How bad was the Johan Santana trade? Honestly? Have you looked at that thing lately? We pretty much gave up the best pitcher in the game for a bag of peanuts, a day old ham sandwich, a bag of frito lays, some diet coke, and a lap dance from a fat stripper named Candy. Yup, it's not good. Bill Smith had some juicy offers on the table at the Winter Meetings when he shopped Johan. The Red Sox would have given us Jon Lester. The Yankees would have given us Phil Hughes. We got Carlos Gomez.
Sure, the Twins got other players, but Gomez was the centerpiece of the deal. A five tool prospect, Gomez was supposed to solidify center field for the Twins for years to come. He was supposed to do what Denard Span, a first round pick from 2002, couldn't do. But a funny thing happened with that plan. Span became fantastic, and Carlos Gomez, our future, became expendable.
That's what happened last Friday, when the Minnesota Twins shipped Gomez across the border to the Milwaukee Brewers for shortstop J.J. Hardy. Both teams received players that needed a fresh start and a change of scenery. However, did both teams get a fair deal out of this.
Since I'm a Minnesotan, let's talk about the Twins side of the deal first. The Twins, who are not re-signing Orlando Cabrera at this point, got a shortstop that will not only fill a hole for the upcoming season, but hopefully a couple of years. Hardy is only 27 years old. Three years ago, he hit .277 with 26 bombs and 80 runs batted in. He followed that up with a .283-24-74 season. However, last year was Hardy's downfall as he hit .229-11-47. He would be shipped to the minors in August, never to be seen in a Brewer uniform again.
If the Twins get the Hardy of 2007 and 2008, the Twins will benefit greatly from the deal. He'll lock down the 2 spot in the lineup and add even more power to a lineup that ran based off the home run. If Hardy plays like he did last year, they're screwed.
Perhaps the biggest player in the trade isn't one involved, however. This trade is screaming at Delmon Young that this is his last shot. Delmon has started for the past 3 years in the majors. However, he's just 24 years old. He showed signs of figuring things out towards the end of the year when he wasn't sitting on the bench for two week stretches. I'm sure he'll have a short leash because he's not one of Ron Gardenhire's favorites, but if he hits well, the trade could be a huge success while validating another.
As for the other side of the trade, the Brewers can now let Mike Cameron walk without losing anything defensively. Carlos Gomez has ridiculous range, and I'm sure the Brewers fans will love the effort that he'll give night in and night out. Sure, he'll drive them crazy with his baserunning mistakes and overzealousness, but he'll bust his ass every night and that will draw the appreciation of Brewers fans. Also, at 23, Gomez still has great potential and if he ever figures things out and slows things down, he could be an All-Star caliber outfielder for the Brewers.
They also free up some money in the process. The Brewers will have control of Gomez, 23, for 4 more seasons before he's arbitration eligible. They also save a crap load over signing Mike Cameron. With the money they saved here, they can go after a pitcher or two. John Lackey could be a priority for the Brewers in the offseason, and that would give the Brewers a much needed ace.
So not only do the players involved have a lot of weight on their shoulders for this trade, players who were on the team prior to the trade (or in the future) will also have pressure put on them. Only time will tell who won the trade, and that's what's great about baseball and that's why they play the games.
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