Desperate Mets trade OF Church to Braves for outfielder Francoeur

The free-falling Mets finally made a move, trading Ryan Church to the Atlanta Braves for Jeff Francoeur and cash on Friday in a swap of outfielders who had fallen out of favor with their teams.

The rare deal between NL East rivals came with both teams below .500. The Mets are desperate for a spark with stars Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado on the disabled list and also are looking toward 2010, preferring Francoeur's right-handed bat and strong throwing arm in right at spacious Citi Field.

"What's just weird is you imagine to be traded, but you never imagine to be traded to maybe your biggest rival," Francoeur said in Denver, before the Braves played the Rockies.

Discussions began only this week, and Church was told when he came in from batting practice Friday, just before he was to get taped up. The Mets receive $270,218 as part of the trade to equalize salaries.

"As a front office, we're going to continue to try to do things to, you know, shake it up a little bit, not just be complacent and say this is it," Mets general manager Omar Minaya said. "I'm hoping that between here and the All-Star break, you know, we have other things that we talk to teams about, and they may come to reality."

Church is hitting .280 with two home runs and 22 RBIs. A solid right fielder with a good arm, he got off to a terrific start last year in his first season with the Mets before he was slowed by a second concussion. Church collided with teammate Marlon Anderson during spring training, then was accidentally kneed in the head by Braves shortstop Yunel Escobar while trying to break up a game-ending double play at Atlanta on May 20.

Church was stunned by the deal.

"Shocker. Came out of nowhere," he said outside the Mets clubhouse. "The good thing is I get to play these guys next week."

New York opens the second half at Turner Field on July 16. Church immediately sent Chipper Jones a text message.

"They're going to have to change up a lot of signs. I know everything," Church said. "I'll definitely fill them in."

CUBA CONFIRMS DEFECTION OF PROSPECT: Cuba has acknowledged the defection of pitcher Aroldis Chapman, a week after he walked away from a tournament in the Netherlands.

The Communist Party daily Granma said Chapman has hired baseball agent Jaime Torres to represent him. Cuba previously had said nothing about Chapman's defection, despite widespread media coverage in exile-dominated Miami. The 21-year-old Chapman attracted widespread attention during the World Baseball Classic with a fastball touching 100 mph. He is considered among the top left-handed pitching prospects in the world, and the best pitcher to abandon Cuba since Jose Contreras left in 2002.