Go Go for JJ

In case you haven't heard, the Twins have traded Carlos Gomez for the Milwaukee Brewers' shortstop JJ Hardy. That's big enough news to make ESPN's front page. Which is impressive, as ESPN can be known to assume no one gives a crap about small market teams.

JJ Hardy had a terrible '09 season. After hitting 26 and 24 homers in the '07 and '08, he only hit 11 this year. His OPS of .659 was well below his career average of .751 and his career high of .821 in '08. It's hard to expect him to perform at his '08 level, especially while switching to the American League, but he won't have another year as disastrous as '09. That disastrous season by the way, which included a demotion to the minors (mostly to set back Hardy's free agent clock), was forty-six points better than Carlos Gomez' performance in terms of OPS. In 100 more at-bats, Hardy struck out only 12 more times. The only advantages Gomez has over Hardy are age, arbitration status, and stolen bases.

I didn't forget their defensive prowess either. Hardy and Gomez are both very good with the glove. FanGraphs is down right now, but the numbers are mostly the same, with Hardy possibly having a slight edge due to the importance of the short-stop position.

Could this trade backfire on the Twins? Sure, because Hardy will be paid a lot more than Gomez' league minimum, because Hardy's lost it at the plate, because Gomez will tear it up against inferior National League pitching, because Hardy lacks Go-Go's speed and energy, because Milwaukee's Best really isn't that good a beer. Any trade can backfire, especially when it's made by Bill Smith. You have to give Bill some credit though. He targeted a relatively young, formerly productive, slick-fielding shortstop when Hardy's value was at its lowest. All he had to give up was a very young, never productive, slick-fielding center fielder who had been replaced by Denard Span. He solved Gardy's outfield dilemma and short-stop dilemma in one move. That's a win in my book.