Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Goodbye Ryan Franklin


Well it finally happened. I saw it coming. I feel bad for Franklin but he had a good career. He went from being a starter to bullpen and then blossomed as a reliever. The four years he spent here he accomplished 84 saves and a All Star appearance in 2009.

Here's the rest of the story:
Tony La Russa and the Cardinals did whatever they could to keep Ryan Franklin around despite the former closer’s struggles this season, using him in the lowest of low-leverage situations and often avoiding bringing him into home games so the St. Louis crowd couldn’t shower him with boos.
Last night’s ugly outing was apparently the final straw, however, as Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that the Cardinals have released Franklin.
During his first four Cardinals seasons Franklin saved 83 games with a 3.04 ERA while allowing just 262 hits in 285 innings. This season he was 1-for-5 converting saves with an 8.46 ERA and .367 opponents’ batting average, serving up a remarkable nine home runs in just 27 innings.
Franklin allowed 11 runs in his final six appearances and at age 38 will almost surely have to settle for a minor-league deal if he wants to continue pitching.

NBC Sports

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