Writer Compares Church to O'Neill, Calls for Trade

OK, it's winter now for the Washington Nationals-- time to take stock.




Is RYAN CHURCH (pictured here in a photo by Mike Collins) getting jerked around by general manager Jim Bowden or not? Guess what, we're not the only ones asking that question.




Here on the Nats' official website is a recent "mailbag" post to MLB.com writer Bill Ladson. Ladson watched the Nationals all 162 games last season.

Why don't the Nats think highly of outfielder Ryan Church? He played a good center field when needed. Is general manager Jim Bowden too in love with his former Reds players and not seeing the value of others on the team?-- Bill K., Annapolis, Md.


And Ladson replies-- I've had players in and out of the organization tell me that Bowden is indeed enamored with former Reds, but I've also seen Bowden gush over Justin Maxwell, Ronnie Belliard, Shawn Hill, Jon Rauch and Ryan Zimmerman, so it's false to say that Bowden doesn't see the value of non-Reds.


As far as Church is concerned, I think the expectations were too high. Members of the "think tank" believe that he is a 30-homer, 120-RBI guy. I see Church as a Paul O'Neill-type of hitter in the future. I don't think he needs to hit a lot of home runs to be a quality player. As did O'Neill in 1992 (when Bowden traded him from the Reds to the Yankees), I think Church needs a change of scenery. He would thrive in new surroundings.




Well, thank you, Bill. For those who forget Paul O'Neill he played a great outfield for the Yankees and became one of the club favorites. To be specific O'Neill batted .256, .251, .275, .270, .255, and .245 for the Reds from 1987 through 1992. Then Bowden traded him. Guess what! For the Yankees he caught fire. He batted .311, .359, .300, .302, .323, .317, .285, .282 and .266 before he retired after the 2001 season. He never hit massive numbers of home runs. He hit 28 once, 24 once, and the rest of the time from 15 to 22 each year. Sound like Churchie? Getting away from Bowden sure helped him, didn't it.




If Church stays in DC, it's clear he'll be in centerfield between (ex-Reds Austin Kearns and Wily Mo Pena) and "the think tank" (that's Bowden) will complain every day that either (a) he's not fast enough or (b) he doesn't hit enough home runs. The good part is that Church can walk to another team after the 2008 season, and Bowden will get NOTHING for him. Time to trade him now, Jim.