To Trade Or Not To Trade Milledge

Here’s the conundrum the Mets find themselves in right now.

The Mets are in need of a left fielder and it appears that all signs are pointing to Lastings Milledge filling that void after the All-Star break.

Lastings Milledge could be the Mets' leftfielder when the team returns from the All-Star break Thursday.

Milledge went 3-for-5 yesterday after going 2-for-5 with a triple and two RBIs Saturday night for Double-A Binghamton as he continues his rehab assignment from a sprained foot ligament. The 22-year-old seemed to be buried on the Mets' organizational depth chart before getting hurt, but injuries to Moises Alou, Endy Chavez and Carlos Gomez have helped raise his profile.

Source: Newsday

Now what I gather is that the Mets want to use Milledge as a trading chip to obtain a pitcher. If Milledge does exceptionally well in his return to Shea, it’s going to boost his trade value. That’s a good thing, right?

The bad part of this is if Alou and Chavez aren’t ready to come back by the time the Trade Deadline rolls around and the Mets still need Milledge, what are they going to do?

Now if Martinez comes back the way we all hope he does, there won’t be any reason to over analyze the situation. If he doesn’t, then the Mets are going to find themselves in quite a rubix cube kind of problem. Which solution is the better? Keep a producing Milledge or trade him for a quality starter?

It’s just something to think about over the All-Star break.