Mets swap Ryan Church for Jeff Francoeur

Lacking the prospects to make a major deal, the Mets looked to one of their fiercest rivals to make an outfield swap. New York traded Ryan Church to the Atlanta Braves in a straight up deal for Jeff Francoeur.

Francoeur is hitting .250 with 5 homers and 35 rbi's, but has an OPS of .634, which is the 4th worst in the majors. He has been in a funk the last year and a half, and the Braves were actively shopping the Georgia native. A big advantage for the Mets is that Francoeur is only 25 years old, compared to Church who is 30.

Church is hitting .270 with 2 long balls and 22 rbi's. He spent time on the DL with a strained right hamstring, and he also missed a chunk of last year with a concussion he actually suffered while playing in Atlanta. Church has been in Jerry Manuel's doghouse since spring training, and Manuel did not have his back with the media after he failed to touch third base in a game at Los Angeles in May.

TAKE: Both players have played poorly this season, but Francoeur put up very good numbers in '06 and '07 until he started to struggle last season. He drove in over 100+ rbi's in his first two full seasons, and he's shown a fantastic arm in right field with at least 13 outfield assists in each season. A change of scenery might be what he needs since he was a star baseball and football player at Parkview High School in Georgia, and then was drafted out of high school by the Braves and went straight to their minor league system. The one thing he will really need to work on is plate discipline, with only 127 walks in 2453 career AB's.

Another interesting tidbit is that Francoeur wears a lucky pair of Turkey underwear, and no, I'm not kidding. The Braves were 7-0 on the season when he wore them.

Church has never hit more than 15 homers in a season, and he has failed to play more than 100 games in two of his four full big league seasons. While he's always had a lot of promise, he just lacked the consistency and health to perform to his potential for a full season. He made some good players in the outfield, but does not have the arm that Francoeur possesses. Church showed a lot of toughness by trying to play through injuries, but Manuel just did not like what he brought to the table.

I think the Mets got the better end of this one since Francoeur has more talent, youth, and durability than Church. It's a great deal to make considering they don't have the prospects to swing a huge deal, and they acquire a player that the Braves once viewed as the future face of their franchise. I'm just surprised the Mets and Braves made a trade considering they both play in the NL East, and they are still in the divisional race.

This deal is essentially Lastings Milledge for Jeff Francoeur. The Mets traded Milledge to the Nats for Church on November 30, 2007.

(Matt's note:) It is no secret that Church and Met's manager Jerry Manuel did not get along, as much as Manuel wants to deny it. The Mets also seriously mishandled Church's concussion last year, which created bad blood between Church and the ballclub. So I can't say I'm surprised that Church is finally gone. I'm looking forward to hearing what Church has to say about Manuel and the Mets now that he is out of here. Perhaps a fresh start for him and Francoeur will revitilize both their careers.