Mets send Milledge to Nats for Schneider and Church

We all knew the New York Mets were going to trade outfielder Lastings Milledge this offseason but we all thought it would be for pitching. We were wrong. The Nats acquired Milledge in exchange for catcher Brian Schneider and outfielder Ryan Church. The Mets finally get their catcher but at the cost of young, cheap talent that has superstar potential.

The Nats are starting their youth movement. They got a star quality young outfielder in Milledge. The trade of Schneider also makes it seem as if the Nats will give the starting catching job to Rule-V draft pick Jesus Flores. They will be joined by youngsters Ryan Zimmerman, Felipe Lopez, and veterans Dmitri Yong and Ronnie Belliard. Not too far off will be starting pitcher Ross Detwiller, Jordan Zimmerman, Justin Maxwell, and Chris Marrero. Nick Johnson should return healthy in 2008 as well.

The Mets get a starting catcher that can actually catch. Schneider is a good fielding catcher that has a good arm as well. He calls a good game and is a professional in the clubhouse. He won’t hurt you with the bat and this move might make the Johnny Estrada trade look better. They can now non-tender Estrada and they got rid of Guillermo Mota and his $3M+ salary for free. Ryan Church will give the Mets OF depth and could start or be a good bat off the bench. Church is an average COF and can play CF when Beltran needs a rest.

This deal was a deal out of necessity for the Mets. When you deal out of necessity you usually get less value but you fill holes, that’s what the Mets did in this trade.

The Nats can give Milledge a fresh start (his “baggage” problems are so overblown as well, not nearly what Delmon Young or Elijah Dukes carry) and can play everyday. If Milledge fulfils his potential that’ll give the Nats two guys they can build around in Milledge and Ryan Zimmerman.

The Nats have also expressed interest in Tampa Bay outfielder Elijah Dukes and I think they should pull the trigger on that trade. That will give the Nats two young, cheap OF options that they can build around. By 2010 or 2011, OF prospect Michael Burgess could be ready and the Nats would sport and OF of Milledge, Dukes, and Burgess. All three outfielders went to school in the Tampa Bay area and two (Dukes and Burgess) graduated from the same high school (Hillsborough) as Gary Sheffield, Dwight Gooden, Carl Everett and many others.

The Nats get the better player in this trade without giving up any young talent or any player they plan to build around. The Nats win this trade, in my opinion, hands down.

Here is the source of the article:

The New York Mets have dealt outfielder Lastings Milledge to the Washington Nationals for catcher Brian Schneider and outfielder Ryan Church, multiple media outlets reported Friday.

The Nationals announced they would hold a news teleconference at 3 p.m. ET to announce a trade.

Milledge, in parts of two seasons with the Mets, has a career .257 batting average (90 for 350) with 40 extra-base hits and 51 runs batted in.

Church, in 144 games last season, hit .272, one point higher than his career average in four seasons with the Expos-Nationals franchise. Last season, he had 128 hits, including 43 doubles — tied for the team lead with Ryan Zimmerman — and 15 home runs, and 70 RBIs.

An eight-year veteran, Schneider hit .235 with 21 doubles in 2007. In the field he had 53 assists, six errors and a .992 fielding percentage. He has a career .252 batting average in 757 major league games. –ESPN news service

-Jonathan C. Mitchell

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