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Friday, November 06, 2009

Trade Analysis: Twins Trade Carlos Gomez for J.J. Hardy

Wow. Somebody must have put some serious caffeine in Bill Smith’s cup. Where in recent years, the Twins would seemingly wait around for months to make their first off season move, Bill Smith struck quickly sending center fielder and Johan Santana trade centerpiece Carlos Gomez to the Brewers for former All-Star shortstop J.J. Hardy.

Shortstop was a position that had been a major hole for the Twins since they sent Jason Bartlett to Tampa Bay as part of the Matt Garza for Delmon Young swap. Hardy, if he plays to form, has the ability to be the Twins best shortstop since Roy Smalley manned the position in the ‘70s. At the plate, Hardy game revolves around his power, hitting 24 and 26 homeruns in 2007 and 2008. He’s also coming off a major slump year where his batting average and power took a major hit. Hardy has a good reputation with the glove, though it’s more in a Jay Bell kind of way than an Ozzie Smith sort of way. He doesn’t have the great range most scouts want in a shortstop, but he positions himself well, has a great arm and doesn’t make errors. He won’t become a free agent until after the 2011 season, so if Hardy bounces back he won’t be a short-term rental.

Giving up Gomez is interesting, because Gomez is the Twins best defensive centerfielder. The problem is without improvement his bat makes him a fifth outfielder right now. Gomez has all the tools, and if he learns how to use them he could be something and grow up to be a Devo White or Torii Hunter type of centerfielder. But Denard Span can play centerfield in the short run and the Twins’ two best prospects—Ben Revere and Aaron Hicks—are centerfielders where the Twins best shortstop prospect is an open-ended debate question and not likely to be ranked in the top twenty.

The free agent market for shortstops was grim, filled with a bunch of thirty-somethings who either had a good glove or an ok bat, but never both of the two. Hardy’s biggest strength is that he just turned 27 and could be the Twins solution at shortstop for years to come. Or, he could continue to play like he did last season. Still, it was a risk worth taking for the Twins, and Bill Smith has to be commended for going out and pulling the trigger quickly.

Be sure to check out our BYTO forums for more discussion and information.

Posted by jewscott on 11/06 at 12:13 PM
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Twins send Carlos Gomez to Milwaukee for James Jerry Hardy

According to multiple news outlets, the Minnesota Twins have acquired shortstop J.J. Hardy from the Milwaukee Brewers for Carlos Gomez. There is no truth to the rumor that Kevin McHale infiltrated the Twins front office and managed to include a future first round draft pick in the deal, however.

Hardy struggled last season after strong showings in 2007 and 2008. His .229/.302/.357 line resulted in a demotion to Triple A Nashville.

Gomez, the centerpiece of the Johan Santana trade, doesn’t really know how to play baseball, but is really fast and has a strong handshake, which once caused manager Ron Gardenhire to “bow down.”

Minor league pitchers Philip Humber and Deolis Guerra are the remaining players acquired for Santana, as pitcher Kevin Mulvey was sent to Arizona to complete the Jon Rauch trade.

The move also indicates that shortstop Orlando Cabrera, acquired at the trade deadline for minor leaguer Tyler Ladendorf, will not be returning to the Twins.

Discuss this deal on BYTO!

Be sure to check out our BYTO forums for more discussion and information.

Posted by Klobs on 11/06 at 11:46 AM
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Thursday, November 05, 2009

BYTO’s Top Acquisition of 2009!

It’s difficult to single out the Twins’ best acquisition, mostly because none of the new Twins had a performance to separate themselves from the rest, aside, perhaps, from Jon Rauch.

As we’ve come to expect, the Twins’ offseason moves paid few dividends, as Joe Crede’s inability to hit baseballs and/or stay healthy, and Luis Ayala’s general terribleness helped keep the team chasing .500 for most of the season. The Twins four main in-season pickups, Orlando Cabrera, Ron Mahay, Jon Rauch, and Carl Pavano each had a hand in the Twins run to the playoffs. Take away the contributions of any of them, and you’re looking at a 162 game season, and second or third place. Looking at most of their performances independently, that these four guys made such a difference is a tough pill to swallow, but in context, it’s a little easier.

Orlando Cabrera, while horribly misplaced in the second spot in the batting order, provided usable offensive numbers for a shortstop, and was not as damaging as the rest of the guys Gardy chose to “handle the bat,” i.e. “make outs,” in front of Joe Mauer. Defensively, Cabrera didn’t impress, but I’m sure that his positioning was top-notch.

Ron Mahay only pitched 10.2 innings with the Twins, including the playoffs, and did his job with little notice. He also sated Gardy’s need to have multiple southpaws in the bullpen, so he can do what good managers do to win ballgames.

Jon Rauch was able to use his incredible height, and resulting intimidating mound presence to get a few key outs, and become the Twins most reliable reliever down the stretch, taking some of the load from the most used reliever in baseball.

Finally, we come to Carl Pavano. Pavano’s numbers certainly won’t jump out at you, unless you are a connoisseur of nondescript starting pitching (and, as a Twins’ fan, you may just be). The real value of Pavano, ironically, was his ability to actually pitch, as the rest of the Twins rotation crumbled through injury and ineffectiveness. Does that make Pavano’s acquisition better than that of Jon Rauch? Well, that’s for you to decide, and you have. Congratulations to Carl Pavano, BYTO’s Top Acquisition of 2009! Yay!

Be sure to check out our BYTO forums for more discussion and information.

Posted by Klobs on 11/05 at 10:54 AM
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Monday, November 02, 2009

BYTO’s Top Defensive Plays of 2009!

In our second installment of BYTO’s Twins Greatest Hits, 2009 edition, we present the top ten defensive plays of the season, as voted on by BYTO members. Sadly, these plays wouldn’t be the breakthrough on your Twingo card you were hoping for.

10. Alexi Casilla Takes One Away from Billy Butler.
August 22 vs. Kansas City