Church Says He Is The Rightfielder… Period.

I was waiting to hear what Church would say after Jerry Manuel proclaimed Dan Murphy the starting left fielder, and then hinting that Fernando Tatis would most likely take playing time away from Church against lefthanders.

The wait is over.

David Lennon of Newsday writes,

In the wake of Sunday’s comments, Church said that he talked with Jerry Manuel this morning and was assured that he is the rightfielder.

“It’s over,” Church said. “He said I’m the rightfielder.”

I don’t think there is anything wrong with what Jerry Manuel did. I think it was a great way of sending a message to everyone that performance and not seniority will dictate playing time. It’s all part of the “team first” mentality he talked about during his address to the team.

As for Church…

Well there’s nothing wrong with him feeling angered or agitated by Manuel’s comments. I’d be more concerned if he wasn’t upset.

This is exactly the type of camp I was hoping to see the Mets run this spring. Not that farce they ran with last spring where all the jobs were written in stone, nobody was focusing on fundamentals, and everyone seemed to be for themselves.

This is the way a spring training camp should be… All is going according to plan.