That's the question all Twins fans are asking of GM Bill Smith as today's 3pm trade deadline approaches. Everyone knows that history says we shouldn't expect anything, at least not much anyways. Did you know the Twins have not made a trade at the deadline to bring in a major-league player since we traded for Shannon Stewart in 2003? Sure, we've made a few trades along the way:
2004: Traded Dougie Baseball for minor leaguer Justin Jones. Jones sure made a big impact didn't he?
2005: Traded for Bret Boone on July 11th, released him on July 31st
2006: Traded Kyle Lohse for minor leaguer Zach Ward. Sure could use Lohse now couldn't we?
2007: Traded Luis Castillo for minor leaguers Drew Butera and Dustin Martin. Butera has since been passed over by Jose Morales as the 3rd catcher on the squad, so I doubt we'll ever see him. Until doing this research, I've never even heard of Dustin Martin who as far as I can tell, is no longer in baseball.
2008: No transactions. Twins eventually traded for Eddie Guardado in the waiver-trading period in August.
The most frustrating part from a Twins fan perspective is this team has been so close on numerous occasions throughout these years, winning the division title and making the playoffs in 2003, 2004, and 2006. Any of those seasons, one significant trade at the deadline may have been enough to put the squad over the top and into the World Series, yet Terry Ryan, Bill Smith and the crew have all placed an inordinate amount of value on some of these so called "prospects". Sure, some of them have panned out over the years...Denard Span, Nick Blackburn, Michael Cuddyer, etc. But there are numerous other prospects who have turned out to be run-of-the-mill major leaguers...Scott Baker (remember when we could have had Alfonso Soriano for him?), Glen Perkins, Alexi Casilla, Delmon Young, and the list goes on and on.
We've all heard the rumors over the last few days, even seeing some of those players fly off the trading block as other teams have been willing to pony up the players and cash to help out their clubs. After each of these trades, we hear the same BS spewed from Bill Smith's mouth. "We value our prospects too much." "We're in a small market and need to retain our young players." "The asking price for the players are just too much". Cmon Billy, who are you fooling? The latest rumored players rival GM's have been asking for most frequently is Danny Valencia (2006 19th round pick) and Aaron Hicks (2008 1st round pick). I'm ok with hanging onto Hicks as he is a young, athletic OF who is very highly regarded around the league. Or if you're going to deal him, make sure you get a proven MLB player for him. But Valencia? Cmon. The latest reports out of the local papers is that the Twins are grooming the 25 year-old Valencia to take over for Joe Crede after this season. We've also read reports that the Pittsburgh Pirates asked for Valencia in a trade for Freddy Sanchez, their All-Star second baseman (who can also play 3B). So let me get this straight. You won't trade one of your prospects who has proven absolutely nothing at major league level for a proven all-star second baseman who has the ability to be able to play either of your two biggest holes in the field? On top of that, he is a career OBP of .336 and would fit perfectly in the #2 hole in the lineup between Denard Span and Joe Mauer. But Valencia is such a talent that we couldn't trade him for a proven major leaguer. Really?
Fans aren't the only ones who get frustrated by the lack of activity. Joe Mauer is now 26 and coming into the prime of his career. Justin Morneau is now 28 and is already in the prime of his career. Joe Nathan is already 34 and is at the tail end of his prime. All three of them have made comments to the media urging the front office to make a move. Mauer is going to be a free agent after next season, you'd think you'd be doing everything in your power to prove to him you're going to put a winning team on the field. How often is it in Minnesota that you have three legitimate all-stars? It's been a while hasn't it? Other than this stretch run in the early 2000's where we've also seen Torii Hunter and Johan Santana don a Twins uniform, you have to go back to the '88 season when the Twins last had at least 3 all stars in Jeff Reardon, Frank Viola, Gary Gaetti, and Tim Laudner (Sorry, I refuse to acknowledge Joe Mays, Cristian Guzman, and Eric Milton as all-stars). I'm not even looking for the Twins to bring in an all-star, just a warm body that can hit above the Jim Souhan coined "Lexi Line" of .160.
As the Twins prepare to move into Target Field next season, their list of excuses to both add quality players and payroll is dwindling. Gone is the excuse that they don't have the revenue to compete with high-revenue clubs. Gone is the excuse they lack a good stadium to attract talent. The only real excuse they have left is for the front office to admit the truth to everyone. The Minnesota Twins front office is satisfied with fielding a competitive team each year, just competitive enough to keep fans interested and put butts in the seats. They don't have the cajones required to make a big splash either in free agency or at the trade deadline (even if they had the prospects, you know they'd never CONSIDER trading for Cliff Lee or Roy Halladay). They are content fielding a team with a few stars, a team that has a chance to win a mediocre division, and maybe sneak into the playoffs and then get bounced in round one by the Red Sox or Yankees.
It's about time Bill Smith and the front office pony up and bring in some quality talent. Fans have caught onto the act and it's getting pretty old. Until one of your "prospects" turns into a legitimate star, holding onto them seems a little pointless when you can trade them for a proven veteran doesn't it?
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