Matt Murton vs Jeff Francoeur

by dbimberg on Dec 8, 2006 10:02 PM EST

I know this is a minor league site, and that these players each spent the entire last season in the bigs, but they are both young(Murton is 3 years older than Francoeur, I think) and there is still some doubt about them long term.

Who will have a better career, Matt Murton or Jeff Francoeur?

Francoeur certainly has the hype as a young player, but Murton has had real good numbers in the bigs. Francoeur plays a better defense, and I think by a lot.

Murton 2005 321/386/521 22K 16BB 140AB
Murton 2006 297/365/444 62K 45BB 455AB

Francoeur 2005 300/336/549 58K 11BB 257AB
Francoeur 2006 260/293/449 132K 23BB 651AB

Poll

Who will have a better career?

Matt Murton

55 votes

Jeff Francoeur

78 votes

133 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

hmmm...

First off, I think the age differences are pretty important, but then again, most people know that.

Second, BJHB (The Fielding Bible +/-) shows Murton as being very good on defense in 2006, which surprised me. He appears to have slightly below-average range when I see him, which is a lot.

by BobbyMac on Dec 9, 2006 12:26 AM EST reply actions

Murton

I don't know much about Francouer, but I really like Murton. He did very well as a fourth outfielder on my fantasy team last year.

by BenB on Dec 9, 2006 2:37 AM EST reply actions

Francouer, easily

I don't see Murton getting much better than he is now. Eventually he'll slow down, and become a Kevin Millar type, a liability in the field with decent OBP skills and a little pop.

Francouer is a more gifted athlete, and his one major flaw (plate discipline) is one that can be improved upon.

by SmokeyJoeWood on Dec 9, 2006 9:37 AM EST reply actions

Francouer

>and his one major flaw (plate discipline) is one that can be improved upon..

Can be, but seldom is. Reality is that Francouer's poor plate discipline will probably prevent him from reaching his ceiling. Sometime the light goes on with strikezone control, but most times the player never learns. That being said I still think Francouer will have a better career than Murton. I don't think Murton will be anything above an average player, and Francouer even with a modest improvement in his strikezone control should be better than that.

by eastin on Dec 9, 2006 12:58 PM EST up reply actions