Friday's trade for Brewers shortstop J.J. Hardy altered the legacy of the Twins' 2008 trade of Johan Santana to the Mets.
The Santana deal originally brought center fielder Carlos Gomez and three starting pitching prospects: Phil Humber , Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra .
The Twins shipped Gomez to the Brewers for Hardy after trading Mulvey to the Diamondbacks in August for reliever Jon Rauch , who is under contract for another season.
Humber spent most of the past two seasons in the minors, posting a 6.10 ERA in 13 appearances for the Twins. At age 20, Guerra remains more promising, as he went 6-3 with a 5.17 ERA after a midseason promotion to Class AA New Britain.
"I don't want to spend too much time evaluating [the Santana deal]," Twins General Manager Bill Smith said. "You can't look backwards, but we've got a young man in Guerra, who pitched in Double-A and pitched very well once we got him out of the Florida State League. We've got a key guy in our bullpen [Rauch], and we've got a regular shortstop [Hardy], so we're looking forward to 2010."
Young's role increases By trading Gomez, the Twins signaled their intention to give Delmon Young more playing time in left field. Last season, Young often sat when Gomez played, as Denard Span moved to left field.
"I know we put Gardy in a tough spot this year, and all the players," Smith said.
Young batted .284 with 12 home runs and 60 RBI in 108 games. Before his late-season surge, there was some speculation the Twins might set him loose as a nontender.