KC Royals: The up-and-down career of Jeff Francoeur

Jeff Francoeur is a name many KC Royals fans remember well. He could hit well, was one of the most likable players in the sport throughout his 12-season major league career, had priceless interactions with fans, and possessed a cannon arm perhaps rivaled in Kansas City only by teammate Alex Gordon during the three seasons (2011 through part of 2013) “Frenchy” spent with the Royals.

Francoeur’s style of play also endeared him to the fans. He was exciting to watch—whenever a challenging ball soared his way in the outfield, you just knew he could play it and would probably make a fantastic catch.

Francoeur’s power justified the high expectations that he’d be a great star coming out of high school—he hit 55 home runs during his time at Atlanta suburb Lilburn, Georgia’s, Parkview High School. But baseball wasn’t the only game he was good at.

He was also a prep football star.

Jeff Francoeur was an excellent football player at Parkview High School.

Francoeur played both ways on the gridiron and had some excellent numbers—he snared 28 touchdown passes over his junior and senior seasons, had a 1,000-yard-plus receiving campaign his senior season, and intercepted 15 passes his junior year.

The Clemson Tigers wanted Francoeur to play football for them, and although he committed to do so in 2002, the major league draft came in June and the Atlanta Braves selected him with the 23rd overall pick in the first round.

Baseball won over. Francoeur signed with Atlanta.

Before he joined the KC Royals, Francoeur enjoyed some success in Atlanta.

It didn’t take long for Jeff Francoeur to establish himself—and his bat—in the Atlanta system.

He hit .327 with eight home runs and 31 RBIs in a brief Rookie Ball stint after he signed in 2002, .281 with 14 home runs and 68 RBIs in Low-A in 2003 and .276 with 15 home runs and 52 RBIs across High-A and Double-A the following season.

Then, in 2005, Francoeur’s 13 homers and .275 average earned a midseason call-up to Atlanta, where he homered in his first major league game.

Francoeur finished his rookie season with a .300/.336/.549 line, 14 home runs and 45 RBIs in 70 games.

And Francoeur’s 2006 was good—.260 with 29 home runs and 103 RBIs. So was 2007, when he hit .293 with 19 home runs, 105 RBIs and 40 doubles, and won a Gold Glove.

Then, his career turned.

A promising career moves in a different direction for Jeff Francoeur.

Francoeur didn’t fare well in 2008. He hit .239 and dropped off significantly to 71 RBIs. In 2009, after hitting .250 with five home runs in 82 games, Atlanta traded slumping Francoeur to the Mets in July.

In New York, Francoeur seemed to get back on track, hitting .311 with 10 homers in 75 games.

The next year, Francoeur was batting an ugly .237 when the Mets traded him to the Rangers. He hit .340 in 15 regular season games and .125 in nine postseason contests.

Francoeur signed a one-year contract with the Royals that winter. It may have been no coincidence that he chose Kansas City—General Manager Dayton Moore was in the Braves’ front office during part of Francoeur’s Atlanta years.

His playing career ends but Jeff Francoeur manages to stay around the game.

Francoeur dug himself into a slump once again in 2013 and was hitting .208 with three home runs in 59 games. Those numbers were his last as a Royal—the club designated him for assignment in June.

It didn’t take that long for him to find another home, though. He signed on with San Francisco, spent a short time in the minors, then returned to the big leagues in mid-July. Francoeur appeared in just 22 games and hit .194 before the Giants released him.

Cleveland signed him to a minor league deal that winter but released him before the 2014 season began. The Padres soon picked him up and sent him to Triple-A; he made it to San Diego in late July, but hit only .083, was outrighted in mid-August, and elected free agency after the season.

Francoeur’s 2015 was better—he played 118 games for the Phillies and hit .258 with 13 home runs.

Francoeur wrapped up his career in 2016, splitting time between the Braves and the Marlins and hitting a combined .254 with seven home runs. He finished his 12-year career with 160 home runs and a .261 average.

But his days in baseball weren’t over. He started a new career in broadcasting and has worked as an Atlanta color analyst since 2017. He’s also done postseason work for TBS.

It’s great to see Francoeur still involved in the game of baseball. While his career was very much a roller-coaster of ups and downs, he was a down-to-earth player who enjoyed a mutual admiration society with fans.

Despite his up-and-down career, Jeff Francoeur might be one of the most beloved players in Royals history.