Francoeur to KC; Rangers talk to Crawford

Hey guys, it’s Austin here with some quick Rangers news since I had the time and some news just broke. First off, big congrats and a warm welcome should go out to Stacy Smith for joining Nolan Writin’ and her start so far here. She is the new lead here, as I stepped in during the playoffs and offseason to keep things going here as the interim guy. I will still be popping in every now and then and contributing, but Stacy will be the new lead and I know everyone is excited to have her.

The Texas Rangers got a nice late season addition this year in outfielder Jeff Francoeur. The Rangers ended up getting him from the Mets for very little in the form of giving up Joaquin Arias, and the man nicknamed “Frenchy” came over and ended up being a good late season acquisition for depth in the outfield and batting against left-handers. He batted a nice .340 with 2 HRs and 11 RBIs in 53 plate appearances to end the season in Texas, and then went 3-for-24 in the playoffs. The former 1st round pick of the Braves had a great start to his career and looked promising, bad after a bad 2008 season he was traded to the Mets and never did much there. Today Francoeur and the Kansas City Royals announced that they have agreed to a one-year deal depending on a physical. Jeff could have been a cheap option for some outfield depth and an extra bat, but looks like he will take his services up north a little bit and try to get consistent playing time up there. How much the deal is worth has not been announced.

With all the talks surrounding Cliff Lee, the Rangers had a talk with another big free agent today. Texas met with the agent for outfielder Carl Crawford earlier today. Crawford is considered the next big free agent after Lee, and many teams have shown interest in adding the former Tampa Bay outfielder. Sources confirmed that the Rangers did talk to Crawford’s agent and so the question is what could Crawford do for the Rangers and what would be the situation if the Rangers do sign Lee. It is probably not possible for the Rangers to add Crawford if they sign Cliff Lee to a big deal, and the Rangers are not necessarily in need of Carl coming to Texas. But if something happens and the Rangers do not get Lee to stay, along with looking at trading for Zack Greinke, the Rangers could seriously look at bringing in Crawford. The New York Yankees are after both Crawford and Lee and think they could add both to their payroll. REALLY?!? After the ba-gillion dollars the Yankees spent last year, they want to add to the top two guys again this offseason??? So the Yankees are going to try and buy everything again, along with of course being one of the teams that is rumored to be looking at trading for Greinke. The Rangers do not need Crawford really, as they are looking for a right handed bat (Crawford is a lefty) and already have a full outfield. But after one of the top right-handed bats in Paul Konerko signed to stay in Chicago, the Rangers might just look for one of the best bats out there. The problem is that the Werth signing may have driven up the price for Crawford. Werth got over-payed in his big signing, and now Crawford will want more then what Werth got. I don’t see the Rangers going after Crawford seriously unless they lose out on Lee and can’t find a option that makes more sense for adding another bat.