August 15, 2003
Prospecting
Jeff Francoeur

by David Cameron

"Nothing is certain in this world except death and taxes."
--Ben Franklin

Allow me to amend this statement slightly; nothing is certain except death, taxes, and the Atlanta Braves drafting high school players from Georgia. After Roy Clark replaced Paul Snyder as the scouting director prior to the 2000 season, the Braves made a conscious effort to focus on local talent. During the next three drafts, Atlanta selected 23 players from the state of Georgia, including using their first selection in each draft on a high school player from the area.

In 2000, they spent their first pick on 6'7" right-hander Adam Wainwright, who has emerged as one of the better pitching prospects in the game. In 2001, they went with a shorter southpaw and ended up with Macay McBride, who may actually be closer to contributing to the Braves' staff than Wainwright. Last season brought us the worst-kept secret of the draft, when the Braves selected Jeff Francoeur and bought him out of a football scholarship to Clemson University.

Francoeur is the prototypical Braves prospect. Besides being born and raised in suburban Atlanta, he's a tremendous athlete who could excel at multiple sports. The Braves covet players with physical skills, trusting their player development personnel to translate the natural abilities into baseball productivity. While many organizations have attempted to copy this philosophy, few, if any, have managed to pull it off. Regardless of the lack of success of their imitators, however, the Braves have held firm to their beliefs. The high-risk, high-reward philosophies instituted in the early 90s helped produce the crop of homegrown talent that led to 11 consecutive division championships. While one could argue that there are more cost-effective ways to develop talent, the Braves certainly have reason to feel vindicated in their methods.

When you watch a player like Jeff Francoeur, it is easy to see why Atlanta's Director of Player Personnel, Dayton Moore, calls him "an especially gifted athlete." At 6'4", he generates a lot of power with his swing and hits everything hard. He has a quick stroke but has been out in front of off-speed pitches each time I have seen him, and timing is still an issue. A right-handed hitter, he has above-average power pulling the ball to left field, but still needs to learn how to hit with authority to right and center fields. His main focus this season has been hitting the ball up the middle, but most of his power still comes when he turns on a pitch. He covers the plate well but isn't very selective, and would be better served to wait for pitches that he can pull. He doesn't have any mechanical flaws in his swing that suggest he will have difficulty adjusting to higher-level pitching, so his plate discipline could be what makes or breaks him.