Gratuitous Off-Season Posting

I missed this: The Nats have swapped catcher Brian Schneider and outfielder Ryan Church to Gary's Mets in exchange for Paul Lo Duca and Lastings Milledge, who play the same positions.

I guess I can see the Milledge trade as part of the Nats' strategy to bring in young guys and build them up. (Milledge is 22.) On the other hand, Lo Duca (who is 35), only signed a one year contract and looks to me to be a stop-gap until Jesus Flores is ready to be the full-time plate man.

All I know is that the eldest Llama-ette is not going to like this nooz because Church and Schneider, along with Ryan Zimmerman and Dmitri Young, were the anchors of the team this year and she got very used to watching them. And like her old dad, she is not fond of change.

UPDATE: Well, the sports guys at the WaPo like the Lo Duca deal - comparable to Schneider on defense (although his arm's not as good) and a solid bat. Plus the one year deal gives the Nats all kind of flexibility depending on how Flores comes along.

Sounds pretty good to me.

UPDATE DEUX: Broke the news to the Llama-ette. Her initial reaction, an exclamation of "WHAT?!!" that blended incredulity and hostility, was one of those little tics that reminds me of what an absolute clone the gel is of her late grandfather. It's downright creepifying sometimes.

Anyhoo, she calmed down as I explained the way trading ballplayers works. After pondering things for a minute or two, she said, "But....they're all still friends, right?"

I assured her that everybody was still friends.

Yips! back from Gary:
With Lo Duca you get a team motivator in the clubhouse, a veteran leader. Yes, he can be a hothead sometimes but sometimes that's the kind of spark a young up-and-coming team can use. I'm sorry to see him go (as are a lot of Mets fans) and frankly can't fathom why Minaya didn't sign him. He said PLD was looking for a multi-year deal but this proves otherwise. Plus, we now have THREE catchers signed. WTF?

Bad Omar!

As for Milledge? Eh, I personally thought he was a bit overrated and it would seem that potential trade partners felt the same thing. I would have certainly preferred to get at least a 2nd tier reliever in exchange but on this one I'll defer to the head office that this was the best they could do at the time. They probably could have gotten more if they did it much sooner.