*** Official NY Mets Our OFFSEASON Has Come Thread ***

[Wynton]

I'll try and give Omar the benefit of the doubt for a second.

Presumably, Milledge has already been shopped all over the place. So, Omar may well know that Milledge has little value in the eyes of other teams (at least those with pitching).

Further, it is not hard to imagine that Milledge might qualify as one of those clubhouse cancer types.

Indeed, many of the trade rumors for the bigger names seem to focus on Carlos Gomez instead of Milledge.

Finally, I hear from a well-placed Nats fan (i.e., someone I just met 10 minutes ago) that Schneider really is quite good defensively, and not as bad as people think offensively.

There, that's my attempt to give Omar the benefit of the doubt.

[Wynton]

According to Metsblog, Jason Stark (fwiw) says the following:

“The Mets have been looking for a defensive-minded catcher who could lead a staff, and Brian Schneider does that as well as anyone. And Ryan Church is a better player than you’re giving him credit for. He’s better than a fourth outfielder, even though he might be more a 5-day-a-week kind of player than a 7-day -a-week kind of player. And Milledge, frankly, turned out to be overrated. HIs value had plummeted. For a team trying to win in the short term, like the Mets, I totally understand this trade, Now let’s sit back and see how good Milledge turns out to be.”

[Vyse]

Wow, I didn't know Church wasn't a FA until 2012. That makes the deal a lot better. I like Church a lot. In terms of production he's good, I just didn't think he'd be cheap for that long. Seems like he's been around forever.

I like the deal more now. Good for both sides.

[JordanIB]

Wynton,

I can agree with both your posts. I don't think the trade is completely indefensible. Schneider and Church are alright ballplayers; I just don't see that it makes the team better to the point that it justifies trading away a supposed chip.

And like you, part of me has to give some shred of benefit of the doubt. A man who has attained a MLB GM position has made a trade that 99% of the reaction is going to be "LOLOLOL..hahahaha...my god how horrible", so I feel like there has to be some justification. It could be that is the best that L Millz would fetch. (Of course, if that were the case, I'd just hold on to him). Maybe it's a precursor to something else.

BTW, Omar on the FAN at 4:05 today.

[Triumph36]

[ QUOTE ]
According to Metsblog, Jason Stark (fwiw) says the following:

“The Mets have been looking for a defensive-minded catcher who could lead a staff, and Brian Schneider does that as well as anyone. And Ryan Church is a better player than you’re giving him credit for. He’s better than a fourth outfielder, even though he might be more a 5-day-a-week kind of player than a 7-day -a-week kind of player. And Milledge, frankly, turned out to be overrated. HIs value had plummeted. For a team trying to win in the short term, like the Mets, I totally understand this trade, Now let’s sit back and see how good Milledge turns out to be.”

[/ QUOTE ]

Milledge is already as good as Ryan Church. That is the problem.

They just signed one catcher who is a much better hitter than Schneider. Then they traded for another who's probably as good a hitter.

There's no way to slice this one into being a good trade - it isn't.

[Vyse]

[ QUOTE ]

Milledge is already as good as Ryan Church. That is the problem.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wrong. Where are you getting this from?

edit: where i got the contract info is shady, so I'm not sure when Church is a FA. I'll check cot's. well they just have his year-to-year status. f it.

[Triumph36]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Milledge is already as good as Ryan Church. That is the problem.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wrong. Where are you getting this from?

edit: where i got the contract info is shady, so I'm not sure when Church is a FA. I'll check cot's. well they just have his year-to-year status. f it.

[/ QUOTE ]

nowhere - unfortunately my BP subscription lapsed, so I can't go look up both's PECOTAs.

I guess given Lastings' 704 OPS against right handed pitching (small sample), he's got some work to do.

Church should outperform him, but not by much - what's the new Nats ballpark like anyway? I know the old one was the biggest pitchers park in the league so that deflates Church's numbers.

[metsandfinsfan]

if we get a big pitcher (johan, haren, bedard) i can live with this trade. Church isnt awful. I just think milledge had more value than this ... apparantly not i guess.

im assuming they will nontender estrada now and save the cash unless he is packaged somewhere

[wh1t3bread]

[ QUOTE ]
im assuming they will nontender estrada now and save the cash unless he is packaged somewhere

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep. Hopefully Minaya can get something serviceable for Estrada. Might be tough because everyone knows he'll probably be a FA in 2 weeks anyway.

[Vyse]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Milledge is already as good as Ryan Church. That is the problem.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wrong. Where are you getting this from?

edit: where i got the contract info is shady, so I'm not sure when Church is a FA. I'll check cot's. well they just have his year-to-year status. f it.

[/ QUOTE ]

nowhere - unfortunately my BP subscription lapsed, so I can't go look up both's PECOTAs.

I guess given Lastings' 704 OPS against right handed pitching (small sample), he's got some work to do.

Church should outperform him, but not by much - what's the new Nats ballpark like anyway? I know the old one was the biggest pitchers park in the league so that deflates Church's numbers.

[/ QUOTE ]

Church was worth more than 7 wins last year. He's rated highly defensive metrics so his Rate stats seem believable. An 800+ OPS in a severe pitcher's park is pretty good. And the Mets get his prime seasons without waiting on any development for Milledge. Milledge would've likely been a well below average regular this season.