Ryan Church was granted permission to begin light conditioning yesterday, but the right fielder still looks to be at least a week away from returning to the team after battling concussions.
Church did cardio work for the first time since before the All-Star break. He insisted he felt OK and said he thinks he has been symptom-free for over a week. The right fielder still has to progress to baseball activity then play rehab games, and Mets manager Jerry Manuel thinks Church will need six or seven of those.
“I’ll take the under on that one, hopefully,” Church said, optimistically.
Because of the uncertainty of Church’s return and Moises Alou’s injury, the Mets need corner outfield help with the trade deadline Thursday. GM Omar Minaya admitted Church won’t be back until after that.
When asked if the Mets needed to do something for Church’s position, Manuel said that may be true.
“We’re playing with personnel [whose] history hasn’t been . . . that they play this amount of baseball,” the manager said. “So with that being said, and being very cautious with Ryan, you would think that we might need some assistance someplace down the line in those situations.”
They were not aggressive players for the Pirates’ Xavier Nady, who was dealt to the Yankees yesterday, and there is some pessimism about whether Pittsburgh will move outfielder Jason Bay. As for the Indians’ Casey Blake and the Mariners’ Raul Ibanez, the price has been too high. The Mets are not looking at any other corner outfielders at the moment.
They could potentially recall Double-A outfielder Fernando Martinez, though he has what assistant GM Tony Bernazard referred to as “a little cramp” in his leg and was expected to be tested yesterday.
Minaya said Martinez is “an option,” though he insisted he isn’t currently a viable candidate.
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Pedro Martinez, whose father’s funeral was yesterday, is now on the bereavement list and must remain there for between three and seven days. Martinez hasn’t pitched since July 12 and Manuel said he may need to throw a simulated game.