Angel Pagan Is Awesome

It's still early, but so far this season, we have to anoint the New York Mets with the crown for the best 2007-2008 off-season in baseball. Everyone knows about the Santana trade. Everyone knows about his 47 strikeouts in 46 1/3 innings, his 2.91 ERA, his 1.01 WHIP. Somehow the Mets managed to give up one guy with good Major League talent in that deal, Carlos Gomez, who hit for the cycle yesterday but is quite replaceable in comparison to an ace like Santana. Any general manager would have been crazy to turn down that deal with the Twins if he were in the Mets' position, which is why I commend Omar Minaya much more for his other finds over the off-season.

In what may be remembered as the best trade of the season, Minaya sent his top outfield prospect, Lastings Milledge, to the division rival Washington Nationals for Brian Schneider and Ryan Church. Milledge, who is only hitting .256 in Washington, was not a favorite of manager Willy Randolph, who did not condone his non-chalant style of play accompanied with his bitter attitude towards his teammates. Schneider and Church were nice players in Washington, Schneider was a decent catcher who was a .250 hitter and Church was coming off a 15 homerun season in which he hit .272. However, Church and Schneider have played much better than their previous numbers would indicate as they are currently first and second on the Mets in batting average, respectively. Church is hitting .328 and slugging .541, both the highest percentages of his career. He has also contributed with 24 RBI, second on the team to David Wright. Schneider is hitting .308 and has thrown out 33% of his opposing base stealers, 8% higher than the league average.

Schneider has also gotten help from backup catcher Raul Casanova, a member of the Devil Rays last season, who is hitting .283. Opposing baserunners scarcely run on Casanova's powerful arm as he has thrown out two potential base-stealers in four attempts this year.

Angel Pagan, who the Mets acquired through a trade with the Cubs on January 5, has also helped fill in well for Moises Alou. So well, in fact, that it will be tough to remove him from the lineup. Pagan's defense in left field has been superb (did you see that catch yesterday against the Dodgers?) and he is hitting in the clutch with a terrific .323 batting average with runners in scoring position. 

Imagine the Mets' season without these four players. Imagine Lastings Milledge starting in the outfield, hitting .250 and privately and/or publicly bickering with Willy Randolph. Imagine if Casanova had not been available to replace last year's backup catcher Ramon Castro when he was placed on the DL early in the season. The Mets would probably be hanging out with the Nationals right now instead of the Phillies and Marlins. 

- D. Spell