The
New York Mets have dealt outfielder
Lastings Milledge to the
Washington Nationals for catcher
Brian Schneider and outfielder
Ryan Church, multiple media outlets reported Friday.
The Nationals announced they would hold a news teleconference at 3 p.m. ET to announce a trade.
Milledge, in parts of two seasons with the Mets, has a career .257 batting average (90 for 350) with 40 extra-base hits and 51 runs batted in.
Church, in 144 games last season, hit .272, one point higher than his career average in four seasons with the Expos-Nationals franchise. Last season, he had 128 hits, including 43 doubles -- tied for the team lead with
Ryan Zimmerman -- and 15 home runs, and 70 RBIs.
An eight-year veteran, Schneider hit .235 with 21 doubles in 2007. In the field he had 53 assists, six errors and a .992 fielding percentage. He has a career .252 batting average in 757 major league games.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3135229
Why would the Mets, who desperately need pitching, trade a valuable chip like Milledge, a young talent with a big upside, for two average players? As reserve or platoon players, they are acceptable, but beyond that, I'd rather use Estrada/Castro and Chavez/Gomez/Alou. I know the conservative Mets see Milledge as possible trouble, but there is no disputing his talent. This sucks.