Full Name: Franklin Francisco
Position: Closer
Born: September 11, 1979 (New Yorkers will always remember his birthday, although they won't be thinking much about him).
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 250 lbs.
How acquired: Signed as a free agent from the Toronto Blue Jays.
Uniform number: 48. He has always worn #50, but I guess that now he's a Met, he is deferring to El Sid.
MLB experience: 7 seasons, with Texas and Toronto.
Best season: 2008, when he appeared in 58 games for Texas with a 3.13 ERA and a 1.153 WHIP.
Injury history: Tommy John surgery (2007); Pectoral muscle (2011).
2012 salary: $4 million.
Actual scouting notes: The mercurial Francisco is a semi-legitimate closer, who saved 25 games for Texas in 2009 and 17 games for Toronto in 2011. He's a typical power closer, with high K/9 ratios and low H/9 ratios throughout his career. His strikeouts have diminsihed since his peak 2008 season, but he still can bring a mean fastball and a nasty slider. He was brilliant in the later months of the 2011 season for the Blue Jays after an injury-delayed start. He may not save as many games as K-Rod, but he should be less heart-attack-inducing while doing it.
Weird, wild stuff: The big story in Frank's career is, of course, the chair-throwing incident in Oakland in 2004 when he opened a cut on a woman's face after going all WWE on her in the midst of an on-field brawl. The woman's husband had been using racial slurs and referring to his stillborn child all evening, according to other members of the Rangers bullpen. He was sentenced to anger management classes and settled a civil suit with the woman. He served a suspension for the remainder of the year before undergoing Tommy John surgery. It seems as though he's put the incident behind him and has not had any other disciplinary run-ins. Frank has the distinction of being the guy the Rangers sent to Toronto to get Mike Napoli, who nearly single-handedly won the World Series for Texas in 2011. This signing was not very significant, since the Mets will have few games to close, but Francisco should be reasonably reliable when called upon.
Position: Closer
Born: September 11, 1979 (New Yorkers will always remember his birthday, although they won't be thinking much about him).
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 250 lbs.
How acquired: Signed as a free agent from the Toronto Blue Jays.
Uniform number: 48. He has always worn #50, but I guess that now he's a Met, he is deferring to El Sid.
MLB experience: 7 seasons, with Texas and Toronto.
Best season: 2008, when he appeared in 58 games for Texas with a 3.13 ERA and a 1.153 WHIP.
Injury history: Tommy John surgery (2007); Pectoral muscle (2011).
2012 salary: $4 million.
Actual scouting notes: The mercurial Francisco is a semi-legitimate closer, who saved 25 games for Texas in 2009 and 17 games for Toronto in 2011. He's a typical power closer, with high K/9 ratios and low H/9 ratios throughout his career. His strikeouts have diminsihed since his peak 2008 season, but he still can bring a mean fastball and a nasty slider. He was brilliant in the later months of the 2011 season for the Blue Jays after an injury-delayed start. He may not save as many games as K-Rod, but he should be less heart-attack-inducing while doing it.
Weird, wild stuff: The big story in Frank's career is, of course, the chair-throwing incident in Oakland in 2004 when he opened a cut on a woman's face after going all WWE on her in the midst of an on-field brawl. The woman's husband had been using racial slurs and referring to his stillborn child all evening, according to other members of the Rangers bullpen. He was sentenced to anger management classes and settled a civil suit with the woman. He served a suspension for the remainder of the year before undergoing Tommy John surgery. It seems as though he's put the incident behind him and has not had any other disciplinary run-ins. Frank has the distinction of being the guy the Rangers sent to Toronto to get Mike Napoli, who nearly single-handedly won the World Series for Texas in 2011. This signing was not very significant, since the Mets will have few games to close, but Francisco should be reasonably reliable when called upon.