An actual trade! Young (plus two) for Garza and Bartlett (plus one). In 2012, looking back, this deal will favor ...
| Minnesota |  54 (43.20%) |
| Tampa Bay | 30 (24.00%) |
| Neither/both -- everyone will be happy | 34 (27.20%) |
| Meh. Nobody will even remember this trade by then! | 7 (5.60%) |
125 votes | 4 featured comments
I'd say the most significant thing about this trade is that those two teams looked at their needs and filled them by trading from strengths. Neither team has been known for that in recent years. A very good sign for fans of the Twins and Rays ... and a bad sign for all the Rays' competition.
PS - does this mean that Dukes will stay in Tampa and play RF? That should be a barrel of laughs.
I think the Twins will come out ahead in this trade because pitchers were put on this earth to break your heart. For every Halladay or Santana theres a Van Poppel or Clyde. Throwing a baseball at 95 mph is not only hard to do but hard on the body and the human body just wasn't meant to take the abuse. Hitters face much less of a risk and Young has already proven he can hit. The question now is just how far he can take his talent and whether he can control himself with all the pressure of being a major leaguer.
The Rays of 08 shape up quite well. Crawford, Baldelli and Upton left to right in the outfield. Longoria, Bartlett, Iwamura and Pena around the infield, with Navarro (.285/.340/.475 in the second half last year) catching and Gomes DHing. Kazmir, Shields, Garza and two of Sonnanstine, Niemann and Hammel starting. Price, Davis and McGee coming up fast in the minors to shore up the rotation, and perhaps a serviceable bullpen. They need a fourth outfielder, who can play centerfield well enough, in the event of injury recurrence to Baldelli.
The team defence should be much, much better, which can only help all that excellent young pitching. Last year, I had the Rays projected for 75 wins and last place. This year, objectively they fight the Jays for third place. Subjectively, they can win the division now, even though the Red Sox are pretty clearly a better club from top to bottom. And as for 2009, the Rays are probably as good a bet as anybody...
The team defence should be much, much better, which can only help all that excellent young pitching. Last year, I had the Rays projected for 75 wins and last place. This year, objectively they fight the Jays for third place. Subjectively, they can win the division now, even though the Red Sox are pretty clearly a better club from top to bottom. And as for 2009, the Rays are probably as good a bet as anybody...
By 2012 I'd be surprised if there's any relevant players remaining besides Young and Garza. At that point the Twins will probably look better, but in the short term I could see the Devil Rays having a bit of an edge.
This was a fun trade.
This was a fun trade.