It might just be official.

The New York Mets Have Lost Their Minds.

If Rosenthal is right, the Nationals just screwed over the Mets by acquiring Lastings Milledge for catcher Brian Schneider and outfielder Ryan Church.

This deal makes almost no sense.  Schneider is a below average catcher signed to a long term deal that is really no better than Paul LoDuca and a lesser option as a catcher than Johnny Estrada, who will now either be traded or non-tendered.  Church is a okay outfielder, who could be capable of playing center, but he has had some injury issues in the past and lacks the power needed for an outfielder corner.

What the hell was he thinking?

God, if they are any Nationals fans on this board, they got to be celebrating.  Milledge has the potential to be an excellent outfielder and all star.  He comes with some baggage, but honestly, it's workable and a lot of it may have been blown out of proportion by the Mets.

The Nats now enter 2008 with a lineup that looks like this:

• Felipe Lopez (SS)
• Austin Kearns (CF)
• Ryan Zimmerman (3B)
• Wily Mo Pena (LF)
• Lastings Milledge (RF)
• Dmitri Young (1B)
• Ronny Belliard (2B)
• Catcher To Be Named Later
• Pitcher

I'm getting the feeling that when it's all said and done with the Mets, they will look at Minaya's hiring to possibly be a collosal mistake.

Good move Nationals.

P.S. - How the Hell Did Texas miss out on this?  I would have offered Minaya Gerald Laird and Marlon Byrd, which aren't expensive and for the most part are younger than Church and Schnieder.

Update - 1:09 Pacific - For all the flak that Jim Bowden gets and for all the accolades that Omar Minaya gets, Minaya has struck out a lot more on his deals than Bowden has.  Almost all of his good moves have pretty much been salary dumps, with only two trades, the John Maine for Kris Benson sawp and the Xavier Nady for Oliver Perez swap, actually panning out.  This merits a study, now that I think about it.  Look for it in December.