In his blog this evening, MLB and Braves beat writer Mark Bowman had this to say about Jeff Francoeur:
The Royals are watching Jeff Francoeur this weekend and there's still obviously a chance that Dayton Moore could be prompted to make a deal for the 25-year-old outfielder.
But to make this deal work, the Braves may need to be willing to assume the baggage and cost that Jose Guillen would bring. Guillen is making $12 million this season and he'll be owed and equal amount before his contract expires at the end of the 2010 season.
I can see KC being one of the more likely destinations for Frenchy, but the Braves wouldn't take on that Guillen contract in a million years. It's one thing to want to get rid of a guy who is under performing as badly as Francoeur is, but taking on a player like Guillen is not too much of an upgrade, and it's certainly not an improvement when his contract is condiered. For $12 million a year, the Braves could get a lot more out of the free agent or trade market than Jose Guillen.