The Future of Heilman and Milledge

As of lately, all I hear about are the futures of Aaron Heilman and Lastings Milledge. Since Zito signed with the Giants, the Mets have begun trying to find a way to fill the hole they lost by not signing him. Milledge has been popping up in every trade talk imaginable. I have heard his named mentioned with guys like Westbrook, Harden, Blanton, Haren, Lee, and others. But what is the future of these players that are going to be so important to the Mets success the next season and future seasons. I believe that Aaron Heilman will definitely not be traded. The Mets have talked about how they did not want to trade Heilman because he was so vital to the Bullpens success last year. Now, that the Mets Bullpen is even weaker then last year there is no way the Mets can afford to trade him. On the other hand, Lastings Milledge is in a completely different situation. The Mets top prospect, without a rookie season under his belt has high expectations. He is a five tool center fielder, but if he wants to play for the Mets he will have to move to one of the corners.

The Mets Farm System has two other big name outfielders; Carlos Gomez and Fernando Martinez. 21 year old Carlos Gomez is a real threat on the base paths having 41 steals in 120 games, while putting up 7 home runs, 48 RBI’s and maintaining a .286 batting average. He is the next closest to the Minor Leagues following Milledge. Though, Gomez has struggled in Winter Baseball after 8 games having a .091 batting average and 6 strikeouts. 18 year old Fernando Martinez has been catching all the Mets Minor League headlines. The rising star is listed in the top three in about every Mets Top prospect list. He was the youngest player to have ever played in the Arizona Fall League and was also in the AFL’s Rising Stars. In 25 games played this winter, Fernando has a .253 batting average, 7 RBI’s, and 2 Home Runs in 87 at bats.

With all this being said, Lastings Milledges future is still vague. I do not believe he will be traded. The Mets will not be able to trade Milledge to gain a quality started because the Market is to tough. This means the Mets would have to part with another prospect like Gomez or a many of the Mets young pitchers like Humber, Pelfrey, Perez, or Maine. It is not worth it to bring in a run of the mill pitcher and give up two prospects. The only way I can see Milledge being traded is out of desperation at the end of the off-season.