Ryan Church traded for Jeff Francouer
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The Atlanta Braves traded Jeff Francoeur and cash to the New York Mets for Ryan Church on Friday in a swap of outfielders who had fallen out of favor with their teams.
The deal came with both NL East teams below .500. The Mets have especially struggled to score lately with stars Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado on the disabled list.
Church is hitting .280 with two home runs and 22 runs batted in. Solid at the plate and in the field, he was slowed last year by two concussions.
Francoeur, 25, is hitting .250 with five homers and 35 RBIs. He was a favorite with Braves fans and management during his first full season in 2006, when hit 29 home runs with 103 RBIs while playing all 162 games.
Betancourt to Royals
The Kansas City Royals shored up their infield, acquiring Yuniesky Betancourt from the Seattle Mariners for a pair of minor league pitchers.
The Royals needed help at shortstop after Mike Aviles, who hit .325 as a rookie last year, went on the disabled list May 23.
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