Lastings has the baseball gene on fire. He has been talked about by the sports media since he was a Sophomore at Lakewood Ranch High School in Palmetto, Florida. His scouting reports were good, but unsubstantiated personal issues and some notes on his use of wood rather than aluminum probably shaved his signing bonus down a bit from around the $2.5 million range to the $2.075 that he took when he was drafted in the first round by the Mets as the 12th overall pick.
What makes Milledge the kind of player that Mets fans are drooling over? Bat speed. He can see and move on a ball better than just about any of the players in his peer group, and, with continued development, he should be a big headache for National League pitching. With his foot speed and his total drive, he would make a good three or five slot hitter.
To get there, though he has some work to do, which is why he's been on the more gentle development curve. Our sources tell us that he is successful at stealing bases, but less so in reading the opportunities. He has a big bat, but he doesn't draw enough walks because he can lack patience in waiting for the right pitch.
Milledge's numbers in 2003 with the Kingsport Mets in the Appalachian League were good but not remarkable.
He sat out a chunk of time with a broken finger in BP at 2004 Spring Training, but he turned it on with Capital City that year, with 13 home runs, 58 RBIs, and 23 stolen bases for a .340/.580 AVG/SLG.
That earned Lastings a promotion to St. Lucie in the Class-A Florida State League where he struggled, and ultimately was sent back to Capital City, which was on a playoff tear, to finish the season.
In 2005, Milledge is showing what he's made of. He started the year with St. Lucie and batted .302/.418 (AVG/SLG) in 232 trips to the plate in 62 games. The expected promotion to Binghamton came July 11th, where he's .319/444.
There was a lot of buzz about Lastings being traded before the trade deadline this year in the New York media that didn't come to pass. He may well be a trading card yet.
In the Mecca of Sports, NYC, where the Yankees have so dominated the landscape for fishwrap space and talking head time, the Mets may hold on to the divine Mr. M: Along with past FAB50 grads David Wright and MLN Player of the Year Jose Reyes to generate a very powerful home-grown ballclub.
He still makes the middle of our FAB50, rather than the top ten, because we don't see him making a major club until at least 2006. Some players skip the Triple-A. We think that Kevin Morgan, the Mets' ace Player Development Director, will want to see how he handles the competition in Norfolk unless he has a very big Spring next season. We balance his past pace and current numbers against the fact that he's one of the top three offensive players in the farm right now, and say he'll probably show up in Shea full time in 2007.
