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The Mets officially announced that they have acquired OF Ryan Church 
and C Brian Schneider from the Nationals for OF Lastings Milledge.
During the call, Minaya said…
He and Nats GM Jim Bowden had been discussing this deal for a while.
Schneider will be his every-day catcher.
He checked around with other clubs, and, from what he can tell, trading Milledge will not impact whether or not he can acquire a starting pitcher from another club. Milledge did not fall out of demand, it’s just that the Mets have many other desired players to complete a deal. He had a very close, personal relationship with Milledge, and it was very difficult, emotionally, to trade him.
He does not feel Milledge’s value has changed much in the last 12 months, though he is sure he’d have been worth more had he come up last year and hit more. Either way, he is very happy to get two good players.
He has always felt he needed to acquire a catcher like Schneider, who is ‘big on defensive.’ These two players give the team balance, on both sides of the ball.
Church allows them to essentially go ‘with two center fielders.’ As of now, he views Church as an every-day, starting right fielder at the start of next year, who is under control for four years, whereas Milledge is still developing, and under control for five years.
Milledge would not have been guaranteed a starting job this coming spring training, though he is very confident he will eventually develop in to a very good player.
His goal is to win a championship, and this trade helps make them better offensively and defensively.
During the call, Schneider said he is looking forward to the opportunity, and to be on a winning team and playing in New York. He looks forward to working with the pitching staff. His favorite thing is to throw out runners at second and helping the staff as best as he can.
Asked to comment on John Maine and Oliver Perez, who he has hit against, he noted that he caught Maine while in Japan, and he’s already plotting how best to work with them. He’s excited.
Schneider has text messaged with David Wright, who is excited to have him, noting that Wright is very excited to get back to work and win. He hesitated to describe himself as a firey guy, but he knows he is capable of motivating a pitching staff, and he does not intend to come in and step on people’s toes right away.
Lastly, during the call, Church said he is thankful to the team for bringing him over, and to be on a team with a year-in and year-out chance to be in the playoffs. Church is able to play all three outfield positions, and is very comfortable in right, since it is where he played during most of his minor-league career. He is very excited to be a part of New York, and be part of a team with so much talent.
disgusting
Is Omar on drugs???
>>>Church allows them to essentially go ‘with two center fielders.’
You mean, like… Milledge?
>>>Milledge would not have been guaranteed a starting job this coming spring training
And who, exactly, was going to take his spot away?
>>>His goal is to win a championship, and this trade helps make them better offensively and defensively.
Starting a RF who hits .260 with no power and a catcher who hits .235 with no power would make you better offensively… how???
I gave Omar the benefit of the doubt in the past, but this is absurd. Stick to signing free agents, Omar. Time to leave the trades to the professionals.
If Milledge was not going to be guaranteed a spot in the starting lineup (and is anyone guaranteed a spot outside of the big money guys?), then I certainly hope that Ryan Church won’t be guaranteed a spot either. Furthermore, the idea that Schneider is his “starting catcher” seems a little strange - is he guaranteed a starting spot too?
I didn’t realize Schneider is owed 5 mil a year for 2 more years, he can’t hit!
Lastly, I couldn’t care less that everyone is “excited”. I would be too if I was coming from an awful Nationals team to a contending team - that doesn’t mean the fans have to be excited.
Time to start up a FireOmar.com page
What a TERRIBLE trade
dork
No power? He was 35 in the NL in OPS playing in a cavern. He had 60 extra base hits in 470 AB’s. How is that no power?
has it ever occured to you that when you have a huge outfield, it’s easier to hit doubles because the fielders are spread out further than usual?
isnt there a huge outfield at shea stadium?
No power? Church was 35th in the NL in OPS playing in a cavern. He had 60 extra base hits in 470 AB’s. How is that no power?
Sounds like the mets are two for two in getting rid of guys they just didn’t like, referring to loduca and now milledge. No other explanation. Church is a fourth or fifth outfielder and Schneider is a weak hitter. As we sit right now the team is much weaker than at the close of 07. I concur with the use of the description “disgusting.”
You forgot about Mota. Make it 3 for 3.
Church Career Shea Stats
G19 AB50 R12 H17 2B6 HR3 RBI12 BB6 K14 AVG.340 OBP.411 SLG.640
So what your saying is that over 250 at bats at Shea alone we should expect 15 hrs and 60 rbi at home while raking to a 340avg and 411obp?
Does this deal thrill me? Not really. But unlike all you wanna-be GM’s I will not call for the head of Omar Minaya. I’m more than willing to let this play out on the field and see what happens.
Church may turn out to be the second coming of Xavier Nady, and we were all pretty happy with him. If Schneider proves to be a quality defensive backstop, his offensive shortcomings may be acceptable from the 8 spot. It seemed to me that LoDuca turned into a black hole in the lineup in ‘07.
As for Milledge, I grew to like the kid, but I’m not at all sure that he’ll develop into the all-star that we had hoped. Time will tell on that,
Like I said, I’m not thrilled by this deal, on the other hand, I seem to recall being very excited about acquiring Robby Alomar, so maybe I (and you) should wait and see what happens.
The bottom line…If Omar’s moves (and non-moves) succeed in getting us back to the post-season and beyond, I will be delighted with his decisions. If they don’t, I’ll be extremely disappointed. Either way, I’ll still root for my team and be grateful to be in the discussion again, unlike ‘01-’05 and most of the ’90’s…
Finally, a voice of reason. This may not be a blockbuster, but Milledge seemed to be a bad clubhouse presence. Yes he has lots of upside, but Church does too. Schneider is a fine defensive catcher and will hit 8th. Any offense from him will be a bonus. They also give us left-handed bats which we were short on. I’m willing to sit back and wait. The sky is not falling, my friends.
Isn’t Lastings Milledge a CENTERFIELDER!?!?
Jeeze, my memory isn’t THAT short. He looked very good and comfortable there last year.
I’m not going to lie if it goes to an important game with Milledge having the chance to break some hearts, I’ll root for Milledge to break that heart just to prove a point.
Prove the point that you don’t trade a guy like Milledge for useless players.
This trade is indefensible. I have defended Omar, believed in him, and have been able to understand EVERY single one of his moves, except for this one. This one is truely indefensible.
He might be able to more or less pass as a CF for the next year or two with his decent speed, but nobody (not even his most ardent supporters here, I would imagine) can really argue that given his build and defensive skill set that he’ll be even an average fielding CF in the long-term. That’s why Church has so much more trade value to teams that want that (which happens to be every team with a SP on the market we want). People need to stop pretending as if an OF is an OF. That’s like saying an IF is an IF and that the same production from 1B is as valuable as the equal production at SS or 2B. A similar bat in CF is just way more valuable than one in a corner OF spot.
From all that I have heard Milledge is considered the superior defensive OF to Church. Church couldn’t hack it in CF for the Nats last year (just too slow).
are you smoking crack?
Wow what a fan….learn to root for the uniform and not the player.
Its not about the player. I’m rooting for intelligence.
“Indefensible”
Do you even watch baseball?
We finally have a catcher who has plus-defense. And he did a great job helping the Nats pitching overachieve last year. I think alot of people don’t take into account how important it is for a catcher to be able to handle a pitching staff and make good calls. This is something I didnt think LoDuca could do. And LoDuca was on par with Piazza concering throwing runners out. What other decent-catcher could we have gotten for less? none.
Church is a very talented player who drove in 70 runs on a crappy Nats offense.
I like Milledge, but he was gonna hit 25 hr and 100 rbi next year. Maybe in 3 years, but not in 08. I’m not saying Church will do that, but he can easily hit 15 hr’s, hit 40 doubles, steal 10-15 bases, score and drive in 80 runs. Thats pretty good numbers out of a player will be batting 7th.
In 3-4 years, Milledge might make us regret this trade, but for now i like it.
excellent rational and pragmatic comment.
Lastings Milledge can improve. He gets better.
The odds of Church being better are low. This is it kids, he’s 28 years old. He’s almost 30!
Do you realise that he’s only 1 year younger than Carlos Beltran!
I mean would you be pissed off if Milledge outproduced Beltran?
Except that that argument is hardly rational and certainly not pragmatic for the future of the Mets. Milledge will be able to do those same things next year. But Milledge also is 6 1/2 years younger and has room to improve greatly on those numbers in the future. Church is already at his ceiling (he is 29 as of right now).
In 3-4 years Milledge has a true chance to be a star. Probably in less time than that, quite possibly next year. In 3-4 years Ryan Church has a chance to be who? Xavier Nady? Ben Johnson? There is no upside of Ryan Church beyond being passably mediocre. He’s the kind of playe