Left-handed pitcher and former National League Cy Young Award candidate Jeff Francis is currently looking for a roster spot at the Major League level. Francis, soon to celebrate his 30th birthday on the eighth of this month, has experienced setbacks due to injuries over the past two seasons. Over a seven-year big league career, Francis has posted a 4.77 ERA, 1.43 ERA, and a 2.10 strikeout-to-walk (K/BB) ratio.

Jeff missed all of the 2009 season as he was recovering from shoulder surgery (labrum).  He made his 2010 season debut during the month of May after suffering an arm-pit strain that was unrelated to the shoulder surgery during the previous year. Francis was also placed on the 15-day disabled list during the month of August with tendinitis in his throwing shoulder.  For the most part, you could say Francis was healthy last season, as he logged 104 1/3 innings and posted a 5.00 ERA along with a 2.91 K/BB ratio.

While the Nationals, Royals, Rockies, Pirates, Rangers, Yankees, and Mets have been linked to possibly signing Francis, he has yet to have any serious talks with possible suitors.  It's unclear what Francis is looking for contract wise, but it's clear that teams are hesitant to sign the lefty to a deal. A strong possibility is that Francis will end up with a one-year deal that includes incentives, much like deals signed by Rich Harden, Ben Sheets, Brandon Webb, and Erik Bedard (just to name a few).  Francis is unlikely to see the kind of money that the players mentioned above have received during their "Project: Return from injury" year, but he's still capable of making an impact on a big league club.

So what makes Francis attractive to clubs searching for starting pitching? Sure, he's not the "sexy" option while throwing his fastball around 87-90 mph, but he knows how to get batters out.  For starters, he's a left-handed pitcher that from 2005-2010 (minus the 2009 season) has pitched an average of 169 innings.  This is where teams hurting for innings such as the Royals and Nationals can really find value by adding Jeff.  Secondly, Francis has demonstrated that while he's not a big-time strikeout pitcher (6.1 K/9 for his career) - he doesn't walk many batters and allows few home runs.  As you know, not walking many batters and keeping the ball in the park will go a long way with any organization.  Finally, Francis has predominantly been a ground-ball pitcher over his career, as according to FanGraphs.com, he's currently sitting at a 43.2% ground-ball percentage for his career, which was even better last season, sitting at 47%.

For Francis, he has probably lost the velocity on his fastball that once saw him hit in the 90 mph range, but that still doesn't mean he can't be a productive pitcher.  Francis offers a a nice slider from the left-side of the mound and has shown over his career that he's capable of throwing strikes and keeping runners off the basepaths.  He's pitched all of his home games at the bandbox known as Coors Field, so it would be interesting to see what Francis can produce with a change of scenery.  While Francis is no Jon Garland, his current makeup reminds of the right-hander that recently signed a new deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Given his performance over the past six years, it makes sense for a team to take a risk-and-reward approach on the lefty in 2011.  It's simply just a matter of time before one of the above mentioned teams signs Francis to an incentive-laden deal - trust me, they'll thank me later for it.