Nearly a day after word came out that Rymer Liriano was getting called up to San Diego, the team made it official. As was expected, the Padres designated veteran outfielder Jeff Francoeur for assignment.
Francoeur's stay with the Padres was brief. Since being summoned from AAA El Paso on July 23, the one-time phenom saw action in ten games and registered just two singles in 24 at-bats. On the bright side, one of those hits did come in front of his old fans in Atlanta, so it wasn't a complete lost cause for him. Plus, he got away from Cody Decker; one can only imagine how bad the third prank would have been.
The only regret I have about Francoeur's stay being cut short is that we never got the chance to see him pitch in a major league game. In his time with the El Paso Chihuahuas earlier in the year, Francoeur made seven relief appearances for a total of 6.1 innings in mop-up situations. With this latest setback, perhaps he might consider making a full-on conversion like his El Paso teammate Jason Lane.