The Royals are close to filling the void after the Zach Greinke trade as they look to be closer to a one year deal with Jeff Francis. Money wasn’t released but Francis is a quality left hander who’s number may be a little overblown after he’s pitched in the more hitter friendly Coors Field. Francis missed all of 2009 and came back in 2010 to a mediocre season. His last good year was back in 2007 when he won 17 games.
Francis isn’t a front of the rotation starter anymore like Zach Greinke was but it provides us with a reliable stop gap until some of these prospects we traded for move up the ladder. On top of that, it’s low risk because it’s only a one year deal so it’ll be interesting to see how Francis pitches in the more pitching neutral Kauffman Stadium.