Lastings Milledge for Ryan Church and Brian Schneider

[Guest Edgy DC]

LoDuca was acquired for two prospects, the better of whom was Latin.

[Guest iramets]

Edgy DC wrote: LoDuca was acquired for two prospects, the better of whom was Latin.

How's Gaby Hernandez doing? I'm trying to plumb the Marlins' roster for updated stats. Between him and Flores, Omar's defense may well be, "Hey, I let Hispanic ballplayers slip through my fingers all the time, just like any racist, biased, Hispanic-hating white GM would do."

[MFS62]

Speaking of ethnic things, last night Steve Somers said (I paraphrase) "At least Ryan can play on Jewish holidays".
But then I came across this. Looks like Ryan will be holding some press conferences:

]back in 2005, Church was forced to issue an apology for anti-Semetic comments attributed to him. Excerpt: An article in Sunday's paper about Baseball Chapel quoted Church as saying that he had turned to [Jon] Moeller [Nats chaplain] for advice about his former girlfriend, who was Jewish. "I said, like, Jewish people, they don't believe in Jesus. Does that mean they're doomed? Jon nodded, like, that's what it meant. My ex-girlfriend! I was like, man, if they only knew. Other religions don't know any better. It's up to us to spread the word," Church said. In a written statement yesterday distributed by the team, Church said: "Those who know me on a personal level understand that I am not the type of person who would call into question the religious beliefs of others. I sincerely regret if the quote attributed to me in Sunday's Washington Post article offended anyone." http://www.washingtonpost...93_pf.html

Later

[Guest iramets]

MFS62 wrote: ]back in 2005, Church was forced to issue an apology for anti-Semetic comments attributed to him.

which does a little harm to the whole clubhouse-poison angle. I mean, trading a misogynistic rapper for an Ann Coulter Jew-converter doesn't exactly raise the level of intelligent discourse in the clubhouse, does it, or cut down on the number of ugly incidents festering?

It's an unfortunate name, as well. Maybe he could do a little damage-prevention and change his name to "Ryan Synagogue."

[willpie]

I think there's a bigger gap between dumbass-evangelic-christian and neo-nazi than anyone's letting on here.
There's plenty to bitch about without getting on the Church-is-practically-John-Rocker train.

[Guest iramets]

I'm neither a big fan of ho-bashing rappers nor of Jews-must-be-converted Christian demagogues but Milledge can better plead youthful, fun-loving dumbness for his particular idiocy. Drafting a talented 18 y.o. in the hopes he'll outgrow it is a better move for the Mets, in my view, than is trading to acquire (and displace a Jewish ballplayer with) a 28 y.o. prosylitizing Christian idiot.

[MFS62]

Ryan comes across as more naive than bigoted.
But those first few interviews with the NY media are going to be doozies until the issue is put to bed.
Later

[Elster88]

I don't drink Met kool-aid any more.

[Guest AG/DC]

Would anybody like to join me for a evening out, eating some gourmet shit.

Because that's what Ryan Church (and Brian Schneider, to a lesser extent) have been serving so far to Minaya-bashing Met fans.

[metirish]

I'm in , Church will be our deserving All-Star this year , or he should be.

[soupcan]

Funny how stupid we are.

Up until when can we change our vote? Because, you know, I like it now.

[metirish]

I just voted , I was the only person who loved it.

[Guest themetfairy]

D-Dad was always happy about the trade.

[Guest AG/DC]

He forgot to vote love, though.

[Guest themetfairy]

He's been pretty crazy busy at work lately.

But I do bear witness to the fact that he liked the trade from the get go.

[Guest AG/DC]

Best part of the interview Nymr cited/paraphrased:

Mike: why no loduca, any worries about torrealba lawsuit against you which was rumored?

Minaya: no worries about that, we agreed with agent not to discuss the reason why it didnt work out.

Dog: anything to do with the mitchell report?

Minaya: no.

[Fman99]

I will admit that I was totally wrong on this one. I had no idea that Church would light it up the way he has, or that Milledge would scuffle in DC as he has.

Schneider has been about what I expected him to be.

[Guest AG/DC]

You expected Schneider to lose time do to goofy injuries (including a mysterious drug resistant infection), but still hit .304 and reach at .375?

I didn't. I expected Charlie O'Brien

[Fman99]

AG/DC wrote: You expected Schneider to lose time do to goofy injuries (including a mysterious drug resistant infection), but still hit .304 and reach at .375? I didn't. I expected Charlie O'Brien

Sorta.

I expected him to hit for better average than he did last year (which he has), but to hit for about the power he has shown. His defense and handling of the pitchers has been as advertised, I would say.

[Vic Sage]

I hated the trade.
But so far, 25% of the way into the season, I'm deliriously happy with it.
I'm still not sold on the deal yet, though, and I'm the president of TITTS.

Look, if either Church or Schneider ends up the season with a signficantly better year than Milledge, you could certainly argue that it may have been worth giving up Milledge's future potential in the deal. But if BOTH players end up with better years (as is currently happening), than we will likely end up in the playoffs and it will certainly have turned out well, regardless of Milledge's future.

I just have the sense that Schneider will come crashing back to earth and Church will go go crashing into another fence (or another player), while Milledge comes around and hits .275/20hr/20sb this year, with .300/30/30 coming down the pike.

I'd be happy to be totally wrong.

[Fman99]

Vic Sage wrote: I hated the trade. But so far, 25% of the way into the season, I'm deliriously happy with it. I'm still not sold on the deal yet, though, and I'm the president of TITTS.

What a coincidence. I'm a big fan of tits, too.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

"I'm a big supporter of TITTS," he said brazenly.

[Guest Mendoza Line]

Mr. Omar Minaya
Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations & General Manager
New York Metropolitans Baseball Club
Shea Stadium
123-01 Roosevelt Avenue
Flushing, NY 11368

May 19, 2008

Dear Mr. Minaya:

I'm the fan who mumbled "dumbass" under his breath when you traded Mike Cameron for part-time righty bat Xavier Nady.

I'm also the fan who said "Omar is an effing panicky dumbass" when you traded Nady for old set-up guy Roberto Hernandez and wildman Oliver Perez.

The fan who screamed "Send that dumbass back to Montreal" when you let old, broken down, injury-prone Cliff Floyd go and replaced him with old, broken down, injury-prone Moises Alou at a higher salary? That was me.

And the fan who threw things, cussed, and yelled "Fire Omar's dumb ass now!" when you traded hot prospect Lastings Milledge for old, no-offense Brian Schneider and so-so Ryan Church? Yeah, me again.

OK, I know I'm a slow learner, but after three years, I think I've figured out which one of us is a dumbass. And it isn't you. Know what I'm saying?

Please accept my humble apologies. I'll take my shit medium rare. Hollandaise sauce on the side, please.

Sincerely,

Mendoza Line

[Benjamin Grimm]

Mendoza Line wrote: I'll take my shit medium rare. Hollandaise sauce on the side, please.

Or you can take it liquefied.

[RealityChuck]

Shows what happens if you depend on statistics for all your information.

[Centerfield]

When as the menu changed from crow to shit? Is there any crow left? I'll take that if I can.

[smg58]

Vic Sage wrote: I'd be happy to be totally wrong.

So would I. I still expect Schneider to come down to earth offensively, but if it doesn't happen before a few other guys start heating up the Mets will be fine. And besides, his defense really has been an asset.

But I also thought then, and certainly still do now, that the key to the deal for the Mets is Church. I don't know if he'll be THIS good all year, but I do think it's a very safe bet at this point that he'll be a better player than Lastings Milledge over the 2008 season. Interestingly, this marks the third time that Minaya has made a deal where the biggest asset to the Mets has turned out to be the guy considered the less important of the two players acquired at the time the deal was made.

[Guest AG/DC]

I'm not sure the Mets or I considered Schneider the more important acquisition.

[nymr83]

i hated the trade (though not because i dont like church) and still think it may be bad in the longrun, but boy has it worked out so far.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

I was never a big Milledge fan. He always hit me as a million dollar talent with a 10 cent head. Too immature to ever reach his sizable potential. I still could be wrong on that count, but I definitely didn't shed any tears when I learned the Mets had shipped him away. Still, I wasn't overly thrilled with what the Mets had acquired in exchange for Milledge. I somehow failed to vote in this poll, but I think that my initial take was wavering somewhere between netral ambivalence and dislike. Never in my wildest dreams did I think Ryan Church would be as good and as valuable to the Mets cause as he has been thus far. Charlie O'Brien is a pretty close approximation of what I expected from Schneider. He too has been a pleasant surprise to date. The longterm ramifications of this trade may not be known for a few years, but the early returns have been very heavily skewed in the Mets favor.

I'm willing to eat my share of crow on this one, but I'm leaving the shit for those that most vehemently opposed this move.