Twins and Rays..

[The Yeti]

Prominant local newspaper just reported possible trade. Bartlett, Garza, Rincon, to the Rays for Delmon Young and a handful of others...

[Willy]

If this works out, it is a great trade IMO. A 22 yr old outfielder that can hit the way he can is a steal. He has potential to be one of the best outfielders in the game and will be cheap for some time.

Also, trading Garza may mean we are committed to keeping either Santana or Silva, or that any Johan trade will include that teams top pitching prospect. I like it 100%

[IFallsRon]

Two players who can field and hit for pitchers with suspect arms is a pretty good deal. I figured Bonser would be first to be traded home to Tampa.

[Scott K]

This would be a good trade for the twins. I am glad they are trying to replace Hunter instead of just hoping someone in the farm system will replace him.

[SledNeck]

I REALLY like this trade!

Young is the REAL deal, he should be great for 5 years until we lose him to another team. I say get rid of nathan and sign Santana. I have no problem with Neshek in the closer role.

[bassNspear]

its a great trade. Its going to help them out alot

[Coach1310]

I have no problem getting rid of Bartlett or Rincon... as far as I am concerned they can release both of them. But Garza, that is another story. He's got a huge upside with that arm. A power arm with good stuff and good movement. I think Young is a good player, but with a questionable attitude?? I don't think he is anymore of a sure thing then Garza, but I may still possible like the trade depending on who the "handful of others" are.

[Trainman]

I have to agree. Young was suspended for 50-games last year flipping his bat at an ump. Trade a good pitcher for a prospect with an attitude? Including Rincon may make it worth it. Just hope they aren't planning to backfill their house cleaning with Silva. Sounds like Mike Lynn is calling the trade shots for all MN teams these days.

[Maximum12]

It's on ESPN.com as well.

I hope it's not true. Stupid trade. Deal a guy with #1 starter potential now, especially if we're going to lose our real #1 guy, for an outfielder with upside who hit 13 HRs in 650 ABs in 2007. Plus the attitude problem.

If it was anyone but Garza I'd say go for it. But think about the rotation minus Silva...Garza...Santana. The Twins may as well just trade the Rays for their team name, too.

[The Yeti]

Just reported on Fox 9... Garza and Bartlett are gone to the Rays.. Rincon unfortunately is still here. grrrrrrrrrrrrr...

We get Delmon Young, Brendan Harris and some other guy..

[Maximum12]

Son of a (Contact Us Please). I hope I'm dead wrong & Young turns into an All-Star.

[The Yeti]

"The Twins have sent righthander Matt Garza, shortstop Jason Bartlett and minor league righthander Eduardo Morlan to the Rays for Young, infielder Brendan Harris and outfield prospect Jason Pridie."

[Scott M]

Hate to see Garza go but Young is a talent with lotsa upside. Twins have lots of young arms with potential so its not like we dealt the whole farm here. If Garza becomes a stud it stings a little, but we've got some guys that can be just as good.

I like it.

[Jigsawed]

Well we needed a center fielder and they didnt want to spend the bucks. The Young trade looks good but time will tell. Bartlet wasnt that great and the Twins better get 2 good pitchers for Johan cause this could be ugly next year. They better do something about 3rd base as well.

[zepman]

I'm really liking this deal alot. The Twins always have a glut of "young prospect pitchers" and Garza is just one of them. The upside to this trade favors the Twins IMO. I also believe this is just the beginning for the Twins this off-season. Santana is gone---more than likely Nathan will be too. We will be a totally different team next year and it will be interesting to see how this all unfolds.

[sdstatekid]

I like the trade even though i think garza could become a legitimate number 1. I'm wondering if the twins are going to move cuddyer back to 3rd and have young play right. I think this is contigent on the twins getting a centerfielder in the santana deal. If they don't get a centerfielder in that deal maybe they will have young play center. It will be interesting to see how things shape up with the santana deal.

[Willy]

Garza's fastball is about as straight as they come and that is why he tends to get batted around alot when he relys on it too heavily. I agree, he is a top pitching prospect and I would project him top of the rotation, but let him rot in the AL east and get pounded around a few years by the Yanks/Sox, and I'll bet Delmon will make you forget about him rather quick.

The one thing I wish we could have done was get rid of Rincon. Would have been a good salary dump. The Morlan kid has an impressive K/BB ratio and will be a good reliever. Too bad we had to give him up instead, but not a deal breaker.

This kid is gonna be something special. He was a #1 pick, has speed, arm, can hit, only thing he lacks is plate discipline and he still hits .280 in his first full season with 93 rbis to boot.

I like him, put him in the 3 hole after Mauer. I see this guy as sort of an Alfonso Soriano type player. Or he at least has that potential.

Very pumped about this trade!

[Eric Wettschreck]

I like this trade, it gives the Twins some options and it shows that our new GM isnt afraid to pull the trigger on some deals.

Let's face it, the Twins are going to be in the cellar for the next couple of years. However, a few good trades (Santana and Nathan) and by the time the new ball park opens they could be contenders.

[Harmonica Bear]

I hate to see the potential of Garza go, but at this point all we are losing is potential. Young however gives us immeadiate offense, and huge star potential. He has legit power to all fields and will certainly improve on his 13 HR's being only 22 years old. 22 and drove in 93 last year I think is what it is all about. It took a few seasons for Torii H to get to that production level and he beat that only 4 times, with his highest output of 107 just this past season. The up side for us is big. We've replaced the offense for sure. Defensively I think we still need a legit centerfielder. And I disagree with moving Cuddy back to 3rd, that experiment failed. He found a home in right and should stay there.

[hanson]

Randy Shaver on the 93x Morning Show this morning was doing a little Young vs Hunter comparison during the early part of their careers.

Hunter at age 22 played 6 games for the Twins.

Hunter at age 23 played 20 some games for the Twins.

Young at age 22 played the entire season for the Rays and batted .280 He also placed 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting.

[Scott K]

I think the Twins are going to dump their high dollar contracts, pick up alot of young talent and make a run for the opening year of the new stadium. The Twins have some top players, or had, that they can get alot of young talent by trades, and I think this is what they are doing. Not a bad thing really, the Twins cant afford to compete with the big teams when it comes to $$ for contracts, so they try to play it smart and get as much young up coming talent as possible for lower money.

This does suck as a fan, but we all knew the Twins werent going to be able to resign all of these players to the contracts that were coming due in the next couple years.

My prediction, Santana gone by next friday, and Nathan, and Silva, rebuild next year. Then 09 we are back in the playoffs!

[Willy]

The thing is, I don't see it as rebuilding, rather reloading with contracts that fit the budget and players that are young and low on service time.

Phil Hughes, Clay Buscholtz, either of these two get dealt to the Twins and they move right into either the #1 or #2 spot in our rotation. Jose Reyes, he is the best leadoff hitter, base stealer, and SS in the game. Jacob Ellsbury, he is the next coming of Sizemore by the sounds of it.

How about the Dodgers young kids? All these guys are ready to step into a starting spot right now. Yes, our pitching may be down a year or two, but guess what? We will have filled our offensive hole and will still be just as good or better than this past year.

Reyes

Mauer

Young

Morneau

Cuddyer

Kubel

3B

Harris

CF

That lineup will mash, is young, and affordable. I am not worried one bit. If they do take a step back, watch out because once all the young guns mature, that lineup will rival Clevelands.

[Gopher_Man]

I think this is a great trade. Young is and will be a stud. At age 22 he is only going to get better. Garza is a little disappointing but hasn't shown that great potential the last two years. Hopefully he will do great with the rays. IMO great trade. Read the MSN article, "Trade gives Twins Flexablity" There right. Possible keep Santana add a 3rd baseman and possible compete, or trade Santana for SS ( Reyes) and OF then trade Nathan for pitching, and have a team that might surprise some people. A trade with the Mets would be great if we could get Reyes.

My Pridiction.

Young will have a better offensive year than Hunter!

[Gopher_Man]

Willy

Great post and that lineup could very easily happen by trading Santana and Nathan. They would be fun to watch and would only get better.

[Harmonica Bear]

Young batted 288 last year. Hunter never hit better than 289 and that was in 02. I like this deal better and better.

[Willy]

Trading Nathan would bring more pieces to the puzzle. Honestly guys, Johan is a great pitcher and so is Nathan, but there is noone on this board that can say they both didn't have down years for themselves last year.

Maybe we are getting out at the right time. Johan's slider is done and he is a 2 pitch pitcher right now. Teams with a good gameplan seem to rap him around in the early innings. Let's stack up and win the whole thing first year in the new park and then do like Cleveland and lock all those guys up when they are young and inexpensive. Then when the need to add that extra starter or hitter for the playoff push is upon us, there will be some money to spend and we might finally have enough to get it done.

We have had plenty of years of Johan, Torii, Nathan, and it it has not got us farther than a 5 game walloping in the ALCS. Maybe it's time for a different game plan.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Willy, I agree. I like what they are doing.

As a fan it's going to suck for a while watching Cleveland and Chicago win the division. That's the downside. The upside is that it's looking like a team build up for a serious shot the first year or 2 in the new park.

[Maximum12]

Man, I thought I was a homer & Twins optimist! You guys are nothing short of delusional (& I mean that in the kindest, most non-judgemental, PC, delivered with a smile, kind of way).

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Johan's slider is done and he is a 2 pitch pitcher right now.

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Wrong. I can't begin to say how wrong. Everyone who follows Major League Baseball would disagree with that statement.

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do like Cleveland and lock all those guys up when they are young and inexpensive.

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What do the Twins have now? A bunch of young guys. How locked up are they? The Twins haven't had much luck signing that Morneau guy, or the Cuddyer guy, or Nathan, or Santana either. Mauer. 1 for 5. Players are getting wise to this & are opting to hold out for more "market value". Also recall the Rich Becker/Scott Stahoviak days when they signed a bunch of promising young stiffs to multi-year deals that never panned out. Point: young guys are a risk. Always.

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I hate to see the potential of Garza go, but at this point all we are losing is potential. Young however gives us immeadiate offense, and huge star potential.

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Immediate offense? I agree Young has upside, big upside, but so does Garza. Hate to say, but if you project his numbers out over Young's ABs for 2007, Jason Kubel was a 18HR, 88RBI, .273 guy. I don't see anyone touting Kubel as the answer to our offensive woes!!

And Garza's ERA in the second half of 2007, plus being minor league player of the year in 2006, makes him as close to a sure-fire front-of-the-rotation starter as there is with a young, untested arm.

My point? I do have one. I, too, am happy that we have a GM who's finally not afraid to pull the trigger on a deal, even one I'm not wild about. But the Twins have/had the architecture to be strong playoff team, RIGHT NOW. They just needed some pieces. Instead, Smith seems to be intent on rebuilding the team.

This is a huge risk. The Twins had a core of superb talent. Like it or not, replacing knowns with unknowns could put the Twins out of contention for years. When gambling on young players to put you in the playoffs, you're going to lose more than you're going to win. I was hoping the Twins would build on their solid foundation, but instead they seem intent on creating a new foundation & tossing out the old one.

[jigging-matt]

I really like the trade, especially if they fill in the holes like they should. I think Young should play left and leave Cuddy in Right. If you read the article on MSN that Gopherman talked about, You get the feeling that our new GM might have a real good plan on making the Twins a contender for years to come and not just a one year push.

[PierBridge]

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Let's face it, the Twins are going to be in the cellar for the next couple of years.

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I don't see that happenning.