The Ryan Church Saga

In May he was Rookie of the Month. In June, Frank was platooning him with Marlon Byrd, and they were a solid combination. But then Church seals the win over the Pirates by slamming into the wall, and heads to the disabled list. In the interim, Bowden trades for another outfielder, Preston Wilson, and Church has nowhere to play when he comes back. Below is his ERV chart, which shows his precipitous decline since mid-July, in which he does not have a positive RV/WV game in nearly a month.

Could it have been handled differently? Maybe. At the very least, Church could have been gaining experience in AAA, or have been traded to a team while he was still a Rookie of the Year candidate, and we could have gotten a player we need.