 2 13 65 8 3 30 81 .249 .300 .383 .683 85 174 9
2010 26 NYM NL 124 447 401 43 95 16 2 11 54 8 2 29 76 .237 .293 .369 .662 80 148 7
2010 26 TEX AL 15 56 53 9 18 2 0 2 11 0 1 1 5 .340 .357 .491 .848 124 26 2
2011 27 KCR AL 69 301 274 30 72 17 2 9 43 10 0 15 52 .263 .306 .438 .744 107 120 9
7 Seasons 914 3744 3470 432 928 184 18 110 508 33 18 183 655 .267 .309 .426 .735 93 1478 82
162 Game Avg. 162 664 615 77 164 33 3 19 90 6 3 32 116 .267 .309 .426 .735 93 262 15
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/20/2011.