Milledge Traded in Worst Deal Ever

The Mets have traded Lastings Milledge today to the Nationals for Catcher Brian Schneider and Ryan Church. First off, wow. I turn on SNY and start watching a show. A few minutes in I see “Lastings Milledge as traded to the Nationals for…” At the moment I thought they got Chad Cordero who would have been a nice pick up. Instead I see they get Brian Schneider and I didn’t even care who the other outfielder was at the time. I get out of my seat and start screaming no, no, no. I was honestly speechless. The trade made no sense and I was unbelievably confused.

In my opinion this was an absolutely horrendous trade. The Mets traded a young player with a lot of talent in Milledge for a mediocre defense catcher who is a poor hitter and a younger version of Shawn Green who is coming off a career year.

Last season, Church had a .272 average with 15 home runs, 43 doubles, 57 runs, 70 rbis, 3 steals, 107 strikeouts, and 49 walks in 144 games. In 2006, Church played in just 71 games while batting .276 with 10 home runs, 35 rbis, 17 doubles, 22 runs, 6 steals, 60 strikeouts, and 26 walks. He is 29 years old, 6 foot 1, and 190 pounds.

Brian Schneider is known as being more of a defensive catcher than an offensive one. In 126 games last season, Schneider hit .235 with 6 home runs, 35 rbis, 33 runs, 23 doubles, 56 walks, and 56 strikeouts. His best season was with the expos in 2004 when he hit .257 with 12 home runs, 49 rbis, 40 runs, 3 triples, 20 doubles, 42 walks, and 63 strikeouts in 135 games.

Essentially Milledge is being traded for an average catcher and a decent outfielder who has been the #4 outfielder for a lot of his career. I have been saying this for a while but I truly feel the Mets as an organization disliked Milledge’s attitude and never game him a chance. On October 14, I wrote an article explaining why the right fielding job should go to Milledge. On August 13, I begged Willie to give Milledge his chance saying “Everyone asked coming out of pre-season was not if but when Lastings Milledge would overtake Shawn Green as the starting right fielder. Milledge had 2 at bats for the Mets before being sent down.” On March 6, I explained why Milledge should start this season in right. The Mets never gave Milledge a chance from Willie never playing him to this recent trade. The Mets never even gave Milledge a full season; hell they never gave him half a season.

Milledge was not a quite kid. He new the hype surrounding him and boy did he show it. He gave fans hi fives and was not afraid to speak his mind. He brought a swagger that the Mets desperately need. His fist pumps showed he actually cared and wanted the team to win. He would have been a team player and a possible all star if the Mets gave him a chance.

After Jose Reyes was signed and when he was brought up to the major’s critics bashed him. He was constantly getting injured and could not hit a breaking ball if his life depended on it. Jose Reyes got better, stopped chasing the breaking balls in the dirt, stayed healthy, and has become an all star. Just because the critics are down on Milledge doesn’t mean he will not be good. He had so much hype like Reyes and has not really struggled but yet his value is down and was traded without even playing a full season. What if the Mets traded Reyes 4 years ago for 2 mediocre players and then Reyes becomes so good, how would you feel?

The Mets outfield and their batting order are not looking to good right now. Chances are the Mets will trade Gomez and or Fernandez crippling our out fielding prospects. The Mets will have Beltran who can play very well in center, Alou who will hopefully continue to hit but will play like 70 games, and Church who could either play like crap under New York pressure or have a season like Shawn green did last year. Oh yeah, the Mets ended up starting Milledge over Green in September… funny.

Here is an idea what the Mets could have done. They should have just re-signed Lo Duca who is better than Schneider and kept Milledge. Instead they now have a worse catcher and a worse right fielder than last year.


This trade makes me think of the Scott Kazmir trade. Milledge could be another Kazmir and the Mets could have gotten ripped off. This was a terrible move by Omar and I am outraged. The Mets have so far gotten worse in two positions and have not signed any new, good players, and instead just re-signed players from last year. If Omar does not make a trade for an ace and instead signs Livan Hernandez or even worse, Carlos Silva, then Omar must be fired if the Mets play poorly for simply making the team worse. Omar, you are the GM of the Expos anymore so stop trading for players that were on that team. The Expos sucked then so why would mediocre players make the Mets into a World Series winning team?

I have always been a huge fan of Lastings Milledge. I went to his second game and have a Milledge shirt. If Omar was smart he would have traded Milledge for Manny, or Soriano, or Haren, or Zito. Omar said Milledge was part of the team for the future but when former expos are available good bye future and hello past. This is a sad day for me; I do not want to think of the future of the Mets without my favorite player Lastings Milledge. When he becomes real good I just want to say I told all of you so. The worst part will be going to Mets-Nats games and seeing Milledge play right field…

Martinez #17

MiLB.com has created their top 50 prospects list. Mets Prospect Fernando Martinez is the only Mets Prospect on the list, he is #17.

"Despite playing less than half a Minor League season, Martinez is still highly regarded by scouts around baseball. The Mets sent him to the Arizona Fall League in 2006, where he became the youngest player ever to participate there, and continued to push him aggressively by making the 18-year-old the youngest player in the Double-A Eastern League in 2007. A hand injury hampered him for much of the year and eventually ended his season in July.
When healthy, Martinez has tremendous potential with the bat. He should eventually hit for both average and power from a corner outfield spot. He has the ability to play decent defense and isn't a bad runner, but all his skills are still on the raw side. Assuming he's healthy in 2008, Martinez should be able to continue his quick ascent to New York. Starting the year back in Double-A might be the way to go, but even if he begins there, it's unlikely he'll finish the season at the same level. "

Estrada catcher? New deal for Bedard and Hernandez

In a recent post, I suggested the trade of Ramon Hernandez and Erik Bedard for Lastings Milledge, Carlos Gomez, Fernando Martinez, Mike Pelfrey, Kevin Mulvey and or Phillip Humber, Mike Carp and (maybe Ruben Gotay). The Mets traded away Mota (good riddance) and acquired catcher Johnny Estrada. In my opinion, Estrada is not good the best option for the Mets. He puts up pretty good numbers at the plate but is poor defensively giving the Mets a platoon of two good hitting but poor defensive catchers in Castro and Estrada. If the Mets want a hitting catcher they might as well go after Hernandez on the orioles.

I have looked over my suggested trade and believe I had given the O’s way to many players. The new trade would be Milledge, Gomez or Martinez, Pelfrey, Humber or Mulvey, and Gotay.

Pellot and Power

Comment question:
Does anyone know if Hector Pellot is related to Vic Power (gold glove 1st baseman in the 50's and first Puerto Rican to play for the philadelphia athletics)? Power's real name was Victor Pellot.

Answer: Mets Prospect Hector Pellot and Victor Power are not related.

Grades from Minor League Ball

John Sickel at Minor League Ball recently graded the Mets top 20 prospects.

1. Fernando Martinez, OF, Grade B+
2. Deolis Guerra, RHP, Grade B+
3. Carlos Gomez, OF, Grade B (undecided, may raise to B+. You guys are right about the injuries, but you also need to be more wary of Mets propaganda.)
4. Kevin Mulvey, RHP, Grade B (may raise to B+)
5. Jon Niese, LHP, Grade B
6. Eddie Kunz, RHP, Grade B
7. Phil Humber, RHP, Grade B-
8. Brant Rustich, RHP, Grade B-
9. Joe Smith, RHP, Grade B-
10. Nick Evans, 1B, Grade C+
11. Stephen Clyne, RHP, Grade C+
12. Scott Moviel, RHP, Grade C+
13. Brahiam Maldonado, OF, Grade C+ (deserves more respect)
14. Nate Vinyard, LHP, Grade C (although I like him)
15. Robert Parnell, RHP, Grade C
16. Mike Carp, 1B, Grade C
17. Hector Pellot, 2B, Grade C
18. Dan Murphy, 3B, Grade C
19. Ezequiel Carrera, OF, Grade C
20. Greg Veloz, 2B, Grade C

"There are 15 other Grade C prospects in the book who are interchangeable with these other guys. There are some toolsy players like Francisco Pena and Juan Lagares with dismal performance records that I cannot rate highly at this point, no matter how much the Mets talk about them. There is some nice pitching in this system, but depth in position players is very weak. Overall the system is better than it looks at first, but lack of hitting depth is a problem, and I hate the way they rush some of their prospects."

I find it funny that players like Eddie Kuntz, who was the Mets first pick, is rated so highly after playing poorly in the Minors and struggling down the stretch for Oregon. To me this list looks like John Sickle went throught the draft selection and rated the players by when they were drafted. I think its weird that there are decent amount of players who were drafted last year on this list but Dylan Owen who had the best year out of all Mets draft picks was not given a grade.

Bedard and Hernandez?

The Mets were unable to sign Yorvit Torrealba as the 3 year deal fell through over the weekend. I was actually quite happy to see that the Mets did not sign Torrealba and his .219 road batting average, .251 career average, and the fact that this was his first season as a starter while averaging only 62 games a year throughout his career. The Mets are not planning on re-signing Paul Lo Duca because they did not like his attitude and also they think a multiple year contract is not the best idea for a 36 year old catcher. Currently, the Mets only have Ramon Castro who probably would not last the entire season as a starter as he is constantly getting injured and most likely his stats would not be as good as they would be if he was coming off of the bench.

The Mets need two things right now; starting pitching and a catcher. In order to accomplish both I have feel the best possible option is via trade. Ramon Hernandez of the Orioles is good both offensively and defensively. Hernandez had an off year only playing 106 games while batting .258 with 9 home runs, 62 rbis, 40 runs, 36 walks, and 56 strikeouts. Though, in 2006 Hernandez played in 144 games while batting .275 with 23 home runs, 91 rbis, 66 runs, 43 walks, and 79 strikeouts. It would also be nice to see Hernandez and Peterson reunited from the days with the Oakland Athletics where they had so much success. Hernandez would be able to contribute both offensively, if he stays healthy, and defensively, with a career .988 fielding percentage, along with working well with the pitching staff.

The other key player in the trade would be starter Erik Bedard. The 28 year old Bedard finished the 2007 season with a 13-5 record, a 3.16 ERA and 221 strikeouts despite missing an entire month with a strained right oblique. Bedard has gotten better every year with the Orioles in era 13.50, 4.59, 4.00, 3.76, 3.16 and strikeouts 1, 121, 125, 171, 221. Bedard also knows Mets Bullpen Catcher, Dave Racaniello because they were both on the same team as when they won the Junior College World Championship with Norwalk Community College. Bedard is continuing to improve and he could be an ace for the New York Mets. Bedard would also be easier to trade for then Johann Santana and in my opinion Bedard has endless possibilities. I have always liked Bedard just because he is a solid baseball player from Canada where His high school in Navan, Ontario, did not even have a baseball team. He walked onto the baseball team at a community college in Norwalk Connecticut and after being drafted in the 6th round worked his way up and is now an ace.

The trade would be as followed: the Orioles would give the New York Mets Ramon Hernandez and Erik Bedard. The Mets would have to part with Lastings Milledge, Carlos Gomez, Fernando Martinez, Mike Pelfrey, Kevin Mulvey and or Phillip Humber, Mike Carp and (maybe Ruben Gotay).

I see it like this; Milledge is going to have a good to great career in my opinion. He is the best young player the Mets have to trade and if the Mets do make a trade he is almost certain to go. Gomez has a lot of talent but people wonder if he will just be a pinch runner and a defensive replacement or if he will be able to hit consistently in the majors. Martinez is real young and already in AA. The sky is the limit for him but will he live up to the hype? Pelfrey is the Mets best pitching prospect so if they trade for a big pitcher, expect to give him up. Mulvey in my eyes will become a number 4 or 5 starter and possibly a long reliever. I know he is improving pretty well but I don’t really like what I have seen from him. Humber has had lots of injuries which have prevented him to live up to his potential. Scouts don’t love his stuff and chances are his injuries will nag him throughout his entire career.

Mike Carp is done in my opinion. Since his injury he has really struggled especially in the power department. As a first baseman who does not bring a good glove and does not bat for average, Carp will not have a successful career if he doesn’t get his pop back. Gotay could be trade simply because the Mets do not need him as a starter. He is mature enough and good enough to start for many teams. He is almost turning into a Jeff Kepinger type of player because the Mets are beginning to underutilize Gotay in my opinion. Castillo has a 4 year deal and Gotay cant and shouldn’t come off the bench for the next 4 years.

If this trade works the Mets have an ace in Bedard who is under contract until 2009 and a catcher in Ramon Hernandez who pitching Coach Rick Peterson already knows can get the job done. This trade could be the thing to turn the Mets in World Series Champions and maybe even a dynasty.

BeachBoys advance

The Waikiki BeachBoys clinched the Hawaii Winter Baseball East Division title and advanced to championship game Sunday with a 6-3 victory over the Honolulu Sharks. Mets prospect Dan Murphy broke out of a 3-for-25 slump in the fifth of that game with a three-run homer, his fourth of the year. Murphy is batting .274 on the season with 4 home runs, 21 rbis, 17 runs, 22 strikeouts, and 11 walks in 26 games. The real MVP for the Beachboys this season has been Canadien born prospect Emmanuel Garcia. Garcia is batting .348 in 17 games with 8 stolen bases, 13 runs, 8 walks, and 7 strikeouts.

Castillo Resigned; Will Ruben get a chance?

The New York Mets announced today that they have re-signed free agent infielder Luis Castillo to a four-year contract worth 25 million. Castillo is career .294 hitter but played well for the Mets and Twins last season as he hit .301 with 91 runs scored, 19 doubles, five triples, one home run, 38 RBI, 19 stolen bases, 53 walks and 45 stolen bases in 135 games last year between the Twins and Mets. He also brings great defense as everyone already knows.

In some ways I am dissapointed. I would have liked Daivd Eckstein to come to New York with his tenacious additude. This deal is pretty fair, the only thing is 2 or 3 years from now how good will Castillo be especially with his health. I also would have liked to see the Mets give Ruben Gotay a chance to start after not being given the chance last season. The Mets have a few decent second baseman in the minors with Anderson Hernadez, Emmanuel Garcia, Jason Alfaro (if he even counts) and Hector Pellot. I get the sense that the New York Mets Management does not trust the young guys whether it was Lastings Millidge, Carlos Gomez, or Ruben Gotay by making up exscues like saying their not ready yet or finding/keeping a veteran in that position if that players stats are poor.

AFL ending

The Arizona Fall league has ended with the Scottsdale Scorpions not making the playoffs, thus ending the season for the Mets players on the team.

Caleb Stewart batted .318 with 6 home runs, and 11 rbis in 12 games.

Mike Carp batted .243 with 0 home runs, and 16 rbis in 29 games. In his last game of the season Carp went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, three RBIs and two runs scored. In my opinion really has not been the same since his injury. I can not belive he did not have 1 homerun in the entire season. Trade him....

Mike Nickeas batted .196 with 1 home run, and 6 rbis in 13 games.

Adam Bostick was 2-0 in 6 starts with an era of 2.74 and 23 strikeouts.

Eddie Camacho was 0-2 in 10 games with an era of 2.31 and 9 strikeouts.

Carlos Muniz was 0-1 in 8 games with an era of 3.27, 9 strikeouts, 5 walks. I expect a little more from Muniz...

Eddie Kunz was 0-1 in 9 games with an era of 10.13, 11 strikeouts, 8 walks. When is he going to stat playing well?

Eckstein?

According to Mets.com the Mets are very interested in David Eckstein to play second base for the Mets. I really like the Eckstein and the scrappy player he is. I would prefer him over Castillo just because I feel like every year out Castillo is going to put up worse and worse numbers while being injured more often. It would be nice to see Eckstein play for the Mets like he did for the Cardnals in the 2007 NLCS where he dominated. I really hope the Mets are considering him and that they end up either signing him or actually giving Ruben Gotay a chance to play second base, but I doubt they will give Gotay a chance.

Castro Resigned

The New York Mets announced that they have re-signed catcher Ramon Castro to a two-year, $4.6 million contract. Castro, 31, slugged a career-high 11 home runs last season. He also hit .285 (41-144) with 24 runs scored, six doubles and had 31 RBI in 52 games in 2007. Nice...

Collazo Update

Rotoworld recently gave an update on Mets Prospect Willie Collazo:

Willie Collazo allowed two hits over seven scoreless innings Thursday for La Guaira of the VWL.Collazo has yet to allow a run in 11 innings of work. The 27-year-old southpaw made his major league debut for the Mets in September, giving up four runs in 5 2/3 innings. He'll be a long shot to make the club out of spring training as a middle reliever.

Articles on Carp and Kunz

Mets.com has wrote articles on Eddie Kunz and Mike Carp. The article on Carp is about how he is determined to correct his swing after his hand injury while Kunz is intent on working his way up to the majors. I hope Carp and Kunz are determined and ready to work their way up to the majors because Carp is batting .230 and Kunz has an era of 12.46 for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League.

Baseball America's Top 10

Baseball America released their rankings for the New York Mets top 10 prospects.

1. Fernando Martinez, OF
2. Deolis Guerra, RHP
3. Carlos Gomez, OF
4. Kevin Mulvey, RHP
5. Eddie Kunz, RHP
6. Brant Rustich, RHP
7. Philip Humber, RHP
8. Jon Niese, LHP
9. Nathan Vineyard, LHP
10. Robert Parnell, RHP

This group is led by two very young players in Martinez, about to turn 19, and Guerra, 18. Personally, I do not like Kevin Mulvey and think he will never be a good major league pitcher. Kunz has yet to pitch well in the minors thus far but he had a great college career. I would throw Dylan Owen on this list. There are 3 players from the 2007 draft on this list and the Owen has outplayed Kunz, Rutisch, and Vineyard while racking up major honors such as Topps New York-Penn League Player of the Year, New York-Penn League All-Star, the organization’s Sterling Award winner as the best prospect at his respective level and minor league baseball.com’s Short-Season Pitcher of the Year. Owen was also the Division II player of the year.

Carp and Kunz Conversation

MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo had a recent coversation with possible closer of the future Eddie Kunz, a flame-throwing right-hander, and slugging first baseman Mike Carp. The two prospects are part of the New York Mets contingent at the Arizona Fall League.

Sliver Sluggers

Carlos Beltran and David Wright have won Silver Slugger Awards. The Silver Slugger Award recognizes the most outstanding offensive player at each position as determined by voting of coaches and managers in each league. Selections are based on statistics including batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, and the coaches' and managers' general impressions of a player's overall offensive value.

AFL last night:

Mike carp went 2-3 with a double and is now hitting .241. Adam Bostick gave up five hits, no runs, two walks and struck out three in five innings of work.

Carr and Garcia playing well

Nicholas Carr is pitching well right now in the Hawaii winter league. In 3 games, 1 start, 7.1 innings pitched he is 0-0 with a 2.45 era. This past season for A Brooklyn Cycloones, Carr was 5-2 with a 3.80 era, 74 strikeouts, and 27 walks in 14 starts.

Emmanuel Garcia continues to play well for the BeachBoys. He is now batting .348 which is tied for 4th in the league for average. Garcia also has 5 doubles , 2 triples (5th in the league), 1rbi, 13 runs, 8 walks, 7 strikeouts and is 8 for 9 in stolen bases.

Please No Silva

The Mets need to get better in pitching this offseason and one name that has been thrown out is free agent Carlos Silva, formerly on the Minnesota Twins. Silva is the considered by most the best young pitcher on the market and is looking at a deal like Gil Meche’s for 4 years and roughly 40 to 60 million.
The Venezuelan born Silva has yet to pitch well in the majors. In 259 games, 125 starts, Silva is 55-46 with a 4.31 era, 395 strikeouts, 171 walks, and has allowed 117 home runs. He gave up 20 homeruns in 33 starts in 2007, 38 homeruns in 31 starts in 2006, and 25 homeruns in 27 starts in 2005. Silva is also a much better pitcher at home than on the road, 3.42 at home and 5.03 on the road.

I do not want the Mets to sign Carlos Silva. He is and will continue to be and end of the rotation pitcher and will just take up the spot of a blooming Mike Pelfrey or Phillip Humber. The Mets don’t need him and it will look like the Mets got cheated when Silva is making 12 million a year and he is a number 5 pitcher or worse, a long reliever in the bullpen. If the Mets really want to be better and improve their pitching staff picking up some overpriced, end of the rotation, crappy pitcher is not the way to go.

Wright and Beltran Gold Glove

David Wright and Carlos Beltran have been awarded National League Gold Glove winners. This is David Wrights first gold glove (hopefully not last) and Beltrans second consecutive gold glove.

Stewart and Bostick are Hot

Rotoworld reports that Caleb Stewart hit his fifth homer in 23 AFL at-bats to take over the league lead on Monday.He has one-third the at-bats of the league's regulars. The 25-year-old Stewart hit .252/.314/.400 for Double-A Binghamton last season. He had better numbers previously, but since he's always been old for his leagues, he's never been taken seriously as a prospect.

Adam Bostick continues to pitch well for the scorpions. In 5 starts, 19 innings pitched, Bostick is 1-0 with a 1.42 era, 18 strikeouts, and 12 walks. The 24 year old struggled in AAA New Orleans this year going 6-7 with a 5.66 era, 91 strikeouts and 45 walks.

Todays moves

Mets agreed to terms with second baseman-outfielder Marlon Anderson on a two-year, $2.2 million contract.

Mets declined infielder Jose Valentin's $4.3 million option for 2008. Mets declined RHP Brian Lawrence's $4 million option for 2008. Mets sent LHP Dave Williams and outfielder David Newhan outright to Triple-A New Orleans. Williams has already declined the assignment, and Newhan is expected to do the same. Williams gave up 11 earned runs in 4 2/3 innings for the Mets last season.

Carp Struggling

Mike Carp is playing pretty terrible right now for the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League. Carp, who batted .251 with 11 home runs, 48 rbis, and 55 runs in 97 games for AA Binghamton has yet to find his groove. In his last 6 games, Carp is 3 for his last 21 with 3 strikeouts. After a 2006 season where Carp hit .287 with 17 homers, 88 RBIs and 69 runs scored in 137 games for A Advanced St. Lucie along with finishing third in the Florida State League in total bases (221), second in RBIs, fourth in hits (141) and second in games (137), it seemed Carp was on the fast track to playing for the Mets. But, a wrist injury took away most of Carps season and he has not put up the same power numbers since.

Murphy playing well

Dan Murphy is batting .313. with 3 home runs, 16 rbis, 13 runs, and 16 strikeouts in 19 games. Murphy went 4-for-4 with a homer, double, and 2 singles in a 13-9 win for the Waikiki BeachBoys. Murphy was the Mets' 13th-round pick in 2006 and the 22-year-old third baseman hit .285 with 11 homers and 78 RBIs for Class A Advanced St. Lucie in 2007.

Hawaii Winter League Update:

Emanuel Garcia is batting .348 with 5 doubles, 8 walks, 8 stolen bases, 13 runs and 1 rbi in 17 games.

Hector Pellot is batting .288 with 1 home run, 1 double, 5 runs, 7 rbis, 2 stolen bases, and 17 strikeouts in just 18 games.

Jose de la Torre has pitched just 2.1 innings in 2 games while allowing 7 runs off 7 hits and 2 homeruns with and era of 27.00.

Easley and Alou Resigned

The Mets have picked up the $7.5 million option on Moises Alou’s have re-signed free-agent infielder Damion Easley to a one-year, $950,000 contract. Who remembers when Damion had a 2 out, 2 strike, pinch hit home run to tie the gamein the 10th inning against the rockies followed by a Endy Chavez walk off drag bunt... great game.