Nationals Should Trade Lastings Milledge

After failing to come through as the Nationals everyday leadoff hitter/center fielder, Lastings Milledge has been mired in the minor leagues. He's been living out of a hotel in Syracuse since the demotion, and he's only hitting .250 with a .602 OPS. He doesn't have a home run, but he does have 4 stolen bases. He's struck out 12 times and only walked 3.

It's true that Milledge does have loads of talent, and he's only 24 years old. He showed signs of that talent with a decent 2008 campaign -- when he hit .268 with 14 home runs, 24 doubles, and 24 steals. This is the selling point for the Washington Nationals, who need to just trade Milledge and move on.

I'm not saying there's no chance Milledge becomes a productive major leaguer. Far from it. I believe he still has that in him. I am saying the Nationals have little reason to hold onto him -- despite the fact that they sport a major league worst record. Obviously, they are building for the future, so why get rid of a talented 24-year-old?

Because they don't have a great use for him.

Adam Dunn is the monster in the middle of the lineup and he's only 29. He's also now playing right field, where he's nowhere near the donkey he was in left. Elijah Dukes has been hitting the ball quite well since the demotion of Milledge, and he's actually playing adequate defense in center -- unlike Milledge, who was a debacle there this season. Dukes is 24. Those two should be the foundation of the offense -- along with the studly Ryan Zimmerman -- for the foreseeable future in Washington.

An argument could be made that Milledge will fit well eventually in left field instead of the two-headed monster of Josh Willingham and Austin Kearns. I'd argue the Nationals have much more pressing needs: pitching, pitching and more pitching. They have the worst bullpen in baseball, and only the Phillies presently sport a worse team ERA -- which will be changing if Cole Hamels gets healthy soon. There should be a youthful foundation by the end of this season, when Stephen Strasburg (the Nationals have the No. 1 overall draft pick this season, and they'll be taking this phenom) and Jordan Zimmerman sport a 1-2 punch with great potential. They still need to fill out the depth of both the rotation's back-end and the bullpen, though.

Dealing Milledge to a team who still believes he has a chance to blossom -- and there are likely several out there -- should land a pitcher or two. The Nationals could then head forward with a core that looks to finally have a bit of promise. We mentioned Dunn, Dukes and Zimmerman, who could form as potent a middle-of-the-order as anyone. If Nick Johnson could ever stay healthy, he's a very solid on-base guy with some power -- kind of like Kevin Youkilis Lite. He's also only 30, so he's not too old to stick around. Jesus Flores, the 24-year-old catcher, has good promise of becoming a stallwart behind the dish. It's really a good offensive and defensive foundation. For now they are filling shortstop and second base with guys who don't look to be future options -- though Cristian Guzman should stick for a few more years -- but there are obviously going to be holes on a team trying to build from the ground up.

Pitching-wise, Strasburg and Zimmerman will be the top two pitchers as early as September of this year. John Lannan has been taking lumps, but he's only 24 and has good potential. He fits well as a number three in the future rotation. Considering Scott Olsen is only 25 and he's shown good stuff before, it can't hurt to leave him at the back end of the rotation for at least the time being. After that, though, the last starting spot and virtually the entire bullpen need to be reworked via the draft, the minors, and trading players they don't necessarily need.

Trading Milledge would be a step in the right direction. Conceivably, the Nationals could then start shaping their roster for a breakthrough 2010 campaign, which would up ticket sales and give them more spending money on the free agent market for 2011. Hopefully, by then -- for the sake of all of us -- the economy will have turned.