The official Mets sign Frank Francisco announcement

Cleaning up from yesterday…here’s the official announcement  I guarantee you Junior will get all confused between Mr. Francisco and K-Rod with who is who.

 

FLUSHING, N.Y., December 19, 2011 – The New York Mets today announced the club has signed free agent righthanded pitcher Frank Francisco to a two-year contract.

 

Francisco, 32, went 1-4 with 17 saves and a 3.55 ERA (20 earned runs/50.2 innings) in 54 games with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2011.  The 6-2, 250-pounder issued 18 walks and had 53 strikeouts.  He converted all seven save opportunities and posted a 1.37 ERA (four earned runs/26.1 innings) after the All-Star break.  Francisco hurled 16.0 scoreless innings from July 22-September 5.

 

The Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native has appeared in 50 or more games in each of the last five years.  He was 6-4 with two saves and a 3.76 ERA (22 earned runs/52.2 innings) with 60 strikeouts while helping the Texas Rangers advance to the World Series in 2010.

 

Francisco set a career-high with 25 saves in 2009 with Texas.  He ranks fifth among American League relievers with 302 strikeouts over the last five years (2007-2011).

 

He is 18-19 with 49 saves and a 3.72 ERA (138 earned runs/334.0 innings) with 368 strikeouts in 331 games with Texas and Toronto during his seven-year major league career.