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Saturday, March 01, 2008

Sickels: Not a Rookie: Lastings Milledge

More knock points against the Church of Schneid…

For the future? My opinion about him really hasn’t changed. He has immense potential. He still has weaknesses that his natural talent covers, at least against minor league competition. He is still very young, turning 23 in April. He has flashed the skills to go with those tools, and my personal opinion is that he has a better chance to flesh out those skills than a lot of tools guys. The main thing he needs is to stay healthy.

...On pure stats my expectation is in line with what other people project. However, for some non-objective reason, I think Milledge could break out in a big way this year, with a big batting average spike. It’s just an instinct, one of those impossible to explain gut feelings. Anyway, I put the Gut Feeling projection up there along with the technical projection.

In the long run, I think Milledge will have several seasons where he is one of the best players in the league, but will also have several seasons where he is somewhat disappointing, perhaps due to injuries. Another “gut” thing, I think these seasons will be mixed up rather than a nice glide path…one bad one, one good one, a bad one, a bad one, then two good ones, that sort of thing. In short, I think he will be an occasionally outstanding, but somewhat frustrating player, who 20 years from now will be able to look back on an overall very fine career.

Repoz Posted: March 01, 2008 at 10:48 AM | 11 comment(s) | Login to Bookmark
Related News: General, NY Mets, Washington, Projections, ZIPS

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1. PASTE is not impressed by Albert Pujols (Zeth) Posted: March 01, 2008 at 11:47 AM (#2703688)

I wrote at length about this yesterday, but I think Milledge just wasn't going to be able to coexist in the Mets' clubhouse and/or in New York, and I won't be at all surprised to see him break out with his change of sceneary. He's not Elijah Dukes; he's just not much for pretending to respect veterans' clubhouse authority.

2. baudib Posted: March 01, 2008 at 12:55 PM (#2703693)

All of this has been rehashed so much....ah well...

The problems Milledge had in New York were all horsespit...I lay the blame for this on Willie and Omar. A stronger manager would have handled the situation better. I hate to bring this up, but as much of an a-hole as La Russa is, he's had a boatload of talented youngsters quickly slide into key roles for his teams.

And Omar, who could have taken care of the situation in his clubhouse, will always deserve blame for trading Milledge at his absolute nadir in value.

I, too, predict Milledge will bust out big this year.

3. shoewizard Posted: March 01, 2008 at 03:12 PM (#2703722)

So who would you rather have for in a roto 6x6 league for 2008 only, Chris Young or Lastings Milledge? Offensive categories are BA, OPS, HR, SB, R, RBI

4. DCA Posted: March 01, 2008 at 03:17 PM (#2703723)

So who would you rather have for in a roto 6x6 league for 2008 only, Chris Young or Lastings Milledge?

Young, by a lot. I see him with a big edge in SB and HR, and he has less of an injury history and a better park, so I see Young with an edge in R and RBI, even in OPS, and Milledge only ahead in BA. I think Milledge will be Young's equal in more advanced statistics, but I think Young has a significant edge in most counting and roto stats.

EDIT: If Young leads off, it'll hurt his RBI's, but the extra PA mean more HR, R, SB, and so it's probably a wash.

5. Hang down your head, Tom Foley Posted: March 01, 2008 at 03:41 PM (#2703735)

"Lastings Milledge" is Olde Style British for "Jeffrey Hammonds."

6. bbc is prejudice bout men Posted: March 01, 2008 at 04:34 PM (#2703759)

i never understood the rookies gotta get hazed kiss veteran ass all that stuff. seems to me that got exactly nothing to do with playing/respecting the game but a whole lot to do with dominance fights

7. PASTE is not impressed by Albert Pujols (Zeth) Posted: March 01, 2008 at 04:45 PM (#2703769)

That's life, baseball chick. Not just baseball. Craig Calcaterra will tell you all about it; just ask him about the Quest for Partnership.

8. Hurdle's Heroes (SuperBaes) Posted: March 01, 2008 at 05:48 PM (#2703803)

"Lastings Milledge" is Olde Style British for "Jeffrey Hammonds."

Nice. Any other sweet "can't miss" guys we can comp him with? Orsino Hill? Joe Borchard?

In semi-related news: does the Yankees "Young Guns" remind anyone else of "Generation K"?

9. Harveys Wallbangers

Posted: March 01, 2008 at 06:05 PM (#2703810)

Lisa:

There are instances where playing kissyface is required even for the very talented.

But what is also true is that if you are REALLY GOOD even the the most obtuse leadership will get that person to play a larger role with the organization.

So to my mind Lastings is either not as special as folks claim or Willie demonstrated one of the worst management traits possible, sacrificing greater productivity to placate senior employees.

That is a horrible approach and one that hamstrings a group until addressed.

10. Walt Davis Posted: March 01, 2008 at 08:21 PM (#2703849)

So to my mind Lastings is either not as special as folks claim or Willie demonstrated one of the worst management traits possible, sacrificing greater productivity to placate senior employees.

I don't disagree with that statement exactly, but two things:

1. It's not clear it was Willie not Omar.

2. I do think it more likely the motivation was putting short-term success ahead of longer-term success. The Mets did have a hole at C and it's not clear Milledge will outproduce Church this year (or next). In business, putting short-term profit ahead of long-term profit is generally a bad idea -- in baseball, it's often a good idea.

The Mets were in an interesting situation. They could build around Wright, Reyes, Milledge, the other prospects and hope some of those pitchers paid off ... or they could try to leverage the remainder of Beltran's prime, hope for bounce-backs from Alou (health) and Delgado (bat), make the push for Santana, etc. The Mets clearly are trying to win it now ... and they've done it without sacrificing all of that young core.

My main problem with the Milledge trade isn't trading Milledge -- something I think that they maybe should have done a year earlier -- but their apparent belief that Schneider is a good option at C.

11. Exploring Leftist Conservatism since 2008 (ark..) Posted: March 02, 2008 at 12:28 AM (#2703940)

i never understood the rookies gotta get hazed kiss veteran ass all that stuff. seems to me that got exactly nothing to do with playing/respecting the game but a whole lot to do with dominance fights

It's just another excuse for cruelty, chick. Has nothing to do whatsoever with The Game.

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Saturday, March 01, 2008

Sickels: Not a Rookie: Lastings Milledge

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