Following the season-ending shoulder injury to Duaner Sanhcez, the Mets were "forced" to deal OF Xavier Nady to the Pirates for middle reliever Roberto Hernandez and AAA pitcher Oliver Perez. (Yes, "AAA" is the appropriate way to refer to Senor Perez.)
This allowed the Mets to recall super-prospect Lastings Milledge to take Nady's place in the outfield.
Since then Milledge has gone 3 for 16 with a double, 4 walks and 3 strikeouts.
Over in the Bronx during the same period, less-enthralling rookie Melky Cabrera has gone 7-20 with a double, a home run, 4 walks and two strikeouts.
I'm not saying that Melky Cabrera will be the better long-term propsect, but he is certainly the better 2006 one.
While that may be controversial amongst the Kool-aid drinking prospect mavens, I cannot ignore the performances of either as major league players.
32 Ks vs 32 BB in 283 ABs for Melky is very tough to discount in this sabremetric era of talent evaluation.
Milledge looks much worse with 26 Ks vs 8 BB in 102 ABs, but he does have better power.
So the sabremetrosexuals must decide between OBP and SLG when determing the better player. Do you take a Reggie Sanders (low OBP/high SLG) or Jason Kendall (high OBP/lower SLG)?
(I recognize Jason Kendall would kill for Melky's power right now!)