At NY Baseball Digest, Mike Silva takes a look at what the future may hold for former Mets’ OF Lastings Milledge, who now finds himself in a position battle for Washington’s center field job with OF Elijah Dukes come spring training.

He writes:

“I am sure the emails and comments will flow accusing me as a Milledge hater. I have no ax to grind with the young man. I believe 2009 will prove exactly why I liked the deal when it happened. Ryan Church will be a key ‘in prime’ cog for a contending team, and Lastings Milledge will show you his future in baseball: An inconsistent talent that can only start for a bad team.”

Silva wrote a piece last March for Gotham Baseball in which he opened and concluded his article by stating “good bye and good riddance” in response to the trade that sent the young, once highly touted Mets farmhand to the Nationals.

Bill Ladson reported on MLB.com last week that Washington may be looking to trade him before the season.

Lastings never seemed to fit into the Mets on the major league level, with many feeling his attitude and approach to the game needed adjustment… on Friday, Matthew Cerrone posed the question on MetsBlog: “Would you trade Ryan Church and Brian Schneider to the Nationals for Milledge?” 76% of the voters responded no…

this is certainly a difficult story to have watched unfold over the last few years, but one must remember that Milledge is still just 24 years old… hopefully as he begins to mature he’ll be able to put all his tools together and form a solid major league career…