The Washington Nationals offered Lastings Milledge to the Pirates for Nyjer Morgan is a straight-up swap of outfielders. Huntington, the Pirates’ general manager, apparently wants Nationals acting GM Mike Rizzo to add a second player before he would consider making the trade.

However a Morgan-for-Milledge deal is interesting to ponder as a one-on-one proposition.

Morgan offers great speed and defense. Milledge offers potentially outstanding power, something the Pirates has in short supply both the major leagues and minors, and good speed.

Morgan turns 29 on Thursday. Though he has improved greatly since first coming to the major leagues late in the 2007 season, he is almost assuredly at his peak now.

Milledge, meanwhile, is 24 and seemingly has quite a bit of upside despite spending part of the last four seasons in the major leagues.

Taking all that into account and knowing the Pirates have more of an eye on the future than the present, it would seem logical for Huntington to make the trade.

However, the situation isn’t quite that simple.

Milledge has his share of maturity issues, including being expelled from high school in St. Petersburg, Fla., angering his New York Mets’ teammates with his brashness during his first taste of the major leagues in 2006, recording a rap song with disparaging lyrics about women and being benched for this year’s opener by National manager Manny Acta because he was late to the ballpark.

Once you take all that into account, the decision gets tougher.

However, the Pirates need to bring as many multi-talented young players as possible into the organization. They also need to take some gambles if they are ever going to pull out of their 17-year tailspin.

Thus, if I were the GM, I would pull the trigger on this deal.