Changes

The big news out of Minnesota is, of course, that Carlos Gomez was traded for J.J. Hardy. Gomez was a personal favorite of mine, and I even sponsored him on Baseball-Reference, so I'm sad to see him go on that level. On the level of what's best for the Twins as a baseball team, I'm very happy to see them acquire J.J. Hardy. I'm sure you've already read extensively about what he's a good pickup, so I won't go into detail. While this does mean that Delmon Young will be playing full-time in the outfield, I think it's still a positive because of the great defense that Hardy brings to the shortstop position and the offensive potential he has. For a position that has been a huge headache over the past few years, that's a very nice combination.

The other news, which is far less surprising, is that the Twins exercised Michael Cuddyer's extension for 2010 and 2011. He'll make $19 million over the two seasons and confirms the Twins' outfield in their inaugural season in Target Field will, in all likelihood, be Cuddyer-Denard Span-Young.