Church and the Outfield

Marlon Anderson and Ryan Church collided in shallow right field on Saturday’s game and Anderson escaped with less damage - a bruised sternum - but Church suffered a Grade 2 concussion. On that scale, a Grade 4 is the most severe, and Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said Church will play again when he is "symptom-free." (Newsday) Church is expected to be out around 2 weeks but chances are it could be longer.

If church returns days before or even a week before the regular season it scheduled to start, should the Mets bring him with the team for the start of the season?

If he is not healthy in time or not ready for the start of the season the best option is two let him stay in extended spring training. This would allow him to get the work he needs without causing a problem if he is not capable to fully play.

The Mets could use this time to think of potential candidates when Alou gets injured and also if easily or Endy gets injured again.

The Mets have 3 options for the outfield; Angel Pagan, Brady Clark, or Fernando Martinez. The 26 year old Angel Pagan batted .264 with 4 home runs, 4 stolen bases 21 rbis, and 21 runs in 71 games. Clark batted .306 in 21 games for the padres with just 3 extra base hits, 6 rbis. He also batted .224 with 4 extra base hits, 5 rbis in 46 games. The 34 year olds best days are behind him. The last plausible option is Fernando Martinez, aka F-Mart, aka the Teenage Hitting Machine. The 6 foot 1 left handed hitter batted .271 in 60 games with 4 home runs, 21 rbis and 32 runs.

The Mets would probably opt of Angel Pagan. He played well last year and is better than Clark. It would be pretty great if Martinez did start the season on the Mets but his age and his injury last season hurt his chances. I would certainly not be surprised if we saw Martinez later on in the season.