Nats and Pirates deal

[quick]

1:40pm: Kovacevic (http://twitter.com/Dejan_Kovacevic/status/2407599997) says the teams (Nats and Pirates) have agreed in principle to exchange Lastings Milledge and Joel Hanrahan for Nyjer Morgan and Sean Burnett.



Does the above deal mean the Nats are out of the Schafer stakes and therefore not shipping Dunn to us? I assume we told them Schafer was not available, which makes sense.

If no trade is made, does it make sense to bring Schafer back up and put him in CF, move McLouth to LF, and platoon Frenchy and Garrett the FOGman in RF? Brandon Jones can be used as a late inning def replacement in RF.

Or would it make sense to go Diaz in left, McL in CF, and Frenchy/FOGman in RF platoon? Diaz has the best hitting stats (OPS) of the bunch of him, Frenchy and FOGman.

Brandon Jones is equiv to Diaz in OPS and better than French or FOG.

[sdp]

Moving to MLB Board...

[luvdembravos]

It looks like the Pirates hosed themselves again. Milledge is an overhyped bust and Hanrahan is plain awful. Morgan can at least run and Burnett seems to be a better pitcher than half of the Nats' current staff.

[sdp]

It looks like the Pirates hosed themselves again. Milledge is an overhyped bust and Hanrahan is plain awful. Morgan can at least run and Burnett seems to be a better pitcher than half of the Nats' current staff.Really? I think the Pirates win this deal far and away. They gave away spare parts for Hanrahan, who has shown flashes of dominance, and an overhyped but still a high-ceiling outfielder in Lastings Milledge.

The Nationals get a bonafide fourth outfielder and a starting pitcher with a history of injuries who is still trying to establish himself almost five years after his debut.

[Dreamscape]

Really? I think the Pirates win this deal far and away. They gave away spare parts for Hanrahan, who has shown flashes of dominance, and an overhyped but still a high-ceiling outfielder in Lastings Milledge.

The Nationals get a bonafide fourth outfielder and a starting pitcher with a history of injuries who is still trying to establish himself almost five years after his debut.
I agree completely. Hanrahan has a great right arm he hasn't completely harnessed yet, but he's shown he's capable of getting major league hitters out. Milledge is a post-hype sleeper in my book. He is an athlete still learning to hit. Has great pop and speed and for a CF, he was pretty solid last year. The NL league OPS for CF, regardless of park, was .760 and Milledge posted a .731 OPS and being that it was his first full season, it could be expected he would do better.

Before the season, all of fantasy baseball labeled Milledge a sleeper. After 7 games this year, he's a bust? I don't buy it.

Pirates rarely have a chance to say this, but they look like winners. I just don't see why Washington made this trade.

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

The only player in this deal likely to matter in 3-4 years is Milledge, so I think the Pirates did fine.

[luvdembravos]

Milledge? Think Francoeur - only worse.

[Dreamscape]

Whether Milledge reaches his potential or not, the Pirates got a power arm in Hanrahan. Yes, he has struggled quite a bit this year, but I'll take the guy who picked up 93 K's out of the pen last year and try to help him reach his potential over a fourth OF and a pitcher who needs significant luck (his H/9 will go up real quick).

Hearing Jayson Stark rail on the Pirates for this deal was comical. They traded a pair of players who likely will never be much more than they are right now and, in return, bought low on a pair of players who only a few months ago, the Nationals thought were long-term players. The Pirates needed pop and Milledge has that potential. Sure, he's been a problem child at previous stops, but I'll take the chance on a problem child with good potential maturing over a nice guy who won't produce much anyday.