About Ryan Church

[bmfc1]

What do you think about Ryan Church? Is he going to be the everyday RF next year?

We don't know who the real Ryan Church is. I never thought of much of Church when he was with the Nationals and neither did the Nationals. With the Mets, he played every day and as of May 20, he was hitting .379 with 9 HR and 32 RBI. Then, his head hit the knee of Yunel Escobar (remember Atlanta fans booing Church two days later?) and he wasn't the same for the rest of the year. He was supposed to be healthy in September but we can all visualize him waiving at sinkers in the dirt.

With the Mets, he played every day and had superior players around him than he had in Washington, so maybe what we saw pre-injury was the real Ryan Church.

Or, maybe that was an aberration. A smart guy who I used to converse with at the late [u:760c731386]New York Times[/u:760c731386] Mets Forum wrote to me on Monday and we discussed Church. He opined that Church "is what he is. Concussion may have stopped him, but he was due for slump. We were lucky that he hit while everyone else was asleep in April and May. Was an okay #2 hitter when hot, but the Mets need more from their corners OFer."

Church is also an excellent defender and appeared to like NY. I remember that when he returned, he got a standing ovation which made his wife cry. Francessa disagrees, saying yesterday that Church "hated New York... hated his team, hated the city." Jon Heyman said that he never heard that. I don't believe everything Francessa says, of course.

So are the Mets good at RF next year with Church or should Omar look for an upgrade?

[Guest AG/DC]

I don't think Francessa's statements should be a factor ever.

It's quite possible that he was as good as he looked in the early season, but thanks to his head injury, may never be again.

I write him in as a starter, but pursue a strong backup plan.

[smg58]

Church is probably not as good as he looked in April, and a healthy Ryan Church is certainly not as bad as he looked in the last month. If Church gets over his concussion, I think he's capable of an .850 OPS with plus defense. I do think the Mets need a solid pair of righthanded outfielders on their bench, tough. I hope Tatis is one, but I'd really like to see Nick Evans playing first base in AAA. That also means they have to move either Chavez or Anderson.

[Benjamin Grimm]

There's a much better argument for keeping Endy than Anderson, but neither is a lock to return.

[metirish]

I would like to see what Church can do over a full season. I hope for his sake that he can get back to full health regarding the concussion. I can't help but think of Eric Lindros when I see Church and I hope he is getting good medical advice.

[soupcan]

bmfc1 wrote: Francessa disagrees, saying yesterday that Church "hated New York... hated his team, hated the city."

Does Francessa say where he got that info or was it just 'My sauces tell me...'?

[Guest AG/DC]

Players who haven't put their six years in don't tend to discuss cities on such terms, no matter how strongly they feel.

The Mets clearly mishandled his injury, but it appeas he's got to blame is own judgment in part.

Edited October 1, 2008 by Guest

[HahnSolo]

soupcan wrote: ="bmfc1"]Francessa disagrees, saying yesterday that Church "hated New York... hated his team, hated the city." Does Francessa say where he got that info or was it just 'My sauces tell me...'?

Francesa is a joke, but he is very tight with Omar. I wouldn't immediately discount what he says.

[Guest OlerudOwned]

One of the AZ papers was a'speculatin' a Castillo-for-Byrnes swap. Byrnes has a bit more annual cash on his deal, but one less year.

I wouldn't mind that trade if Byrnes and Church platooned, but aside from that Byrnes sucks and seems pretty irritating. Gristle hustle grit heart.

[soupcan]

="AG/DC"]Players who haven't put their six year s in don't tend to discuss cities on such terms, no matter how strongly they feel.

Church has said stupid things in the past.

[Centerfield]

According to Metsblog, Adam Rubin denied this in a live chat today.

He says he spoke with Church several times off the record and Church talked about how much he liked playing here.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

What does it matter, Church has no say where he plays. For what it's worth Rubin sez Church may have been irritated at the atttudes of guy like Rincon and Duaner Sanchez who arrived late at the ballpark while he played in pain.

Pleased to see Rubin is on my side when it comes to assessing Omar's performance and the specter of a 4-year deal.

chatty excerpts:

]The report time for players for Saturday's game was 11:15 a.m. Duaner Sanchez strolled in at 11:45 a.m. Ricardo Rincon strolled in at 12:05 p.m. I don't know if they had something family-related that caused them to be late, and Jerry Manuel almost made it sound like players might have had permission to be late, but that's the kind of stuff that irked Church. Church is a gamer, the kind of player the Mets need. He had a right hip injury the final week of the season. Doctors told him to take a week off. He instead played, and struggled, through it while taking daily injections.

]The Mets had a franchise-record $140 million payroll this past season. I don't foresee that rising, going into Citi Field or not. If you sign CC for $18-$20 million a year, that leaves about $8 million to address second base, left field, one other rotation spot, closer and the rest of the bullpen.

] It is utterly shocking that Omar Minaya is getting a three- to four-year extension on top of a deal that runs through 2009 already.

Edited October 1, 2008 by Guest

[Guest AG/DC]

- Hey, don't tell anybody, but I fucking love it here.

- Well, folks would love to h...

- NO! Strictly off the record!

[metsmarathon]

church very much strikes me as a gamer, and i really hope we get a good healthy year out of him next season.

[Centerfield]

Rubin's chat:

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/mets/2008/09/surfing-the-mets-live-chat-101.html

Some good stuff in there. If Rubin is right, the Mets are probably not going to make a big-ticket acquisition this winter. (No Manny, no CC, no K-Rod)