Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
November 30, 2007
Lastings Somewhere Else

It looks like Bleacher Banter got his wish. There's a breaking news flash on WFAN that the Mets traded Lastings Milledge to the Nationals for Church and Schneider. I guess that solves the Mets catching problem. He doesn't have much of a bat, but he can draw a walk.

Thanks to Thomas Peretti for the heads up.


Posted by David Pinto at 01:43 PM | Trades | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Geesh. After holding onto Milledge for all this time, all Minaya could get for him is a decent #4 outfielder and a replacement-level catcher? I realize catching is at a premium, but Schneider is an offensive cipher.

Perhaps this is an indication of how far Milledge's stock has fallen. A couple years ago, he would have fetched a lot more; but he was untouchable then.

That was then, this is now.

Posted by: jvwalt at November 30, 2007 03:16 PM

Why has his stock fallen? Because 24/7 know-it-alls on NYC radio have crushed him. So the genius that Minaya is (yeah right!) gets an OFer older and more expensive than Milledge and a so-so catcher?

I'm with you JVwalt, THIS is what Minaya decided? To an NL East team? Nice work.

Posted by: Kent at November 30, 2007 03:37 PM

1.) Church is more than just a #4 outfielder...he was only treated that way by the Washington FO. He had an .866 OPS against righties in 2007 and a .938 OPS against them in 2006. And he posted a 114 OPS+ last year in 450+ at-bats. However, he is 29 and getting older. (He's still four years away from free agency, though, so he's cheap.)

2.) Schneider has no bat anymore, but he's gotten a well-earned reputation as a dream to work with as a batterymate. He was the unsung hero in keeping the Nationals' pitching rotation (full of rookies and has-beens) from falling apart completely in 2007. Several pitchers openly admitted that they would let him call the games for them completely. Whatever else Schneider's faults, he's the anti-Estrada, anti-LoDuca...he may well help the development of guys like Maine, Pelfrey, and Humber.

3.) Still, what a great deal for the Nationals. With this deal (combined with a remarkable if unheralded track record over the past two years) it's simply impossible to consider Jim Bowden as anything but a very good GM. Which is funny, because people have rated him among the worst for years, long after he began pulling off whopper steals.

Posted by: Jeff B. at November 30, 2007 03:47 PM

Terrible trade for the Mets. Terrible.

Posted by: JC at November 30, 2007 03:47 PM

Church may be more than a #4 outfielder, but he's not much more. Call him a 3 1/2. At age 29, he's had exactly one season at anything close to full-time play, and he posted .272/349/464. It ain't hay, and the 43 doubles were nice, but it's perilously close to replacement-level.

As for Schneider being a great handler of pitchers... that may be true, but he's still a very poor hitter. He has firmly established that he is no one's long-term answer at catcher. There are lots of guys who are almost as good, who come a lot cheaper.

There was much weeping and gnashing of teeth over the idea of the Mets signing Torrealba; well, Schneider is almost an exact replica, except that he cost the Mets their top outfield prospect. Unless the Mets have truly come to believe that Milledge will never live up to the hype, this was a bad trade.

Posted by: jvwalt at November 30, 2007 04:58 PM

And the Nats get themselves, in effect, a cheap upgrade at catcher with Jesus Flores. He'll only be 23 and hit as "well" as Schneider last year, and should hit better. Nice deal for them.

Posted by: Harry at November 30, 2007 09:31 PM
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