The Julio Franco Factor

By Taryn "The Coop" Cooper
Posted Tuesday, October 9, 2007

On December 8, 2005, Julio Franco, then 47 years old, signed a two-year contract with the New York Mets. His previous team, the Atlanta Braves, were one-upped by Mets’ General Manager Omar Minaya: they had only offered the utility player and overall good baseball guy one measly year.

Mets fans were pretty ambivalent about this move. For one, Franco, it seemed, was being ”groomed” for a coaching position and was pretty much used as a calming influence in a clubhouse mixed with young guys breaking into their own and veterans who had been around. How could fans not like the guy whose entrance music sang strains of “People get ready…Jesus is coming!”

Plus, it seemed to only cost the Mets money, not prospects. And if the dude could still mash, as we like to say, what was the harm? And in April of 2006, when new Mets man Carlos Beltran hit his first home run of the season and would not acknowledge the fans’ cries for a curtain call, it was Franco who talked Beltran down from the proverbial ledge, and was, in Mets' folklore, the guy who saved Beltran from Mets fans.

Although Franco seemed to be a non-factor, except being listed everywhere as the “oldest player to (fill-in-the-blank),” Mets fans didn’t complain. The Mets were on a historical run to the National League East title and were playoff bound. If Franco could be construed as a feel-good story during that time, so be it.

It was clear, however, that in early 2007, the geriatric player had outlived his feel-good welcome. Although the Mets had won a game in the first week of the season against the Nationals on a key RBI hit by Franco in later innings, his underwhelming .214 average in the month of June (still beating his monthly average in May of .174), plus the insistence of Willie Randolph on using his bat over others on the bench during these few months, led Met fans to tire of his oldest man to do whatever in baseball act and the outcry (not to mention rumors about Willie Randolph’s relationship with Franco) led to Minaya, a Julio Franco ally, to DFA him. Ironically, Franco went back to the Atlanta Braves, the team that would not give him a two-year contract back in the 2005/2006 offseason.

Though in hindsight, this was clearly a good move. Since Willie Randolph could no longer turn to him on the bench and the re-addition of nouveau Rusty Staub-esque pinch-hitter Marlon Anderson, questions have recently been raised about Julio Franco’s effect on the clubhouse and alternatively, what his removal from the team did to clubhouse chemistry.

Was Franco’s departure the contribution to the decline of the Mets’ play in 2007?

Rumor has it that Jose Reyes and Julio Franco shared a special friendship. Whether it was because Jose Reyes has a natural propensity to respect his elders (stories point to him leaning on his parents for guidance in his young years), or that Franco was truly a mentor to Reyes, prior to Franco's departure, Reyes in general seemed to be a happy-go-lucky guy in the clubhouse.

Now, many fans (even people paid to watch) have their own theories about Reyes’ noticeable decline in the second half. Some point to Reyes’ getting caught up in his hype to steal the most bases he can, which takes a distinct toll on one’s body, especially when playing a demanding infield position like shortstop. And we all saw not only Reyes’ defensive game take its toll, but his focus on stealing bases as soon as he got on took its toll on his offensive game as well.

Other point to the game on July 6 versus the Houston Astros, when Willie Randolph famously benched Reyes for not “hustling” out a grounder that Reyes believed was foul. While Reyes distinctly lost his ability to smile during that last inning, many players and coaches tried to console him. Fans and lay baseball people alike point to this game as the change in demeanor therefore change in play of Jose Reyes. Not being happy translates into not hustling and losing points on his game.

Some fans point to the Rickey Henderson factor. Henderson may be a respected player, but has an image of being a “me-first” player and always concerned with his own stats (not to mention his own poker game) during key games. Henderson was hired by Omar Minaya after firing Randolph’s “brother” Rick Down as hitting coach, promoted then-first base coach Howard Johnson to hitting coach and brought Henderson in to replace Johnson.

When Jose Reyes got caught stealing twice in the same game against the Phillies in August, it was clear that Reyes was not the same player. Some people point to Henderson’s influence. Is it fair to bring up the level-headedness of state elder Julio Franco’s influence?

Though Franco was still with the team when Reyes was benched, I believe I vaguely remember Franco consoling Reyes. I even think I remember Reyes smiling in response to something Franco may have said to him. Franco is let go a few days later. But something is to be said about Reyes’ performance in the month of July. His batting average noticeably declined to .265 that month from a .300 in June.

Statisticians may say he was regressing. In fact, someone brought up on another board that if four years ago, someone said Reyes would hit .280 and have a bunch of stolen bases AND played a full season, we’d have been more than fine with it.

Here’s another theory to go along with the Franco Factor. Tony Bernazard, Omar Minaya’s right-hand man, has been rumored to cause a “rift” in the Mets clubhouse. Bernazard, the Mets’ number one scouting guy for Latin American talent, has a bond with the Latino players on the Mets. Carlos Delgado once famously said something to the effect that Bernazard is the highest paid translator in all of baseball.

In all fairness, Bernazard is a respected baseball guy, but it makes The Coop wonder whether if Franco was kept around solely because of his relationship with the younger players, was the presence of Bernazard in the clubhouse – which had not been thought to be an issue before – directly relational to letting the guy that the players bonded with leave?

I can only speculate. But Franco, for as much as we got on him for choking in key spots, was a good guy and the players seemed to like him. The Coop even brought up a question --if Franco was simply being groomed for a coaching job, why wasn’t he just made a coach instead of taking a valuable bench spot? That said, another rumored “rift “ between Minaya and Randolph is the fact that Randolph was assigned his coaches, and perhaps he didn’t get along with Franco. Was his departure the reason for the downfall of the team?

I think it’s a little far-fetched, personally. But then again, this season’s collapse is also a little far-fetched. How many of us actually believed that the Mets would not make the postseason this year? And even though Franco rejoined the Braves, he didn’t figure in much, as they fared worse than the Mets did.

But it was clear that when Franco was around, he was a cohesive force. And after he left, a definite lack of bonding occurred with the rest of the team. Is it too far-fetched to think that Franco leaving may have had something to do with it? Perhaps we will never know. But it’s something that makes the Coop go hmmmmmmmmm.