Buzz: Is Church in Deal for Santana
In today’s Boston Herald, citing baseball insiders in touch with both the Mets and Twins, Michael 
Silverman writes…
“The Mets, and not the Red Sox or Yankees, remain the front-runner as the team most likely to succeed in pulling off a trade for Minnesota ace Johan Santana.”
According to Silverman, “There are indications that Fernando Martinez would be in the deal, along with major league outfielder Ryan Church and at least two other prospects.”
…well, church is major-league ready, which, if you’ve been following this, is exactly what the Twins have been waiting for…
In 144 games for the Nationals last season, the left-handed hitting Church, 29, hit .272 with 15 HR and 70 RBI through 47 at-bats.
Church will be eligible for arbitration following next season, and able to be a free agent after 2010.
…if you recall, i mentioned church back in December, but assumed he would not be enough…of course, that was back during the Winter Meetings, when there was still plenty of time left on Minnesota’s clock…today, with a bit more pressure to make a move, combining church to martinez and two pitching prospects could be the Twins best play, in my opinion…
…at the time of church being acquired for Lastings Milledge, myself and others wondered if it was a way to get a more valuable outfielder to trade, since milledge’s stock had dropped…
…that said, if this is accurate, and church is to go, who exactly will play right field every day for the Mets…i mean, since he will not be included in the deal, is Carlos Gomez really ready to handle the load…i’m not so sure that he is…
…for what it’s worth, this is why i prefer to not dissect every single move made by Omar Minaya as it happens…instead, i prefer to wait, see how things play out, and evaluate the off-season as a whole…i look at the regular season in the same way…
…at any rate, jeez, just when i though the Hot Stove was running out of gas, suddenly i’m knee deep in wondering about potential right-field acquisitions…
