Jeff Francoeur Signs 2 Year Extension

Jeff Francoeur and the Royals reached an agreement yesterday that will keep the outfielder in Kansas City for two more seasons.  Francoeur’s deal is good for $13.5 million over two years.

Francoeur’s made the most of his first season with the Royals, posting a line of .277/.329/.463 with 15 home runs, 35 doubles and 19 stolen bases while manning right field.

After being traded from the Mets to the Rangers last August, Francoeur saw playoff action for the first time in 5 years.  Following Texas’s loss to the Giants in the World Series, Francoeur received his release and became a free agent.

A month later the 27 year old signed on with the Royals.  Still considered young by most standards, Francoeur was brought in to be a veteran on what’s become the youngest club in the Majors.  Francoeur’s ability to lead the rookies was a large reason Kansas City went ahead with the extension.

"“He’s been around and he’s very in tune to a team setting,” Yost said. “He’s as good a team leader as anybody I’ve ever seen. Terry Pendleton [at Atlanta] was really good but Frenchy’s really good at being one of the top guys in the clubhouse. … You’ve got to have somebody that’s in the trenches with you, to provide not only vocal leadership, but visual leadership — it’s not, ‘Don’t do as I do, do as I say; it’s do as I do.'”"

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