The more that Omar and Jerry deny that there is a rift between them and Ryan Church, the more apparent it becomes.
The Associated Press is reporting that the Mets have acquired outfielder Emil Brown from the San Diego Padres for a player to be named later.
Brown is 34-years old, and was currently playing for Triple-A Portland. He was hitting .260 with four homeruns and 22 RBI’s in 146 at-bats.
Could this signal another possible move regarding Ryan Church?
Being that Brown essentially replaces Fernando Martinez in Buffalo, does this mean a permanent stay for F-Mart?
Regarding Ryan Church, the hits just keep on coming…
- Yesterday, while a guest on WFAN, Omar Minaya denied that there was any problems between Ryan Church and Jerry Manuel, but he could understand the perception because of how harshly he is treated by Jerry Manuel. Huh? What? Throw that past me again…
- Before being placed on the DL on Monday, Church was reported to be day to day and that he would miss 2-3 games at most. A day later Church was placed on the DL and replaced by Fernando Martinez, the Mets rightfielder of the future, and for now the present.
- Before Church got hurt, his playing time diminished after getting off to a hot start in April. Soon after, his performance suffered dramatically, prompting Jerry Manuel to bat him eight in the lineup for a few games before benching him altogether. This is the same player who a year ago was in the midst of an MVP type season before a concussion wiped out any chance of that.
- Before spring training began, Jerry Manuel went on record saying that the Church we saw last April was not the real Ryan Church, and that the real Church was the player who struggled in August and September.
- After pitchers and catchers reported, Manuel dropped the bombshell that Daniel Murphy would be playing leftfield everyday and that Church would be platooning with Fernando Tatis.
It just seems like it’s one thing after another regarding Church. They can deny it all they want, but clearly Church is on the outs. I don’t have a problem with that, but I do have a problem with how Church has been singled out and mistreated in my opinion.
I just can’t see the Mets pulling any of the above with Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, David Wright or Jose Reyes.
*Mets Merized Online Needs Your Help*
I always loved the “player to be named later”!! I don’t understand all these little non-significant moves … save it all up for one BIG trade that’s going to pay off!!
I guess with Murphy at 1B we needed an additional back up…Is this guy a lefty?
Emil Brown is a righty. I would’ve preferred a lefty bat with some pop. The Mets don’t really have a lefty bat on the bench who can come in to pinch hit when a home run is needed. Brown has hit as many as 17 HR in a season (in 2005 as a member of the Royals). Fortunately, Brown is more than a one-dimensional player. He has reached double digits in steals three times, so he could also be used as a pinch runner. Not a bad pickup, but it would’ve been better if the Mets could have gotten a left-handed player with similar numbers if one was available.
Or does it mean Beltran to the DL?
I dont even want to think about that Mike!
Church has definitely gotten a raw deal from Manuel anyway you slice it.
To answer your question asked in the post’s title, Yes, Church is on his way out. I don’t know if this little trade is tied to it. But I ask a bigger question – what kind of deal would Church be involved in? Who would we get? What would we want. It’s too early to be playing GM. I wouldn’t jump on the F-Mart bandwagon just yet. Give him a couple weeks, even a month or two, before deciding if he’s our RF and Church is expendable. Maybe it’s timed well to fit with July 31 being 2 months away.
It’s pretty clear that Jerry has given Church a raw deal all year. You could make a case that Jerry alone is responsible for Church’s shortcomings as he has apparently done all he could to tear Church down and personally destroy him. I like this blog as it has summarized very well all the mismanagement Jerry has directed against Church. I think it is very unfortunate that the manager of the Mets has gone on a campaign to destroy one of his own players.