John Fay is reporting that 31-year old LHP Jeff Francis has become a free agent and is testing the major league waters to see if anyone will give him a chance. He had an out in his contract that allowed him to elect free agency on June 1.
He’s rocking a 3.72 ERA with AAA Louisville, which is previous years probably would have gotten him a look. That 3-6 record he sports isn’t a shiny, but we all know how that can go for pitchers, plus he’s coming off a really great start against the Tampa Bay Ray’s minor league affiliate.
This isn’t the best team to be trying to bust in to with the way the bullpen has been performing, so looking around might uncover just the opportunity he’s looking for. If not, though, it sounds like he’s got the opportunity to come back to the Reds. There’s bound to be an injury at some point (knock on wood).
It’s just like two years never passed, and not just because the Reds are atop the division again (albeit feeling much less green this time around). I’m also talking about my RHM inbox, which features four emails that I’ve been holding on to since 2010. I was neck-deep in MBA coursework then, so I just held on to them thinking, “someday…”
I figure it’s now or never: everyone knows that 2-year old emails are OK, but there’s a strict 3-year expiration date on emails. So, let’s see what we’ve got…
July 2010 – New book exposes baseball pension scandal
On April 14, 2010 the book A Bitter Cup of Coffee; How MLB & The Players Association Threw 874 Retirees a Curve was released, detailing how guys who came up for a cuppa between 1947 and 1979 got screwed pension-wise.
August 2010 – A request to be the exclusive diamond and watch dealer advertising on RHM
Not sure why I kept this one. I think they misunderstood what kind of diamonds I write about.
August 2010 – Interview with a female baseball memorabilia expert
Are female sports memorabilia experts unusual? Apparently enough so that it was worth drawing special attention to in this email I received about an interview with baseball memorabilia appraiser Leila Dunbar.
I dream of a day when people will fail to read this article because they don’t give a rat’s ass about Yankees’ memorabilia, and not because its subject is a woman.
August 2010 – A cool video of Seaver and Rose from 1977 Play that Funky Baseball is a blog obsessed with reliving baseball from the ’70s, and they posted this clip of Pete Rose and Tom Seaver on the Mike Douglas Show. Boy, the pace of television was a lot different back then. It was interesting to hear them talking about the controversy of this new practice of renegotiating contracts and explaining free agency “for the ladies who don’t know what it is.”
Unfortunately the Reds couldn’t quite put together the sweep of the Astros last night, as they lost the final game of the three-game series, 3-5.
Bronson Arroyo started for the Reds. He allowed 5 runs (earned) on 8 hits and a walk in 6.1 innings. The 2-run home run he gave up to Maxwell in the seventh inning was pivotal, though if I were Arroyo, I might be a touch annoyed that a team who came up with 12 runs the day before couldn’t come up with even half that much when I started.
After Arroyo, Sean Marshall came out for an inning, followed by one of the few guys who didn’t pitch the day before, Logan Ondrusek for .2. Both pitchers allowed zero runs.
On the offensive side, Zack Cozart had 2 of the team’s RBI and Joey Votto had the other. Only Cozart had more than one hit on the night, going 2-for-4 with a run scored. Arroyo helped himself out a little with a hit and a run scored as well.
The loss brings the Reds record to 30-23, in first by 3.0 games. The Reds have an off-day today. They host the second-place Pirates in a three-game series starting tomorrow. First pitch at 7:10 p.m.
Posted in Game Wrap. Comments Off on Game 53: Reds 3, Astros 5
Last Game
It was a solid series, but the Reds just couldn’t put together the sweep last night as they lost to the Astros 3-5. Meanwhile, the Cardinals have been getting beaten up by the Mets, putting the Pittsburgh Pirates in second place when I woke up this morning.
Next Game
The Reds are off today; it’s their second off-day in less than a week. Tomorrow they host those second-place Pirates.
Innings Eater
It’s always one of those “how can time possibly go so fast?” moments when I realize how long Bronson Arroyo has been with the Reds. This is his seventh season with the team. A baby born when he came to Cincinnati would be enjoying the summer between first and second grade now.
He hasn’t set the world on fire in that amount of time, but has persistently put in work. So much so, in fact, that in the time he’s been with the team, Arroyo leads the NL in starts (211) and innings pitched (1,349).
What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
It’s draft day! You can even tune in to see the selection of dozens of players who will never crack the bigs. It’s on MLB Network, and the Reds’ first pick will probably be around 8:20 p.m. ET
Posted in Daily Briefs. Comments Off on Daily Brief: Changing of the guard
The New York Mets finally got their first no-hitter in team history, and the St. Louis Cardinals were unlucky enough to be the opposing team.
The city’s newspaper covered it with the grace and style you would expect from the city of the self-proclaimed “Best fans in baseball.” Just kidding. They whined and added an asterisk to the headline for Johan Santana’s historic achievement.
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John Fay is reporting that 31-year old LHP Jeff Francis has become a free agent and is testing the major league waters to see if anyone will give him a chance. He had an out in his contract that allowed him to elect free agency on June 1.
