The Washington Nationals today acquired 22 year-old outfielder Lastings Milledge from the New York Mets in exchange for outfielder Ryan Church and catcher Brian Schneider.

A little more about the players in the deal from the Nationals press release...

"This trade continues our plan of acquiring young players primarily via trade or the amateur draft," said Bowden.  "All of our top evaluators, including Mike Rizzo, Bob Boone, Dana Brown, Manny Acta and myself, believe that Lastings Milledge can develop into a middle-of-the-order bat."

Milledge is a career .257 hitter (90-for-350) with 16 doubles, 11 home runs and 51 RBI in portions of two big league seasons (2006 and 2007) with the Mets.  In 59 games with New York (NL) last season, he batted .272 (50-for-184) with nine doubles, seven homers, 29 RBI and a .341 on-base percentage. 

Milledge was the Mets' top selection (12th overall) in the 2003 First-Year Player Draft out of Lakewood Ranch (FL) High.   

The 31 year-old Schneider hit .235 with six home runs and 54 RBI in 129 games for the Nationals last season.  Drafted by the Expos in 1995, he was the longest tenured member of the organization.

Church, 29, batted .272 with 15 home runs and 70 RBI in a career-best 144 games with Washington last season.

"We have strengthened our team by adding an impact starting pitcher in Garza and an everyday shortstop in Bartlett. We have capitalized on our depth in certain areas to address more pressing areas of need. Because of that, we are now a better ball club." ~ Rays Executive Vice President Andrew Friedman.   more »

The Minnesota Twins announced today that they have acquired outfielders Delmon Young and Jason Pridie along with infielder Brendan Harris from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for pitchers Matt Garza, Eduardo Morlan and infielder Jason Bartlett.

Notes gathered via the Twins conference call with GM Bill Smith:

- Twins have done a lot of homework on Delmon Young. He's a good player with a good attitude. He's competitive...first to the park, does extra running, takes extra BP, etc.

- Twins didn't get Young to play CF

- Harris, Nick Punto, Alexi Casilla, and other options from within will be considered for shortstop

- Pridie can play CF, but the the organization will keep looking

- Tampa Bay insisted on Bartlett and Garza in the deal

- "Nothing is wrong with Juan Rincon"...according to Bill Smith

- Minnesota's priorities going forward...continue to try to upgrade the offense...need a 3B, a CF

- Michael Cuddyer has not been discussed as an option for third base

- The Twins will continue to talk to Craig Monroe despite adding another outfielder

Notes from Delmon Young via conference call

- Delmon is excited about the young nucleus on the Twins and their playoff history

- He's not concerned with playing left or center field

- He feels like he's matured over the years

I have to say that Delmon seemed pretty pumped up about this deal. In fact he almost seemed like a different player from the one I spoke with a few years ago. This is an interesting deal for both sides and really could turn into one of those moves that helps both clubs.

The Milwaukee Brewers today acquired RHP Guillermo Mota from the New York Mets in exchange for C Johnny Estrada, it was announced today by Brewers Executive Vice President and General Manager, Doug Melvin.    more »

**Updated** The first big deal of the off-season. The Chicago White Sox have acquired Gold Glove Award-winning shortstop Orlando Cabrera and cash considerations from the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for right-handed pitcher Jon Garland.   more »

The Oakland Athletics announced today the club has traded utility infielder Marco Scutaro to the Toronto Blue Jays for minor league right-handed pitchers Kristian Bell and Graham Godfrey. Scutaro finished the 2007 season with a .260 batting average to go along with seven home runs and 41 RBI in 104 games. Sounds like a good deal to me. I mean, anytime you can get 2 prospects, even marginal ones, for a bench player, that's a good deal!    more »

The Atlanta Braves acquired outfielder Josh Anderson from the Houston Astros in exchange for right-handed relief pitcher Oscar Villarreal. Anderson, 25, hit .358 (24-for-67) in 25 games for the Astros this year. He spent the majority of the season at Triple-A Round Rock, where he played all three outfield positions and batted .273 (140-for-513) with 17 doubles and 64 runs scored. He ranked third in the Pacific Coast League with 41 stolen bases. A 2003 fourth-round draft pick, the left-handed hitting outfielder was the MVP of the 2006 Texas League All-Star game and in that same year he led the league for the second consecutive season in stolen bases and he also ranked first with 173 hits. In 2004 Anderson led all of minor league baseball with 78 stolen bases and in 2005 he was rated as the best defensive outfielder and the fastest base runner by Baseball America. Villarreal, 26, went 2-2 with a 4.24 ERA in 51 games for Atlanta in 2007.   more »

The Chicago Cubs today acquired right-handed hitting infielder Omar Infante from the Detroit Tigers for outfielder Jacque Jones and a cash consideration.

Infante, 25, batted .271 (45-for-166) with two home runs and 17 RBI in 66 games with Detroit last season.  Versatile in the field, Infante played six positions last season, most often at second base (20 games). He also appeared at shortstop (14 games), third base (nine), center field (12), right field (six) and left field (one).

Jones, 32, batted .285 (281-for-986) with 32 home runs and 147 RBI in 284 games for the Cubs after he signed with the team as a major league free agent in January of 2006. Last season, Jones batted .285 (129-for-453) with five home runs and 66 RBI in 135 contests.

“We are excited to add a quality major league outfielder like Jacque Jones to the Tigers organization,” Tigers President, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager David Dombrowski said. “He is a proven lefthanded hitter at the major league level that fits our club well in left field.”