New York Yankees Should Sign Free Agent Jeff Francis

When Cliff Lee shocked the baseball world and signed with the Philadelphia Phillies he left a big hole in the New York Yankees plans for 2011. The Yankees wanted Lee to shore up their rotation next year especially their playoff and World Series rotation and were willing to pay Lee a king's ransom. But he chose the Phillies in a move which could have been dictated by how badly his wife was heckled and treated at Yankee Stadium during the LCS.

With Cliff Lee gone the Yankees need a backup plan. There is another talented free-agent lefty starting pitcher on the market and his name is Jeff Francis. Francis has pitched his whole career for the Colorado Rockies and has compiled a 55-50 record with a 4.77 ERA and a 2.1 strikeout to walk ratio.

Francis missed the entire 2009 season due to arm surgery but returned in May of 2010 to go 4-6 with 5.00 ERA in 19 starts. For his career when adjusted for the parks he pitched in Jeff Francis has pitched to the league ERA. And the park he pitched in was in Colorado.

In general pitchers who pitch in hitters parks will pitch far better when they get into parks that favor their style of pitching.

In the minor leagues Francis was a great pitcher going 29-12 with a 2.57 ERA and 4.8 K to BB ratio. He also averaged 10 K's per 9 innings.

Yankee Stadium greatly favors left handed pitchers due to its spacious left and left-center fields. In the recent past the New York Yankees have wasted exorbitant amounts of money on right handed free agent starting pitchers like Jaret Wright, Carl Pavano and A J Burnett. All of whom were or are busts to date because the dimensions of Yankee Stadium are brutal to right handed starters with anything but outstanding talent.

The Yankees would probably be able to sign Jeff Francis cheaply. Certainly he will get a lot less money than they were offering Cliff Lee and probably less money than they gave to Wright or Pavano and far less than Burnett.

Francis is still a bit of an injury risk but because he fits Yankee Stadium as a lefty signing free-agent Jeff Francis is a good backup plan for the New York Yankees for 2011 and beyond.

Sources:

Baseball-Reference