Washington Eyeing Pirates' Nyjer Morgan For...Lastings Milledge?!

The big story this week (aside from Michael Jackson, of course) has obviously been the NBA Draft. While that's cool and all, unlike my fellow writers, I don't know the first thing about basketball.

What I do know is baseball, trade rumors, and especially baseball trade rumors involving my favorite team. Especially head-scratchers like this one.

MLB Trade Rumors, which despite the generic name is a pretty reliable site that's cited by insiders semi-frequently, is reporting that the Pirates are in trade talks with the Nationals, who are looking to acquire Nyjer Morgan. The deal apparently hung up when the Pirates asked for starting pitcher Craig Stammen, who honestly just seems like a throw-in player when the main piece is considered. Lastings Milledge? Really?!

My first thought is "This seems like a terrible move for the Nats."

After all, Nyjer Morgan provides extremely stellar defense, but that's about all he has to work with. He's hit three homers in his entire ML career, spanning 602 at-bats. He's normally a good hitter for average, but lacks a great batter's eye. He can swipe about 40 bases, but he'll get caught about 20 times. In short, he plays like a stellar fourth outfielder.

On the other hand, Lastings Milledge is one of those five-tool guys that scouts love. He's five years Morgan's junior and has significantly more power than Morgan does. (Though that's not saying much. Johnny Damon has significantly more power than Nyjer Morgan does, too.)

However, the more I think about this deal, the more I think Milledge may be a bust.

Let me preface this by saying that I still think this would be a better deal for the Pirates based purely on the fact that Milledge has more upside than the 29 year old Nyjer Morgan, who is what he is.

That said, there's a reason the Nats are giving up on Milledge, and that's because he's got a reputation as being a total headcase.

Lastings Milledge was once one of the brightest stars in the minor leagues, and considered one of the best prospects in all of baseball. He had an attitude problem, but he could play. However, it wasn't long before the Mets realized that that attitude problem was affecting his play.

The Mets dealt Lastings Milledge to the Nationals for Ryan Church and Brian Schnieder. The Nationals, thinking Milledge just needed to get away from the hostile environment of New York, gladly took the deal. Many around baseball saw it as a good deal for Washington.

However, it soon became apparent that Milledge didn't just need a change of scenery. He played well at times and showed flashes of his potential, but also went on long stretches of being unproductive. And not the typical young player type of "growing pains" stretches. The rub on Milledge quickly became that he just didn't care about living up to his potential.

I hate to label a guy like that, because a lot of the time it's hard to tell if it's true. We as fans know only what we get from the media, and the media only gives us things that make for a good story.

I've never talked to Lastings Milledge. I don't know him. I don't know how much he loves baseball versus how much he loves his paycheck, and it always seemed to me that it's in the best interest of even "greedy" players to perform well, because it means a bigger payday for them when they hit the open market.

That said, I'm not sure that I would want a guy with his reputation on my team. And THAT said, this could still be one of the best trades this front office can make.

Is Lastings Milledge a bad person? Does he care about baseball? Is he a lazy player? I don't know. I don't know these things for sure, because I've only seen him play, and then only on TV. Like I said, I don't know the guy personally.

Does he have potential? Big time.

Has he lived up to that potential? No, not yet. He's never done anything exciting in the Major Leagues, he's never done anything exciting in AAA, he was solid if unspectacular in AA. His last eye-popping stat lines all came in A-ball. It's easy to perform when your natural talent alone makes you better than the majority of the players you're facing. His defense has never lived up to the hype.

Would he be a better option for the Pirates than Nyjer Morgan? Yes. The Pirates have no use for Nyjer, yet he's still their best available option in the outfield. If he were younger, I'd want to keep him around as a fourth OF, but as a 29 year old that relies entirely on speed he has a skillset that will fade quickly.

Would this be a good trade for the Pirates? Despite the fact that I may be the only human that's not on the Lastings Milledge bandwagon, I have to say yes. At best, Milledge starts living up to his potential.

At worst, he becomes a similar player to Nyjer Morgan that plays slightly worse defense and hits for more power, making the trade a wash. Assuming the Pirates OF prospects all pan out, that still makes him the best option for a fourth OF in the near future.

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