Nationals Acquire OF Milledge from Mets for Schneider and Church

The Washington Nationals announced today they have traded veteran catcher Brian Schneider and maligned outfielder Ryan Church to their division rival New York Mets in exchange for talented, but sometimes troubled, outfielder Lastings Milledge. Milledge, 22, has spent parts of the last two seasons with the Mets, compiling a .257 batting average with eleven home runs and 29 RBIs in 350 at bats. In the minors, Milledge has been an on-base machine, reaching at a .378 clip over parts of four seasons, with a .303 average and slugging .473. He is still mastering the art of stealing bases, but he has plenty of speed to showcase, having stolen 73 bases--while being caught 37 times. He is described as a decent-but-raw fielder, and should settle into centerfield in the new Nationals Stadium, between right fielder Austin Kearns and left fielder Wily Mo Pena. Most in the Mets organization believed he would turn into a potential 30-30 type of player, in the mold of Eric Davis, another Jim Bowden favorite. As recently as February 2006 he was ranked as the #9 ranked prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America, and while some of that luster may have worn off, there's still plenty of shine there as well, as Milledge was one of the more popular names bandied about in the hot stove talks around baseball this off-season.