The 2009 Washington Nationals are not going to win the NL East.

Shocking, I know. But please let me finish.

The 2009 Washington Nationals are not going to win the NL East and are still treating their best talent like they have no idea what the hell to do with them.

It started on Opening Day when Manager Manny Acta chose to pencil in Austin Kearns as his starting right fielder over Elijah Dukes. At the time, Acta’s rationale had been thus – Kearns hit four HRs in Spring Training agaisnt the likes of Felipe Paulino, Kyle McClellan, Nate Robertson, and Leo Nunez. That’s it, really. Not because Kearns has more to offer for the future of the franchise (he doesn’t), not because Kearns will end up with better numbers than Dukes (he won’t), but because of four HRs he hit off of mediocre pitching in games that didn’t count.They favored Kearns who slugged .316 last year over Dukes, who was the team’s best hitter in 2008.

And then there comes the news today that the organization is sending another talented young OFer – Lastings Milledge – down to AAA. Why? Because he hasn’t raked in the first 7 games. Cue my confusion.

What exactly does Milledge have left to learn down in the minors that he can’t learn in the bigs? Why wouldn’t a team that’s going nowhere fast want to groom their best talent at the major league level against major league pitching?

Now I’d be naive if I didn’t mention two things – one, Milledge plays a notoriously shallow CF, a fact that hurt him twice on Opening Day when balls sailed over his head, one resulting in an inside-the-parker by Emilio (EMILIOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!) Bonifacio. It’s becoming clearer by the day that Milledge does not have the skillset to be a good CFer and should be moved to the corners. Two, well, Elijah Dukes hasn’t exactly led the most prudent life.

But I don’t see what these two things have anything to do with playing time in 2009. Lastings Milledge is not a good defensive CFer, but among the other candidates (Dukes, Kearns, Adam Dunn, Josh Willingham, and, I suppose, Willie Harris), he is the most attractive option. And to the best of my knowledge, Dukes has stayed out of trouble since 2007.  Why stifle their development? I simply do not see how this helps the ballclub’s bottom line.

Maybe Milledge should’ve just shook hands with Jim Bowden last year or something…

With the Washington Nationals long gone from the playoff race, many people haven’t noticed the fact that their offense has had a surprisingly strong month. The names on manager Manny Acta’s lineup card had been in flux for the better part of the year, going through such veteran players as Austin Kearns, Ryan Langerhans, Wily Mo Pena, Dmitri Young, Rob Mackowiak, and even went so far as to try Paul Lo Duca for a few games in left field.

But since Elijah Dukes became a mainstay in the batting order following an injury to Kearns, the Nats offense has averaged 5.28 runs scored per game, which is a huge improvement over the 3.7 they had been scoring in the 132 games prior.

This isn’t suggesting that Dukes is the sole reason for the turnaround since it’s really impossible for one player to have this much impact. But he sure has been helping. In his last 25 games, his line has been an incredible .286/.370/.614. With Park Factor considered, his Adjusted OPS has been 172. And other players have been turning it up as well in the past 25 games, from Christian Guzman (1.089 OPS) and Ryan Zimmerman (.894 OPS) to Lastings Milledge (.824 OPS in the second half). In addition, they’ve benefited greatly from having Willie Harris’ glove in left (Harris has prevented 19 more runs from scoring than the average LFer).

So what does this mean for Washington in 2009? Not much unless their pitching can stop teams from averaging over 5 runs per game. But with Dukes, Milledge, and Zimmerman, they may have three reliable bats that are 24-years old or younger, which is more than the majority of rebuilding teams can claim.

I did not see this one coming. Not by a long shot.

It’s currently being reported that the New York Mets have dealt OF prospect and legendary rapper Lastings Milledge to the Washington Nationals in exchange for catcher Brian Schneider and outfielder Ryan Church.

It doesn’t come as much of a surprise that Milledge has been dealt. His name had been bandied about in many trade rumors, often involving the Oakland A’s (either for Joe Blanton or as part of a package for Danny Haren). Now I have no inside knowledge of the Mets brass’ collective thought process, but to me this signals that Billy Beane had either soured on Milledge or was never as interested as reporters thought. If the Mets had a shot to upgrade their starting pitching via Oakland by trading Milledge, one would have to assume that Omar Minaya would have saved this bullet for the right time. Instead, Milledge is going to Washington where he should see a lot of playing time. Most scouts seem to still view him as an above-average outfielder in the future, if not future All-Star.

So why did the Mets do it?

First off, there’s something else here. In the last week or so, the Mets acquired three catchers – they resigned Ramon Castro to a two-year deal, traded for Johnny Estrada, and have now also acquired Schneider. Unless they’re planning on employing the first ever catching (righty-switch-lefty) trio, they most likely will be looking to deal one of the three.

But the bigger piece here is Ryan Church. I’ve mentioned in a previous post that I actually like Church. Despite playing in a massive pitcher’s park, he still managed to attain a .813 OPS in 2007. In fact, he slugged over .500 away from RFK. I don’t expect his numbers to get that much better since Shea is just as much a pitcher’s park. But what he does offer the Mets lineup is the lefty hitter they’ve been lacking since letting Shawn Green hit the market. Church should slot in as the #2, 7 or 8 hitter in the Mets lineup (I’m not much of a fan of the idea of Luis Castillo in the second spot). While he had a .349 OBP in 2007, he performed better in that department in ‘05 and ‘06, so I expect him to bounce back into the .360 OBP level, which should be good enough to hit near the top of the order. Plus, he has much more pop than Castillo (who doesn’t?). Church should improve the Mets offense in the short term. Defensively, he’s nothing special, but he isn’t bad either. While he played mostly in left in Washington, he’ll most likely be a RFer for the Mets.

Overall, I think it’s pretty ballsy of Omar Minaya to trade Milledge to a team within his own division. Mets fans will get to see L-Millz 18 times in the 2008 regular season wearing that Nationals uniform and they’ll judge for themselves if he ever was going to be a star. I’m pretty confident that this (assuming that trading Milledge for good pitching was simply not an available option) improves the Mets chances in 2008. But we’ll all have to wait and see to know if this trade is a big mistake.

P.S: I expect the fans of Flushing to immediately want to burn Minaya for this deal. The press and blogs have talked SO MANY times about dealing Milledge for pitching that I think lots of people will look at this trade and think that Minaya took Church/Schneider over someone like Haren or Johan Santana. Me? I’m pretty sure that had such a possibility existed, Omar would have never looked in Washington’s direction.

UPDATE: Well, not really an “update”, but a clarification – I was just re-reading this and I think it comes off sounding a bit too positive from the Mets’ perspective. So instead of writing this over again, I’m just going to add that I’m not exactly thrilled with this trade. It’s not as bad as it seems on the surface, but it’s definitely not good. Just wanted to point this out.

Lastings Milledge is a renaissance man. It seems Milledge, in addition to being a talented ballplayer, is an entrepeneur. He’s the CEO Soul-ja Boi records, a Florida-based label.

Not too shabby for a 22 year-old, eh? But wait! Milledge doesn’t just make business decisions and steal bases. He raps too! And that seems to be what’s gotten him in trouble this time.

Some of the language that Milledge uses on one of his songs, “Bend Ya Knees,” has been deemed innapropriate.

From the New York Daily News:

The rappin’ right fielder uses the N-word and bitch and also says “ho” in a song featured on his new record label’s Web site.

Milledge, performing on souljaboirecords.com, raps about “rich (N word),” “wealthy (N word),” a “top-notch ho” and having “a different bitch for every night” on the sexually explicit song “Bend Ya Knees.”

Quite a few people have taken offense to Milledge’s lyrics.

“He’s lost his mind,” said City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-Queens), who sponsored the Council’s resolution that condemned use of the N word. “I don’t understand how he could, in the spirit of Jackie Robinson, put out music that’s so vile, using . . . some of the worst words in music.”

The Mets are distancing themselves from Milledge’s rap, saying, “We disapprove of the content, language and message of this recording, which does not represent the views of the New York Mets.”

But I for one don’t think it’s a very big deal. Milledge isn’t using language that’s any different from what other mainstream hip-hop artists use. In fact, it’s far tamer than language used by other rappers.

Eminem, for example, raps about killing and raping his mother in his song, “Kill You.”

Then there’s 50 Cent, who reminds us in his song “How to Rob” that, should his music career not work out, he can always go back to his day job as a criminal. These are my favorite lines, from that song, though they are certainly not the most profane:

I’m about to stick Bobby for some of that Whitney money / Brian McKnight, I can get that nigga anytime / Have Keith sweatin starin down the barrel from my nine

Priceless.

The fact is, our society celebrates rappers who write songs with violent, sexist and derogatory lyrics. So why shouldn’t Milledge?

In Atlanta, where I live, there is a Tupac Shakur Center for the Arts, which includes a Peace Garden. In the garden, you’ll see a large, bronze memorial to the “peace loving” rapper.

Of course, Tupac’s lyrics did little to promote peace. In his song, “A Crooked Nigga Too” he raps:

Now first they had me trapped and now I’m p*ssed

And Big Stretch buckin’ niggaz if they f**k around

Tupac was gunned down by members of a rival gang. But now he’s got a peace garden. 50 Cent, Eminem — they’ve got millions of dollars and international stardom.

Telling Milledge his songs can’t contain the same words that propelled those artists to stardom just seems random.

The New York Times is reporting that there are signs in the Mets clubhouse that Lastings Milledge has worn out his welcome. Literally. Signs.

A handwritten sign hung above Milledge’s locker after Friday’s game. It read: “Know Your Place Rook!” It was signed: “Your Teammates.” Manager Willie Randolph brushed it off as typical rookie hazing, but Milledge, who was clearly distraught, has alienated a few veteran players with his cocky attitude and what is perceived as a lack of professionalism.

Times writer Ben Shpigel goes on to speculate that Milledge could be used as trade bait in the offseason to lure an ace starter to New York to replace Pedro Martinez, who revealed today that he will have shoulder surgery that will keep him out at least until the 2007 All-Star break.

As for Milledge, some people have jumped up to defend him. Julio Franco is giving him advice on how to deal with the media. But he doesn’t seem to be listening:

On Friday, after the sign had been posted on his locker, Orlando Hernández played the role of Milledge’s protector. Julio Franco took over that role Saturday, telling reporters: “Leave Lastings Milledge alone. Why are you going to him for something that is better left alone?”

Milledge stood by his locker undressing, his back to Franco, and said: “I’m not going to comment on anything. Could you guys leave me alone, please?”

“Just talk to them, see where they’re coming from,” Franco told Milledge. “You need to build a good relationship with the media. You’re a young ballplayer. Just compromise yourself.”

Franco spoke privately with Milledge. After a few minutes, he waved reporters toward Milledge, saying that he would talk soon. When approached, Milledge said he would talk later and went into the training room. He did not return to his locker before the news media’s clubhouse access had ended.

Randolph deflected questions that the sign was evidence of a more serious issue.

“You’re reading too much into this,” Randolph said. “He’s a great kid. He works his butt off. Trying to make him out to be a bad kid or a problem child is unfair.”

If Milledge’s poor second half hasn’t totally eroded his trade value, expect to see him playing somewhere other than New York next season. One thing that could determine if his stock goes up or down is whether or not the Mets put him on their postseason roster. If he gets on that roster and has a few big October moments, he could go from goat to savior in a hurry.