Well for some positive news it seems like Omar checked with Oakland and Baltimore to see if they wanted Milledge first and they both said no. I still would've rather just held onto him rather than trading him for a 4th OF and a crap C, but this at least makes me feel better that there's still hope for Bedard, Haren, and even Blanton. I don't think we're even in the Santana sweepstakes at this point. We'd have to hope that Boston continues to be cautious about their top prospects and the Yankees don't budge either (although they seem willing to include Hughes now, not a good sign for the Mets). Personally, I'm 100% fine with giving up a package made up of 3 of Gomez, Pelfrey, Humber, F Mart, Mulvey, Gotay, and even Heilman (although at this point his value's probably significantly lowered) for either Bedard or Haren if it could get done. Gomez, Mulvey, and Humber/Pelfrey for one of these guys should be enough to get it done, and I'd pounce on that if I were Omar. You might even be able to get away with swapping in a lesser player for one of those guys for Bedard because he got injured last season.
I hate this: That's Omar's justification for the trade. However, we have two completely different situations on our hands here. Benson was a below-average pitcher who wasn't needed and with a wife who pissed off management, that's why he was traded...nobody really cared that much or was too upset over this trade. Omar got a young player with potential whose team had soured on him(Maine) back in the deal. Here, he's trading a 22 year old prospect whose been touted up since he was drafted as a future superstar and did nothing to hurt that reputation this season. Here, he's trading a young player with loads of potential who the team soured on, and taking back a Kris Benson. He pretty much contradicted himself by saying to take chances with young kids with potential like Maine and Milledge and not with players who haven't done anything great at the big league level (Benson, Church, Schneider). However, Omar does have a knack for these types of things working out when everyone doubted or didn't know the player he acquired (Maine, Perez, Nady, Sanchez, etc.) being far better than expected. Hopefully that will happen with these two, especially Church, because the Mets need more from him.
The only one of these prospects I even am willing to keep is Mulvey. He's the only one I care to keep anyway. The rest can be gone if it means getting a Haren.
To Omar's credit, if he's looking to win it all this season, Schneider and Church probably do help more than Milledge would. Is it a good trade longterm? Most likely not. But for one year, I guess I can see the trade.
Milledge/Estrada compared to Schneider/Church is not going to be what puts the Mets over the top this season. And it's pretty much assured to be a terrible deal every year for the next 15 years or so after this year. So please don't justify this as somehow upgrading the Mets team this season. There is no benefit to the trade whatsoever. Honestly the only "theory" about this trade I've heard that makes any kind of sense(beyond Omar is a terrible GM) is that he was ordered by the Wilpons to get Milledge out of town.
Obviously, Omar didn't see Milledge the same way that he sees Wright and Reyes, as a "core player". This isn't football...29 is fairly young in baseball. Milledge will probably be a good player in a couple of years, but the Mets want to win NOW.
Church is going to put up the same numbers as Milledge, probably play worse defense than him and is older than him by 6-7 years. I mean, I like having Schneider's defense and ability to throw out runners, but that trade was not of equal value at all. Omar could have traded Milledge for a 4 or 5 starter and I wouldn't have minded as much. His willingness to continue to upgrade the offense year after year is taking a turn for the worse when there is no pitching on this team whatsoever.
yeah that move blew hard...sorry for your loss. I started thinking back to when i heard on the radio Kazmir being traded for Zambrano..and going impressive they just landed Carlos Zambrano. Then I heard the name Victor and just shook my head Lastings Milledge is a headache but hes the real deal, but at least trade him for something valuable
It doesn't even upgrade the offense, by the way it sound we are going to start both players, and even if Church has slightly better numbers than Milledge, Schneider's terrible bat would still have us losing the trade, we were better off just starting Difelice and keeping Milledge if we wanted a bad hitting catcher
It's not about Schneider's bat that Omar got him in the first place. Not to mention, you know damn well Lo Duca would have had a problem hitting 8th all season. At least Schneider knows his role as the #8 hitter. His defense is a commodity.
Here's what the Mets lineup could've been next season: Reyes/Milledge/Beltran/Wright/Alou/Estrada/Delgado/Gotay Here's what the Mets lineup will be next season: Reyes/Castillo/Beltran/Wright/Delgado/Alou/Church/Schneider Ugh.
Switch Alou and Delgado and that's a pretty solid offense. How many teams top that in the NL? I'm totally in denial, but let's wait and see before we judge.
Well, off the top of my head I can think of 3 better lineups, and that's just in their division. What is that lineup going to look like when Alou is injured(only half the season if we're lucky), Beltran is missing time due to his knees and Reyes is in one of his slumps?
If Delgado bounces back to '06 form (even a little worse), Alou plays 120 games, and Reyes and Wright keep it up, I think we're fine. Lot of ifs, I know. But Schneider behind the plate improves our pitching, so I'm willing to live with him there, and Gome and Chavez make the oufield more than adequate as a whole. Though the idea that this team could be so much better off, considering where it was following the Yadier Molina game, is extremely frustrating.
How does Schneider behind the plate improve the pitching? When they brought LoDuca in they said the same kind of crap about him being great at "handling a pitching staff" and "calling a game". I'm always wary of this kind of hyperbole with no data to back it up. These are the same guys that say how gritty and great Eckstein is for a club.
Pitching can tell the story. It all depends on what Omar does with the rotation and bullpen. I won't quite judge him yet, but he just about gone over the top. I can understand sacrificing a hitter for a pitcher, but he didn't even do that. Coming off one of the biggest collapses in history due to pitching, his first few significant moves this offseason have been towards the offense. (Castillo/Alou/Castro re-sign, Trade Milledge for more offense). The biggest pitching move of the offseason so far was getting rid of Mota. Omar, sit on your hands through another offseason why don't you.
