More On Nyjer

Defensively Morgan was a plus in left field.

Offensively, he was offensive.  As a leadoff type hitter, he simply does not get on base enough.  Even when he does get on base, he was too easily picked off.  Morgan is still a work in progress at 28.

While the guys on MLB Network are being overly critical of the trade, they are also overly infatuated with Nyjer Morgan.   They feel his .286 career average and stellar defense makes this trade a no brainer that Washington made out on this deal.

I still don’t understand that.

While Milledge may not be the super stud he was once projected to be, he is still a .261 hitter in his MLB career that spans a little over 260 games of MLB experience at age 24.

Morgan on the other hand has yet to reach 162 games played in his MLB career at age 28.

Even if Milledge only improves marginally, he will still provide more for the Pirates by age 28 than Morgan will for the Natinals over his career.

Morgan is a nice MLB player.  Milledge still has the potential to be an exceptional player.  Morgan does not have that kind of ceiling, he has already reached his.

Bottom line, Morgan will provide the Nationals enough that they may not lose 100 games.

I am not saying the Pirates got a steal here, but the deal is not as lopsided as some experts are portraying it to be.   This is legitimately a deal that should help both teams.  I am just not sure how much it can help a Nationals team that is not close to going anywhere any time soon.

At least no one can say these deals were penny pinching moves.

 

Beyond The Trades:

I think there was a little more to this deal as well.  I think Huntington wanted to bring Garrett Jones and Jeff Salazar north out of spring training, but the play of Monroe and Morgan blocked those moves. 

The two deals today may have been more about bringing up those two players than about the risk of Milledge living up to potential or the potential of the young players added in the Hinske deal.  The players added have an eye to the future, but  the promotions may have been they key to 2009.  The bench just got a little deeper and more skilled.

 

Slide Note:

The play by Freddy Sanchez tonight was nothing more than heads up base running.  In the highlights, check out the glance Freddy make at Ted Lilly.  As soon as he saw Lilly was late to cover home, he knew he had a great chance to score.  He was right.

Hinske, Morgan and Burnett Traded

It has been a busy day for the Pittsburgh Pirates front office. 

Eric Hinske was traded to the New York Yankees  netting two 23 year old A ball prospects right-hander Casey Erickson and outfielder Eric Fryer.  Fryer was a catcher in the Brewers organization that New York moved into the outfield.

Nyjer Morgan and Sean Burnett were sent to the wastelands of Washington for outfielder Lastings Milledge and reliever Joel Hanrahan.

Milledge, a former top Mets prospect, has far more power than Morgan and is 5 years younger than Morgan.

Outfielders Garrett Jones and Jeff Salazar have been recalled from AAA Indianapolis.

BTW Take:

These trades are more about the future than 2009.  Milledge is coming of the disabled list due to a broken hand, which could affect his power this year dramatically.

Milledge has far more potential than Morgan who is about all he will ever be.  The Pirates are in need of power bats, and Milledge should fill that role in the future.

While I was dead wrong about Morgan this year, I still hate to see him go.  It could have been fun to see what kind of havoc he and McCutchen could have caused at the top of the lineup.

As for the rest of the trades, Hinske and Burnett won’t be missed much if at all.

I’ll write more later on the subject, just wanted to get this out before game time.  I am intrigued to see how the Pirates respond on the field to these trades.