The Mets today traded 22-year old outfielder and former first round pick Lastings Milledge. The trade involved one of the following four teams:
a) The Oakland A's, keepers of Dan Haren
b) The Minnesota Twins, keepers of Johan Santana
c) The Baltimore Orioles, keepers of Erik Bedard
d) The Washington Nationals, who have acquired Milledge in exchange for...
Brian Schneider and Ryan Church? Not exactly the ace we were looking for.
Ryan Church: Just what the doctor ordered And by that I mean, our General Manager just made a very shrewd deal that, while "helping to make us better offensively and defensively," (Omar's words) involved sending a 22-year old top young player away to a division rival in exchange for an above average outfielder pushing 30 and a "big on defensive" catcher who can't hit.
Paging Mike DiFelice...you couldn't have kindly reminded Omar Minaya that getting such a catcher wouldn't cost one of our premier trading chips?
Paging Lastings Milledge...it's really a bummer that the chance you'll be given to prove you too can hit .270 over a full season will be granted with a team not named the Mets.
I'm no fan of "win-now" moves, to begin with. I think that winning now and taking the future into account can almost always be compatible. And if you do make a win-now move, it better be for Manny Ramirez, or Barry Zito circa 2006, or Dan Haren last winter, (yeah, we probably could have made that move a year ago) or any of the other players Lastings Milledge's name has been tossed around in connection with. This was a win-now move, and we got, well, Brian Schneider and Ryan Church, for a player who could have produced at an acceptable level this year, and who could have quickly turned into another young anchor for these Mets within the next few years. Now we can watch him turn into a young anchor for the Nats, paying us back 19 times every year alongside Ryan Zimmerman, Nook Logan and the rest of the gang as they move into a new ballpark of their own.
The more optimistic fan right now will suggest that we not view this trade in a vacuum; "Omar's got somethin' up his sleeve! Let him work his magic!"
I will suggest that we stop viewing our General Manager as some bizarre magician wizard person, all-knowing and ready to spin Ryan Church around as the answer to our need for an ace. We don't have that ace right now. We have Ryan Church. When you trade one of your top young players for a couple of so-so 30-year olds, the trade should be viewed in a vacuum unless something better happens. If it does, I'll give credit where credit is due.
The luster's worn off, Omar Minaya. This move just makes no sense. If this was all Lastings Milledge, formerly one of the most coveted young players in the game, could get you right now, in November 2007, why wasn't it worth it to just let him play next season? For the third time, he couldn't have put up Ryan Church-like numbers? If nothing else, he couldn't have played himself into being as a more valuable trading chip for next July? For the third time, Brian Schneider and Ryan Church? You couldn't have demanded a middle reliever out of that deal?
I'm just trying to take away any positives I can find right now. Marty Noble seems to like the trade, which has only made finding a justification for it that much harder.
Right now, there's not a whole lot else to say. Peace up, young Lastings.
R.I.P.(Photos courtesy mets.com, thecrockedpot.com)
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