Mets Trade Milledge To Nats For Schneider And Church

According to SNY via Metsblog as well as WFAN, the Mets have traded Lastings Milledge to the Nationals for Brian Schneider and Ryan Church.

Initial thought: sweet deal by Jim Bowden.  Milledge, who turns 23 in April, has star potential or at least will become an above average right fielder (though he should be tried in center unless he's terrible there).  The 31 year-old Schneider is strong defensively, but he doesn't hit.  The 29 year-old Church has a career OPS over .800, and may be a bit underrated.  But he is 29 and not likely to get much better.  He's quite a ways away from free agency, at least.

I'm just surprised Milledge couldn't net more. 

Comments

[BaLLooNNoT]

I'm furious as a Mets fan... how can he trade one of his best chips for a mediocre OF and mediocre C? WTF is he thinking? The A's better want Church and Estrada in a deal for atleast blanton.. Omar, you blew it.. thanks...

[mymrbig]

April 1st again? I was a Mets fan growing up (now an Astros fan), but if true, this has "Kazmir" written all over it. Don't get me wrong, Schneider and Church are both solid major league regulars. But it seems like the Mets could have gotten considerably more for Milledge!

Heck, the Astros should have been able to get Milledge as part of a Lidge trade if this is all it took!

[Hyro]

Someone, please kill me... Omar Minaya truly has no idea what he is doing anymore. What a stupid f*cking trade...

[DunkinDonuts]

Obviously a joke post... Good one, Tim.

[henry14theking]

*snickers*

Looking at Minaya's track record, this probably means Milledge will turn out to be a great OF who hits .300/.400/.600.

[mike923]

well this was an odd move....orginally the mets were in discussion of zito/milledge werent they? now its church/estrada for milledge?

sure barry zito is not really much of a big gamer anywhere, how can you compare church/estrada trade to the zito trade?

[Land-Man]

That was unexpected, Nats should have a real outfield if they sign Andruw too. Does nothing for their pitching problems though.

Kazmir? Are the Rays really high on Church/Schneider?

[mymrbig]

My "Kazmir" comment was referring to a past Mets trade in which they traded an extremely exciting prospect (Kazmir) for trash (Victor Zambrano).

[Laputian]

Land-Man,
They are referring to the infamous trade where the Mets traded away Scott Kazmir.

[Paul]

From what I heard, the A's and O's said they didn't want Milledge which is why Minaya unfortunately pulled the trigger. I'm a Red Sox fan first and this garbage made me wanna throw up. I'm just shocked by this trade.

[napes22]

I have defended Omar from day 1 - but this is unacceptable. You don't trade away one of our best prospects just because other teams don't want him...you play him!

[FineHamAbounds]

Yeah! Go Mets! As a Braves guy, these are the trades I like to see.

The Mets were never as high on Milledge as their fans were though, and Schneider is pretty much better, if only a little, than any other catcher they could have gotten right now, but I'm still not really sure why this happened at all.

[Nick from Washington Heights]

Has Jim Bowden transformed into a good GM? He's owned a couple people on trades in the last few years.

[rossdfarian]

I am laughing so hard my sides hurt.
Well, I guess this is one way to establish parity in the game ... really really stupid trades.
Mets fans should revolt; Minaya has 2 huge blunders under his belt. These things come in threes, you know!

[Angels & Demons]

Milledge is highly overrated. If this deal is true... than the Mets got a good deal.

Milledge was highly though of as a prospect because he was viewed as a prospect with all the tools. Similar to Fernando Martinez... who just like Lastings Milledge has yet to hit for power. Martinez on the other hand can steal a base.

Milledge at the moment is Todd Hollandsworth like. Acquiring a starting outfielder... and a starting catcher for him isn't a bad deal..

[coolpapabell]

Who the F is going to play LF? Ryan Church? Omar, I thought you knew what you were doing. This is Lenny Dykstra all over again. A division rival....good job.

To think I just put a deposit on a ticket plan two days ago.

I am screeming inside right now.

[conorj]

This is what happens when you overmarket a product...Nobody wants it anymore and you have to put it in the bargain bin. There has always been something so desperate about the Milledge rumors, and hopefully for him he can just settle in and play some games without feeling like Minyana's whore. The Mets are annoying.

[Brandon Heikoop]

For the Nationals, I really like this trade and what their future holds in store - at least offensively. A lineup of Lopez, Milledge, Johnson, Zimmerman, Kearns, Pena/Young, Belliard and Flores seems like a strong core with a bright future.
The pitching leaves a lot to be desired unless Patterson can return to form.

For the Mets, they needed a catcher, and Milledge didn't appear to be in their present of future plans. Church should be able to be an above average replacement player.

Essentially, another win-win in my books.

[GoBoSox420]

wow

[tolo316]

Now the Mets have no choice but to included Gomez in a deal for Haren or Blanton if they want any realistic chance of nabbing either of them.

Plus, what happens with Estrada now? What an odd move this is - and to a division rival, no less.

[thatteamfromcle]

Schneider will be 31 next season and a catcher. Church will be 29 next season. Schneider is likely to decline and Church is not likely to improve much.

Even for catchers, Schneider is a below league average at the plate. And Church was barely a starter.

Milledge will be 23 with a huge upside.

Plus, Washington is in the same division as the Mets.

Does this make any sense to anyone other than Minaya?

[bravesbeast]

People can argue for lastings being overrated or underrated all they want to. The fact is that the guy has a real shot at being a 20/15-20 guy who will hit for a respectable average, so he will be a regular for a long time. With that being said, this trade really does not make sense. Lastings is probably already better than church, and estrada is comparable to schneider in terms of value (estrada's offense and schneider's defense.) This was a bad trade for minaya, even if he could not use milledge as the centerpiece of an offer to get a major player, he could have at least hung onto him. This seems more like a move just to remove milledge from the equation than anything.

[Steeeve]

My ass is not leaving this seat until I find out this isnt true.

[henry14theking]

I should edit my comment.

Minaya wasn't responsible for the Kazmir fiasco.

[jza1218]

Anyone else think this might be a preemptive move to set up a deal with the Athletics.

Ryan Church and Brian Schneider seem like guys that Billy Beane might want.

A good, versatile OF with good OBP in Church and an affordable catcher (that the Mets could probably give salary relief for) who can help mentor Kurt Suzuki until he's ready to play full-time.

I think Minaya could definitely use those two as trading chips.

[henry14theking]

@jza:

Why would Beane want two (relatively) old guys for say... Blanton, Haren or Street?

He probably wants blue-chip prospects for each one of them, not a 29 year old OF and 31 year old catcher.

[rossdfarian]

I like the "Nails" comment ... you're definitely right, papabell

[bravesbeast]

Lmao, he may use them as trading chips, but those two in no way can have more value to beane than milledge had for obvious reasons. Age,upside, cheap production, more talent all go in milledge's favor. There is now way either church or schneider give the mets any better position to get haren or blanton.

[Steeeve]

Why would Beane want Church and Schneider if he didnt want Milledge?

[mike923]

Sorry Steeeve....i guess you will be glued to your seat forever lol

its confirmed on WFAN now in NY

[mymrbig]

For people who are down on Milledge, why? He hit .272/.341/.446 as a 22-year-old in the majors (albeit only 184 at-bats). He seems to have some personality issues, but he's only 22. Most people have personality issues when they are 22 and he obviously hasn't reached his power peak.

[GoBoSox420]

yeah I'm sure those 2 are wonderful trading chips

[GoBoSox420]

a bug of ruffles would be better

[rossdfarian]

Thinking about it a little more, if these guys are used for trades, Minaya got decent value because there were no other takers for Milledge.
More likely, this is just a sign of the Mets impotence from bottom to top.

[hemingways]

You Mets fans need to take a deep breath and step back from this. Let's look at the facts.

Milledge is over rated. He has been injury prone in his five years in the minors. His best season in the minors was 15 hr's and 66 rbi's. That's NOT a top prospect. Couple that with a perceived attitude problem and the media has completely overblown his future potential and his current value.

Brian Schneider is one of the top defensive catchers in all of baseball, plus he's a lefthanded bat that can also hit a bit. That makes him rare and valuable, especially in the current market when there are no decent catchers available. It's not like there are half a dozen teams with Mike Piazza like production at catcher. Schenider will drive in 50+ runs and throw out 27-40% of baserunners. Estrada last year threw out 8%. Loduca threw out 19%.

Church is an established big leaguer with a .348 career obp and a .462 career slugging. He's just waiting for the chance to be an everyday player, but even in a platoon last year he hit .287/.360/.506 vs. rhp. That's far better than Milledge's line of .250/.309/.395 vs rhp's in the majors last season.

Plus, both Schneider and Church are signed to inexpensive contracts, which increases their value to the Mets to keep or to trade. But I would expect they'll keep Schneider and probably Church too.

From my point of view, Minaya and the Mets got the better part of this trade picking up two valuable players for one question mark with a history of poor run production and injuries.

[ajkreider]

I agree the Milledge is over-rated by fans - as all prospects are.

Schneider is a good catcher who helps the Mets now. Milledge has been spotty at the plate in his time with the Mets. There's nothing to get worked up over, here. If there are doubts about a prospect, trade him when you aren't sure if he'll be a bust, not when everyone knows he is (not saying Millage will be a bust).

[Land-Man]

Washington is a division rival in the loosest sense of the term. Their best pitcher is Matt Chico.

[Sean O]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Omar, Omar, Omar, what are you doing?

[coolpapabell]

Why couldn't he just do the package deal with Beane and Bowdin if that was the case.

I can't see why Beane would want Church over Lastings. Lastings is slightly better Church now and will be a lot better in the future, and cheaper as well.

I also think that Lastings will blossom with less pressure on him in D.C.

I am so pissed right now.

[jza1218]

henry14theking:

Oh, by no means am I saying they'd be the focal point of the deal. Maybe Mike Pelfrey would be one.

But I think that Beane (and many other GMs) are just not that high on Milledge and just don't want to deal with his drama (much like people are avoiding Barry Bonds at the moment).

Beane has to be looking for catching options at the moment to support Suzuki and he also has to be worried about his OF depth with both Kotsay and Buck recovering from injuries and the lack of fielding prowess in Cust.

[ozziethesaint]

At some point last season something happened to cause Minaya and others in the Mets front office to sour on Milledge. I suppose this shows they won't be players for either of the big name pitchers available, Santana or Bedard. Because now they cant afford to deal both Gomez and Martinez. I guess Gomez won the right to be the OF'er the Mets want to play right now.

[zippy06]

Could possibly go down as the worst trade in history!!!

WTF is Omar smoking?

[coolpapabell]

Hemingways, please see Bravesbeat's comment's.

Oh, and Lastings was only injured once last year because he got hit by a pich. Jeter, Thor, Beowulf, or even yourself would have been on the DL.
Can you please cite any article that underscore his injury concearns? He might have an attitude problem, but not an injury problem. I think you are confusing Beltran with Lastings.

[PrahaSMC]

Do you mean to tell me that Minaya din't have a better offer for Milledge?

If you want to sell low on Milledge, you better at least get 50 cents on the dollar. Hell, "cash considerations" would have generated a better fan reaction that Church or Schneider.

[ajkreider]

It really is amazing how fans view a prospect that shows any sign of potential as the next Mantle.

You'd think hitting .350 in the minors practically guarantees a trip to Cooperstown.

[coolpapabell]

You could not have been right PrahaSMC.

[jza1218]

"Do you mean to tell me that Minaya din't have a better offer for Milledge?"

If there was a better offer, wouldn't logic dictate that he would take it?

So, no, there probably wasn't a better offer for Milledge in Minaya's eyes

[John Peterson]

Milledge didn't appear to be in their present of future plans

He was supposed to be the starting RF, for God's sake!

[naronavs]

i dont like this trade. and i especially dont like when we send a player with this potential to a team in our division. however, i dont feel bad about not having milledge on our team. he's a loose cannon, a little self destructive and has the potential to cause clubhouse problems. he also mad me nervous everytime a fly ball was hit to him, never looked totally comfortable like he couldnt get a good read off the bat. im not even talking about his misplays in boston. i do wish we got pitching but at least we got two proven major leaguers, our outfeild is in good shape and we have a catcher to trade. so the question is, what does minaya have planned? he must be stocking up on catchers for a reason.

[PrahaSMC]

Well, then he should have held on to Millege then. There's no way to spin this... it's not like Church has exceptional on-base ability either, he's got a career .348 OBP.

[bjsguess]

Don't think this is a precursor for another trade. If so, why not make it a three-way and be assured of the deal going down.

Omar wanted these guys. Sure they may get flipped. Just wouldn't count on it.

[George Purcell]

"Rosenthal says that the Mets offered Johnny Estrada to the Nats in the trade, free of charge, but that the Nats preferred to look elsewhere for a Schneider replacement."

Snicker!

[Steeeve]

If you project Milledge's numbers to 470 ABs (the number Church had), he'd have practically identical numbers to Church. And he's 6 years younger.

This trade makes sense... why? If no one is buying, dont sell low, KEEP HIM!

[Land-Man]

I thought Minaya would prefer a package of Cristian Guzman and Jesus Flores.

[Mr_Punch]

Wow! Remember a couple of years ago when the Mets were trying to get Manny Ramirez for Lastings Milledge? Wow!

[cincikid]

I have seen a ass whoppin' like this since the, hmmm,,,,Bowden vs. Reds GM Krivsky trade. Hey, Omar, I hope they come with all of the ammunizations, shots, medical history, x-rays, and a year supply of cortizone.

[conorj]

I don't know if I like the trade, but in the dispute about who Beane would want, I think we're forgetting the basic fundamentals of what Beane considers a good player. Milledge is everything that Beane does not want--unproven potential. A guy like Church who at least has shown can keep a decent OBP in the bigs at a reasonable price, is much closer to the Beane make-up. Revisit your copies of _Moneyball_ people.

[jza1218]

"If you project Milledge's numbers to 470 ABs (the number Church had), he'd have practically identical numbers to Church. And he's 6 years younger."

No, he wouldn't.

Milledge can't hit or get on-base against RHP's.

If you want to accurately reflect Milledge's performance, you have to do so using the number of AB's an average player faces RHP and LHP.

Milledge received a 1/3 of his ABs against LHP which isn't artificially inflates his numbers.

[T.Papelbomb.K.O]

Mr punch.... i was about to mention the exact same thing , look at what can change in a few short years huh? go from the centerpiece for one of the best right handed hitters of our generation , and sure fire hall of famer , to ryan church and schnieder...wow , nice work omar , i guess the mets arent going to be in the running for any of the big name SP's on the market

[jza1218]

Forgot to add "the norm" after "Milledge received a 1/3 of his ABs against LHP which isn't "

It should read

Milledge received a 1/3 of his ABs against LHP which isn't the norm and artificially inflates his numbers

[jdt58]

Man...what are the mets thinking? Way too much potential to give away there. Unless they spin this move for barton or santana...bad move for the mets.

[jza1218]

Conorj:

I agree with you 100%

Remember when Beane signed Scott Hatteberg?

[ReardenTech]

As a Mets fan I absolutely despise this trade. If no one wanted Milledge this offseason, you play him in 08 and try to upgrade his value. You don't trade him for a mediocre catcher and a so-so 4th outfielder. I just cannot justify this trade from any point of view.

I don't care what people say: if we packaged Milledge with Pelfrey/Humber, we could've gotten a front-line starter. This trade is a joke. I'm sick of hearing about "The Mets are big on Livan Hernandez", or "Carlos Silva might be an attractive option." This is New Fucking York. Can we please have some balls and get an impact pitcher to put this team over the edge?

Sorry for rambling, I simply cannot contain my disgust over this trade. Grade F!

[TheAngelicDoctor]

The Mets are just making moves for the sake of making moves now. Another catcher? One of the top prospects in your farm? Division rival? Being a Braves fan, I smiled and shook my head in disbelief. Minaya is the best player on the Marlins, Nats, Braves, and Phils.

[Andrew Cabiness]

"Can we please have some balls and get an impact pitcher to put this team over the edge?"

Jose Contreras "impacted" 15 batters last year. I'm hoping the Mets trade for him.

[bjsguess]

It's interesting if you look at their minor league history.

Here are the minor league lines for Church and Milledge

(C) 292/375/506/881
(M) 305/385/479/864

Granted, Church took much longer get through the minors but it's interesting just how close their numbers were.

Church has played essentially one more full season of big league games than Milledge. So far though, his stats are quite a bit better:

(C) 271/348/462/810
(M) 257/326/414/740

Milledge does have some SB speed which Church doesn't. Milledge comes with some rumored baggage. The Mets also land a solid defensive catcher.

I just don't see this being a bad trade for either team. I think the Mets could have gotten more for Milledge but I'm just not sold on his upside. Milledge could very well turn out to be a .280 hitter with 10 HR's and 15 SB's.

[jza1218]

The Nationals are a division rival to the Mets just as much as the Baltimore Orioles are a division rival to the Red Sox.

They're in the same division, but there's really no rivalry nor any worry that the team will challenge them

[ajkreider]

The Mets obviously (and correctly) think they're close this year. Why play Milledge to up his value if it hurts the team? Church is a better hitter, now. Schneider is a better catcher, now. The team is now in better shape for a run at the series - irrespective of any other moves they make.

[ozziethesaint]

Bowden isn't looking to be so stupid these days is he? There's been some nice pieces he's picked up over the last couple seasons without giving up anything that really matters.

[darkstar1661]

I didn’t have a chance to read all the comments yet, but WTF???

Ok, so Lastings has the ability (which he has shown already) to be much better than Church. Yet bringing in Ryan and yet *another* catcher (this one being 31 already) is a good move? In a worst case scenario Lastings was the one of Milledge/Martinez/Gomez most likely to be kept because the other two could be dealt for upgrades elseware (ie pitching) ~ but now they *Must* keep atleast one of Martinez/Gomez limiting their options in trade. And just to add a lesser OFer and yet another Catcher?

Somebody has to tell this guy to just sign LoDuca today already ~ not having him is making him go insane. And yeah, LoDuca in 08 would be better than what he might do to the club since he doesn’t have PLD. Whats next, Jose Reyes for Ramon Hernandez?

[Steeeve]

Hey, as long as we're trading for has-been prospects who never really were, I hear Austin Kearns and Bobby Kielty are available. Maybe we can rig up a sweet deal for a potent offensive catcher like Jason Kendall while we're in a transactional kind of mood. Who knows, maybe we can even bring back Julio Franco and Rickey Henderson for another go 'round!!! Sky's the limit, gentlemen!

[mets1986]

Here's an interesting Ryan Church tidbit, from our friends at baseball-reference.com:

January 5, 2004: Traded by the Cleveland Indians with Maicer Izturis to the Montreal Expos for Scott Stewart.

The GM of the Expos at the time......you guessed it.

[ReardenTech]

I am not at all convinced that Ryan Church will be better "now" than Lastings Milledge. It would have been Milledge's first full season in the majors. He had a few nice streaks last year that energized the team, including some clutch hits.

Now, some of these comments suggest that Church fits the profile of someone Beane wants. I'm not sure I believe that, but if it's true, I will forgive Omar for this trade. But only then. If this is not part of a bigger, better move, this is a disgrace.

[JuNeYanksFan]

Nats have Dmiti Young, Logan, Milledge, Kearns, Willy Mo all in the OF now. Do they really need Andruw?

[J.L.]

Wow. Ha. Loving Omar right now. This really limits what the Mets can do in a trade for a SP now that one of their main chips is gone.

[toshiro]

New York prospects tend to be overhyped. Milledge has been heavily touted (he may or may not pan out). Heilman was supposed to be the 2nd coming. Yankees fans think Melky is a new Bernie and Joba, in spite of having only pitched 24 innings in the bigs is the next Mo Rivera.

The Mets need to contend and they need to do it now. Church has great gap power in the cavern called RFK, which should translate to 20+ homers in Shea (which favors lefties).

Schneider is a no-hit catcher, but lets face it, Lo Duca hits for a hollow avgs. He has no speed. He's good for 60 runs/60 rbis tops. Schneider ought to match Lo Duca in rbi and will come in 15-20 runs fewer. He ought to make up some of that with kick butt defense and a great arm vs Lo Duca's candy arm.

[JerryKoosman]

touch this guy with a 10-foot pole! He has shown very little maturity in his short stay in the majors.

Remember, this guy was supposed to be a top three pick in the 2003 draft, and slid to 12th because of a report of "misconduct"... and then it turns out EVEN MORE "misconduct" stories surfaced *after* the Mets drafted Milledge. Add in the rap record, the high-5 thing, not running out plays, in general, no hustle. I'll bet Randolph was LOOKING for excuses not to play him last year. Just not his kind of guy.

For his own sake, I honestly hope this kid matures. I hope his locker isn't next to Dmitri Young's locker!

For those that think Milledge will be younger and cheaper, well, Church is clearly older, but Church made $400,000 last year, same as Milledge. Church and Schneider are lefties, which will help. Church may finally get a chance, like Nady did when he came to NY.

Sidebar: Didn't the Nats let Endy Chavez go a few years back because they thought Church would replace him?

[ajkreider]

Just to keep the numbers in perspective. Schneider had a higher OBP than Lo Duca last year. Church had better numbers than Milledge. And both of those were in the Nats lineup (okay, but no great shakes). Milledge had the advantage of hitting in a great lineup.

What do you think? If the Mets played all of last year with Schneider and Church, do they finish one game better than the Phils? (Answer: Yes!)

[JerryKoosman]

@ zippy06...Milledge missed 7 weeks with a broken foot immediately after being sent to AAA last April. He played about two weeks before being promoted. He also missed six weeks in 2004 with a broken bone in his right hand, and hamstring pulls in 2005 and 2006. He's NOT Cal Ripken or Lou Gehrig.

I think Minaya is getting fair value for an often-injured, potential problem.

I don't think anything specifically happened last year to have the Mets sour on him.

Is everyone forgetting (or doesn't know) about this guy's background?

Could Milledge wind up being the Lawrence Phillips of MLB...(from the Rams a few years back)? OK, that might be a harsh comparison, but if I were playing GM, I wouldn't touch this guy with a 10-foot pole! He has shown very little maturity in his short stay in the majors.

Remember, this guy was supposed to be a top three pick in the 2003 draft, and slid to 12th because of a report of "misconduct"... and then it turns out EVEN MORE "misconduct" stories surfaced *after* the Mets drafted Milledge. Add in the rap record, the high-5 thing, not running out plays, in general, no hustle. I'll bet Randolph was LOOKING for excuses not to play him last year. Just not his kind of guy.

For his own sake, I honestly hope this kid matures. I hope his locker isn't next to Dmitri Young's locker!

For those that think Milledge will be younger and cheaper, well, Church is clearly older, but Church made $400,000 last year, same as Milledge. Church and Schneider are lefties, which will help. Church may finally get a chance, like Nady did when he came to NY.

Sidebar: Didn't the Nats let Endy Chavez go a few years back because they thought Church would replace him?

[JuNeYanksFan]

Couldn't they just have kept Estrada and Milledge rather than Scheneider and Church? That would've made alot more sense.

[conorj]

One fishy thing about this IS the timing. It seems you could pick up Church and Schneider any old day, but before the major pieces of the trade market fall? Makes me think they might keep Schneider and spin Church in a bigger deal. Either that or it shows the Mets have moved on from landing anyone big and are filling in some gaps with efficient contracts--which really doesn't fit in with the Mets of the past few years. Hmmmmm....

[e poc]

some of you guys are insane. why would beane want church instead of milledge? milledge is actually exactly the type of player beane loves: underrated for irrelevant reasons (attitude). and milledge is not unproven potential. he raked all through the minors and held his own at 22 in the majors. how many of those players fail? 1% maybe? and he raked against rhp all through the minors, too; don't let the small sample sizes in the majors at 22 effing years old fool you. and please let's not compare church's minor league record with milledge's, since milledge left aaa for good at 21 and church was still there through his mid 20s. milledge has been completely and systematically mishandled by the mets, who allowed the media to tar him unfairly because of his attitude and jerked him around for the last year and a half by never trusting him or allowing him to play when he was clearly ready, and this is just the last chapter in a long book of how completely moronic the mets' use/treatment of milledge was. great move for the nats. (btw, how the hell did jim effing bowden fleece minaya?) great move for milledge.

[LIONKING]

Is Estrada traded along with Lastings Milledge??
The post doesn't mention anything about him.

[Bourne's_Identities]

Heh. Funny.

[AkulaMkii]

This is hilarious. Maybe now all the Milledge/Minaya nutsuckery from Mets fans will finally stop. Only Mets fans liked Milledge, and most of them clearly never saw how badly low breaking balls embarrassed him regularly.

[pedrolourencosta]

SO. The Mets a couple of years ago wanted Zito, and did not gave up Milledge.

Zito would have probably made a huge difference that year. Imagine Zito starting instead of Traschel.

And now they trade him for garbage.

OMG

[wayne gomes]

Very surprising. Maybe just because I live in NY so I heard all the Blastings Thrilledge hype before he came up.

Obviously his value plummeted and the Mets were really dying to move him. Remember when he was going to be the centerpiece of a Roy Oswalt deal?

[JerseyMetFan]

@ the milledge haters

He has a career minor league line of .305/.385/.479 (.864 OPS).

His major league numbers aren't as impressive, but the kid is friggin 22 years old. He showed great improvement from 2006 to 2007.

I don't care if the rest of the league has "soured" on him. That doesn't mean you trade him away for two mediocre 30 year olds.

A Castro/Estrada and Milledge tandem would EASILY outperform Schneider/Church.

Omar... get the hell out of NY. You and Isiah both.

[kremer]

anybody have any imput on the cards signing of Cesear Izturus?

[Baseballfan79]

Grady sizemore part 2 :)

This is pretty funny

I am waiting for the mets fans posts of "I wont trade Milledge for Haren or Blanton"

congrats you got a 30+ year old catcher :) Even though I think church will be a nice 4th OF

[JerseyMetFan]

Yeah, Church will be a great 4th outfielder.

What Omar fails to realize is that Milledge is a STARTING OUTFIELDER.

What an idiot.

[SpineyNorman]

Next Up: Reyes/Gomez/Martinez for Santana?

[Bourne's_Identities]

The issue isn't whether or not Milledge was overhyped. He was a talented cheap young OF with potential. You don't trade that for a catcher on the wrong side of 30 and a 4th OF.

[FineHamAbounds]

Oh wait... I have it figured out. They traded Milledge away because they were tired of their fans talking about how great he is. That's gotta be it.

[pedrolourencosta]

Milledge for Chad Cordero, last trade deadline.

Why not then Omar?

[toshiro]

JerseyMetFan,

How soon you forget. What about the Maine/Benson swap? Trading poo for Luis Castillo?

Sounds like you got caught up in they NY hype machine. The player development road is littered with Milledge type guys who didn't pan out. Even Estrada isn't all that. He's a Lo Duca clone -- hollow avg hitter who is a defensive liability. These slow, no power catchers are good for no more than 60 runs/rbis. Even Schneider will be good for 50/60, especially in a much better line up and better fit park, but with much better def.

[Comma8]

With a little more seasoning, Milledge could be the second coming of Milton Bradley.

And Estrada - have the overraters heard enough to realize that he has no value whatsoever?

[BaseBallz]

Hey, Sorta related

Do You guys think that this means that Bowden is not going to try and get Elijah Dukes from the Rays now ??????

I really hope he still goes for it especially since Dukes, i think, is going to be waaay better then Milledge.

Also he just adds to all the bad attitudes -- and if bad attitudes win games, then the nationals will be set with all the pro-stars they got.

[nrmax88]

I dont like this trade much at all, but it isnt horrible. Schneider is getting older but you guys have to realize this guy is a stud defensively and calls an awesome game behind the plate. Church I guess is our outfield replacement. I dont like it, but we now have a very good catcher to call games for us atleast. And we wont have to sign an expensive RF. Eghh, i just hate to see Lastings go. Good luck kid. To whoever said the Nats should sign Andruw now, why? The just got a CF for 5 cheap years.

[nrmax88]

And for the record, this trade is miles better then a Chad Coredro swap would have been. Cordero is probably the most overated relief pitcher in the MLB.

[e poc]

maybe it's a huge blind spot on my part, but how many prospects who rake throughout the minors and post above average batting lines in the majors at 22 flame out? i can't think of any off the top of my head.

[brucieeb]

very bad move by the mets.lastings in 184 at bats approx,i think hit 7 hr and 29 rbi.that is projected over a full season to hit 21 hr and 90 rbi and he is only 23 yrs old soon and he will probably get better.i understand trading him because the mets have a surplus of young outfield prospects but you have to trade him for something you need,starting pitcher or bullpen.why trade him for a catcher and outfielder that won't play much?they could of kept loduca and kept milledge and would have been in the same position.this might hurt the mets chances for obtaining other needs.they should of packaged him for a starter or bullpen help.this trade makes no sense and most agree.

[NW]

Wow, talk about overreacting! Was this the best decision from Omar about Lastings? Probably not. Is it the end of the Mets franchise? No way. This isn't a horrible trade (yet) but it's not a great trade either. The Mets did get a very solid catcher (bye bye Estrada) and a pretty decent OF. The Nats got a potential very good OF, but one who also might bomb. I have a feeling this will be one of those trades you can only decide about in about 3 seasons or so. But right now? Not the worst thing.

[wihargo]

Omar's bringing in some of 'his guys' from the Expos I guess.

Away from the cavernous confines of that stupid Washington ballpark, Church managed
.342 .506 .278 last year

I expext that he will make a good showing for the Mets.

[nrmax88]

Wow, I wanst crazy about the trade but to look at some of your comments, jesus christ. We just got a top 5 defensive catcher in baseball, which cannot be taken lightly. It wasnt a coincidence that although that Nats pitching staff was horrible, they atleast competed, even though NONE of their starters are above AAA talent. I would have liked to get this guy without Milledge, but whatever, shyt happens. It isnt an awful deal, it just hurts because we are Milledge fans. I am thinking what this can possibly do for Maine and Perez and some of our other youngsters, and on the bright side, now we dont have to choose Milledge or Gomez. Look, right now I am frustrated and will miss lastings, but those who are calling this Kazmir 2, wow. A bunch of little babies, atleast wait until the season starts, and when Scneider is holding Rollins and Hanley at first base because of his cannon then you guys will be glad that he is back there and not lo duca/ estrada. A strong defensive catcher with the ability to call a game is a pretty important thing in baseball. The mets just went from right hand batter heavy to left hand batter heavy now.

Reyes
Castillo
Wright
Beltran
Alou
Delgado
Church
Schneider

That is a solid lineup, with Ramon playing against lefties. It surprises me a little bit the in division trade. The person who said we traded him to a divisional contender... lol, the nats, contend? Anyway, what is also funny is that all the sudden tons of guys who have been calling Milledge overated for days, months, maybe even years, have now come out to talk about how awful this trade was for the Mets, since now that Milledge is gone, he is a superstart type prospect again. Just pretty funny.

Church is also a nice little player, and it makes it nice that we wont have to spend big bucks on a free agent. Anybody saying that this deal will make the Mets worse for 2008 is absolutely out of their skull. This gives them a great defensive catcher which they havent had forever, and its not like lo duca put up huge numbers that will take a nose dive with schneider. Milledge wont be better then these 2 guys in 08. He probably will be down the road, because he has come nowhere close to fulfilling his potential yet. I love the pickups, just hate that Milledge had to go.

[toshiro]

I checked Church's splits and while he's platoon fodder, he slugs .500 vs righties, which is as good as David Wright and Beltran. Better than Alou, Green and Delgado. Also, he hits with good power more akin to Wright than Green. Shea is more generous to the lefty than RFK, so he ought to get a slight bump.

It's a better deal than you think. The hang up is probably because Milledge has been so hyped up, but you don't even know who Ryan Church is.

[thehoagster07]

some things to point out...

Billy Beane was obsessed with OBP because it was the most undervalued offensive trait around. Now that it's gaining value, he's moving back to normal all-around players. He's interested in the best player values, not the best OBP guys anymore.

I think when you look back at this deal, it's going to look a lot worse for the Mets than if they dealt him to say Boston or LA or a big media city. Milledge is good friends with Manny Acta from his Mets days (from the Nationals.com story) and will have Dmitri Young to mentor him. If he gets in trouble the DC media won't roast him because they're too involved with politics. If Milledge turns out being a star, he could singlehandedly get blacks in DC excited about baseball.

[bjsguess]

Milledge has posted a 257/326/414/740 major league line. I don't think that is an "above average" batting line for a corner outfielder.

A 740 OPS would have ranked him 15th out of 17 in LF and 21st out of 22 in RF. Min 400 AB's.

Sure he is young. Sure he posted a couple of very solid years in the minors. BUT - guys like Milledge are a dime a dozen. Some pan out - some fall flat.

I don't think it was the best trade the Mets could have made. But it isn't as bad as everyone think. I'll put money on Church hitting 280 with 20HR's and a bunch of doubles. Schnieder will help the pitching staff with his defense and play calling.

I do agree with another poster - if this trade had gone down last year the Mets would have made the playoffs.

[nrmax88]

"Wow, talk about overreacting! Was this the best decision from Omar about Lastings? Probably not. Is it the end of the Mets franchise? No way. This isn't a horrible trade (yet) but it's not a great trade either. The Mets did get a very solid catcher (bye bye Estrada) and a pretty decent OF. The Nats got a potential very good OF, but one who also might bomb. I have a feeling this will be one of those trades you can only decide about in about 3 seasons or so. But right now? Not the worst thing."

Well said, I feel the same way. Church was a pretty nice hitter against the Mets to if I remember right. I thjink if the Mets didnt have Martinez and Gomez that will probably be ready in a year or 2( a year for gomez, 2 or 3 from F-Mart), they wouldnt have done this. My idea is that in a year when Alou is done, Gomez will take over there, then a year or two later, when Church is a FA, Martinez will take over there, if everything goes to plan. I was excited to see Milledge get a full season of AB's, because of his lethally quick bat, but he still has learning to do. If/when he learns to take that down and away breakingball, he can be a monster. It might take a little while for this to happen though, or it might never happen. Stick him right into CF and just give him 600 at bats though. I wonder if Willie Randolph had anything to do with this trade. Two reasons, he never seemed to like Lastings much, and Willie LOVES having good defenders up the middle, and this has to put the Mets in contention for the best up the middle defense in baseball with Reyes, Castillo, Schnieder and Beltran. You gota give something to get something.

[Braves1029]

If they were going to trade Milledge they should have traded him when they could of got Oswalt or Zito. The players that they got in return aren't bad, but they shouldn't have traded Milledge

[bjsguess]

I think this also is a lesson to those that are all over Ellsbury/Lester/Buchholz/Joba/Hughes/Kennedy ... etc, etc.

Milledge was a big time prospect 2 years ago as well as last year. He was the centerpiece for potential superstar trades. All it takes is a year or two of mediocre performance and you see the value slip to Ryan Church status.

This is exactly why prospects AREN'T as valuable as players with a few years of service under their belts. You simply cannot take Joba's 21 ML innings and project him into the Hall of Fame. Prospects fail or underperform all of the time. This trade just helps to remind us all of that fact.

[nrmax88]

BJ, I hear you, but it isnt very fair to post Milledges MLB career line and then use it against him. He rarely ever got more then 2 starts in a row and was up and down from AAA 3 or 4 times the last couple of years. He never got the chance to really prove himself. Its a very fair point though, this deal most likely gets the Mets to the playoffs last year.

[bignatsfan]

Having watched Milledge in both AAA and MLB games, I'm very happy as a Nats fan that the Mets made this trade, but I think Mets fans should be a bit happier about having Schneider there. He's a great coach for young pitchers, so if the Mets hold on to guys like Pelfrey and Heilman, he could do lots of good for those players. I'm honestly sad to see him leave Washington.

[nrmax88]

"Could possibly go down as the worst trade in history!!!

WTF is Omar smoking"

Not anything nearly as strong as what you are smoking. Take off your homer hat and be logical for a second. to mets fans this stings cause we watched Milledge come up thru the minors. It also hurts because we got spoiled watching Wright and Reyes turn into stars so we expect it from all of our youngsters. A great defensive catcher goes a long way towards a winning team.

[nrmax88]

"Having watched Milledge in both AAA and MLB games, I'm very happy as a Nats fan that the Mets made this trade, but I think Mets fans should be a bit happier about having Schneider there. He's a great coach for young pitchers, so if the Mets hold on to guys like Pelfrey and Heilman, he could do lots of good for those players. I'm honestly sad to see him leave Washington."

I feel the same way. I love that we picked up Scnhieder was just sad to see my boy Lastings gone. If the Nats are smart he will go right into CF and start every single day. His defense in CF is very very good, where it is probably only average in RF. He mashes lefties and needs to learn to lay off breaking balls moving away from him from rhp.

[toshiro]

Don't forget about Church, bignatsfan!

He ranked 29th in the NL slugging vs righties: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/batting?sort=slugAvg&split=32&league=nl&season=2007&seasonType=2&type=reg&ageMin=17&ageMax=51&minpa=300&hand=a&pos=all (ahead of David Wright!)

[JerryKoosman]

Paul LoDuca
Guillermo Mota
Lastings Milledge

These are guys (I suspect) Randolph, Minaya and the Mets did not want any part of going forward. Sometimes your clubhouse gets better when you remove some problems. Addition by subtraction.

I really don't think any GM would EVER consider trading Zito, Oswalt, or any frontline player -- past, present or in the future -- for a guy like Milledge.

Not a great deal, but a good deal. A fair trade for both sides, in my opinion.

And to the poster (toshiro) who suggested that Dmitri Young mentor him...you ARE kidding, right? Do you think Dmitri taught Delmon the "throw the bat at the umpire" trick?

[bignatsfan]

nrmax88: I expect that they'll do exactly as you say an put Milledge as the starting CF, which will be great actually...Pena/Milledge/Kearns...I could live with that. :)

toshiro: Believe, I haven't forgotten about him, he also lead all MLB in doubles through the first half of the season - right up to the point we acquired Pena, and he lost his starting job. He's an awesome pickup for the Mets if they let him play every day. Remember, those were mostly doubles at RFK - at Shea, they'd probably have been HRs...

I'm more personally saddened about Schneider though because he's been with the team for so long and did such an amazing job with our young pitchers this year. I'm just a sentimental old fart who likes to see guys stick around and do well. You're right though, I'm sad to see Church go too.

[nrmax88]

"This is hilarious. Maybe now all the Milledge/Minaya nutsuckery from Mets fans will finally stop. Only Mets fans liked Milledge, and most of them clearly never saw how badly low breaking balls embarrassed him regularly."

Well, if that is the case, then why would the Minaya nutsuckers stop? If nobody outside NY liked Milledge, then this was an awesome trade, no?

God people are stupid.

[nrmax88]

bignatsfan, so is it fair to say I should expect Schneider to be dynamite behind the plate, throw some guys out and help the young pitchers? Is it also fair to expect Church to hit a lot of extra base hits and have a nice batting eye? If so, I can live with this. I cant wait to see how this helps all our young starters.

[bignatsfan]

Jerry Koosman: Catch up with the times! Dmitri was the Comback Player of the Year BECAUSE of his mentorship...he's come a long way from his troubled past. toshiro's right. Dmitri would be a great mentor for Milledge.

[bignatsfan]

nrmax88: Yep, I'd say that's a fair expectation. So long as they both get to play, that is.

[toshiro]

JK -- I can't take credit for suggesting that, but it sounds like a great idea! The Youngs do seem to have some issues (Dmitri/Delmon), but there's no denying they can hit. Dmitri's issues are a bit overblown. His last year on Detroit was a professional/personal disaster. I won't fault him too much, almost everyone I know has that (it's just not quite as publicized).

We'll see what Milledge does. If all the other pieces were in place for the Nats, I'd rather have Schneider & Church. But we're a long way off from having a solid ballclub, so long term team building makes the most sense.

[nrmax88]

"A Castro/Estrada and Milledge tandem would EASILY outperform Schneider/Church."

Really? I dont think so, not if you care about defense. Stop being a baby. It isnt that bad. Church will probably outperform Lastings this year. I am as high on lastings as any met fan, but this DOES help them for this year. Church is a nice little player. Here is how I look at it. Schneider>Lo Duca
Church>Green
Maine,Perez of 08> better then Maine/Perez of 07 because of Schneider.

Mets 08 > Mets 07

Milledge will almost certainly become the best player in this deal, but not next year. These are solid guys that can contribut all year, they have done it before. By the time Milledge is blossoming into a star, if/when it happens it will be around 2010 or 2011. By that time the Mets could have revamped their system.

And do you really want Omar gone? The guy that brought in Maine for nothing? The guy that brought in Oliver PErez for nothing? If i am not mistaking, you have been drooling over those 2 guys on this site for a couple weeks now. He broguth in El Duque for nothing. He brought in Castillo for nothing. Found Sosa on the scrap heap who helped big time when our pitchers were hurt. Brought in Duaner for nothing who was great for us until he got hurt. Brought us Beltran, and Delgado. Brought in Endy Chavez and Ruben Gotay. Basically, you want to fire the guy who made the Mets go from laughing stock to NL powerhouse in like 2 years? Wonderful, it is nice to know we dont have a bunch of knee jerk reaction homers on here or anything. We love Milledge for his upside, not what he has already done for us. We have 2 guys now who probably wont be Milledge, but will help us much more then he would have this year. We also still have Gomez and Martinez. I just dont get why everybody is acting like upset little school girls. Last question, who do we bring in if Omar is fired? Duquette looking for a job?

[nrmax88]

".why trade him for a catcher and outfielder that won't play much?"

I would assume that Ryan Church and Bryan Schneider would be the opening day RF and C respectively.

To the guy who made the Blanton joke, this is 10X better then Milledge even straight up for Blanton. People have to realize what a big time thing it is to have a top notch defensive catcher and game caller behind the plate. Just ask the Sox how V-Tek worked out for all of these years.

"very bad move by the mets.lastings in 184 at bats approx,i think hit 7 hr and 29 rbi.that is projected over a full season to hit 21 hr and 90 rbi and he is only 23 yrs old soon and he will probably get better.i understand trading him because the mets have a surplus of young outfield prosp