Buzz: To Trade, or Not to Trade, Milledge
Adam, the Brooklyn Met Fan, emphatically states Don’t Trade Lastings Milledge, adding, “It’s just poor business sense to sell low, and that’s exactly what Omar Minaya would be doing if he packaged Lastings in a deal.”
…it seems the problem with milledge has nothing to do with talent…the problem, if there even is one, appears to be his attitude, which is funny, because this is the very thing the team told the media not to worry about…
…yet, in the span of just a few months, the kid has already been a part of a few controversial situations, be it high-fiving fans, wearing clunky jewelry, ignoring his manager, scuffling in the minor leagues and insulting the team’s veterans, some of which may be true, some of which may not be true…who knows…fact is, there is smoke, though the fire can be debated all day…
In his latest column for Gotham Baseball, Mark Healey notes that the Rockies will gladly swap RHP Jason Jennings for Milledge, but the Mets are not interested.
At his blog for the Journal News, John Delcos writes the following about Milledge…
“I don’t know the root of Milledge’s attitude problems are. It is times like this when I wish I took more psychology courses in college.
“I talk with him in the clubhouse and want to like him, but he makes it hard. He’s got a chip that needs to be knocked off.”
…from what i can gather, the mets are in no rush to trade milledge, simply for the sake of trading him…
…i do, however, get the sense that his credibility within the organization 
has taken a hit, for whatever reason, especially with Willie Randolph, who wanted to see the kid excel in this city…
…however, if a trade can be made using him to get a young pitcher, especially a quality lefty, the team will not hesitate to move him, especially since so many people are high on Carlos Gomez and Fernando Martinez, two young outfielders in the mets system drawing rave reviews of late…
…if i had the wheel, i think i would look to move him now…
…and i hate to say that, because i love the idea of having a cocky, flashy kind of kid on this team…
…however, as i have written in the past, my call to trade him is less about him personally, and more about the following…
…a) his two biggest assets, lead-off-type speed and defense in center, are already occupied on the roster…
…b) he does not have enough power to be a corner outfielder, and he’ll never bump Carlos Beltran from center, and…
…c) there are a lot of teams clamoring for young, speedy, center fielders right now…
…lastly, in terms of his talent, i just have this weird sense that he will leave us feeling as we did with a guy like Bernard Gilkey, in that he’ll be good, and have a few potentially great seasons, but he’ll never be what we hoped he would be…and that would be disappointing, given the hype that proceeded him, and which may still exist for him around the league today…
