According to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com, free agent left-hander Jeff Francis is beginning to attract more interest from teams in the market for a starting pitcher. The Mariners, Reds, Blue Jays and Mets are among the teams believed to be in the mix.
Francis, who turned 31 earlier this month, went 6-16 with the Royals last season while posting a 4.82 ERA and 91/39 K/BB ratio over 183 innings.
Francis has never thrown particularly hard to begin with, but after averaging 87.1 mph on his fastball in 2010 following shoulder surgery, he averaged a career-low 84.7 mph last season. Among qualified starters, only R.A. Dickey and Livan Hernandez had less velocity on their fastball in 2011. On the bright side, Francis averaged 1.9 BB/9 and induced ground balls 47 percent of the time for the second straight season. He could do well as a fifth starter in the right environment.
