Believe it or not, yesterday was a big day for the Minnesota Twins.  No, the Twins did not make top story on ESPN by trading their ace Johan Santana.  The Twins made a small move that I believe will help them (at least offensively) next season.  Yesterday was the final day to either sign or release former Cubs and Tigers outfielder Craig Monroe.  The key to this deal was that the Twins needed Craig to take a pay cut from the salary that he was making last year with the Cubbies. 

Monroe agreed to a one year deal worth 3.82 million.  You can read more about it here.

This is was a good move for the Twins for several reasons.  The first is that the Twins now have 4 outfielders vying for 3 spots.  While this might not sound all that good, think of the positives.  We’re pretty certain that newly acquired outfielder Delmon Young will be playing Left Field (or possibly center — due to his good range and laser rocket arm).  Cuddy has been cemented in right field.  Left field will likely be platooned by both Monroe and Kubel.  Both Kubel and Monroe have had their ups and downs.  Monroe was unstoppable in 2006 but had a miserable time of it in 2007.  Kubel has shown flashes of brilliance but then has also looked much like the coal that i’ll be receiving for Christmas.  With those two guys platooning Left field that will leave one to play DH while the other is in the field.  Both will get a bunch of at-bats and this will effectively remove us from the days of Jason Tyner or Lew Ford acting as our DH. 

Some naysayers will poo-poo the idea that Monroe will be able to contribute.  They will point to his last seasons numbers where he batted .219 with 12 homeruns and a mere 59 RBIs.  Maybe i’m not expecting too much out of our DH position but I’d be tickled pink with 12 homeruns from that position.  If we can get a glimpse of Monroe in the 2006 season I think that we might be happy to have him on our roster.

First of all, let me get something off of my chest.  I hate the fact that a deal hasn’t already been struck.  At first, the hoopla and anticipation surrounding Santana to [insert large market team here] was fun and it was fun to check to look for updates to Loony Lavelle’s or J.Christiansen’s Trib blogs for updates.  That time has officially passed and as time drags on, it looks as if the anticipation (or lack there of) will be my cross bare.
Since I am a true Twins fan (so much so that I have my own blog), I feel that I must keep up to date with this.  So what have we learned from last week?
·  The Yankees are “pulling” out of the Santana sweepstakes because they would not pony up Melky Cabrera, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy in one package for the Santana.
·  The Red Sox (who in my opinion) were only in the running to bid the Yankees up have now stepped up.  They want to offer some combination of Coco Crisp, Lester/Ellsbury, Jed Lowrie and Justin Masterson and Babe Ruth to the deal.
·  The Mets aren’t interested in a trade if they have to give up Jose Reyes or David Wright.
·  Hank Steinbrenner apparently has all the bad qualities of his father…..but none of the good ones.  He’s been accused of tampering and general dishonesty by the media and the baseball community.  Major League Baseball will only investigate him for tampering, since Lying : Baseball :: Fireworks : 4 of July
·  New Twins GM, Billy “not to be confused with Beane” Smith is taking the hard-line on Santana.  He’s more than willing to hold on to his pitcher and let him walk away next year to the highest bidder.
A few of my own personal observations:
·  Don’t trust anyone with the last name Steinbrenner.  He comes from a long lineage of people who refuse to come in second.  Everyone knows, including Hank, that if the Sox get Santana they will be in the World Series every year from now until 2012.  With a lineup that starts with Santana, Beckett, Dice-K and Shilling they will not be beat.  When Hank said that the Yankees are out of the race that is a bold face lie.  They are trying to see what the Sox offer so that they can possibly swoop in at the last moment.
·  Many people who are loyal to the Twins are ripping the potential deal for Santana by saying that “He’s the best pitcher in baseball” in conjunction with “The current deal on the table is not enough”.  I would suggest that this is flawed logic for several reasons.  First off, the Twins will NOT be a playoff team with Santana next year.  The Twins can not afford Santana’s contract demands.  With those two things being as they are the Twins NEED to unload Santana before he hits the free agent market.  When every owner in baseball is aware of these factors, the Twins have no leverage in making the monster deal.  Sure they have the goods but to be honest, the Yankees and Sox will be just fine without Santana.  They were good last year and they’ll again be good.
·  The trade haters also point to the fact that the trade is horrible if it includes CoCo.  I disagree.  There are several reasons for this.  First off, his salary is favorable for the Twins.  We could keep him for a few years and then either resign or let him go.  Hopefully by then we could develop or trade for a young center fielder.  The haters also would prefer Ellsbury over Lester.  There are many who spew their opinions stating that Lester is no better than a 3 or 4 pitcher.  They are dying for Ellsbury but I know that this is only the case because they saw what he did in the World Series.  What they fail to remember is that the only reason that he was able to play towards the end of the season last year was due to a Crisp injury that kept him out of the lineup for some time.
·  We will not be able to evaluate any trade properly for several years.  Those who are adamant against this trade would likely not be happy with any realistic trade because of the emotional attachment that they hold for Santana.
Who knows when we’ll find out what the future will hold for Santana.  Until then, I’m going to take some Advil.  This trade can not come soon enough.