Let Him Go

A lot's been made of Johan Santana this offseason and my response to what my favorite baseball team should do is to let Johan go. The team basically gave up on efforts this offseason by not even putting a new offer on the table to Torii Hunter and their recent signings of Mike Lamb and Adam Everett still put them in the middle of the pack of the AL. The Twins could've offered Hunter a couple of more years on his contract and perhaps he would've been kind enough to give them a hometown discount, but Hunter did the right thing and moved on.

There's no way the team is going to compete with Detroit & Cleveland (and perhaps the ChiSox) in the AL Central next season with the type of moves they made this offseason. They're not going to be able to resign Johan unless Carl Pohlad opens up his checkbook a little. Let's face it, that's not going to happen. So why not leverage Santana and get a Jacobi Ellsbury or a Phillip Hughes along with any pitching prospect or centerfielder the Red Sox or Yankees will throw at them.

It will be interesting to see the fans' reaction after they trade away Santana. Minnesota fans were told that if they gave the Twins a new stadium, they'd be able to keep their key players. Thus far, the Twins have failed to live up to their promise. Hell, the Twins still have to worry about losing Justin Morneau after this season because they pissed him off by not offering Joe Mauer money after last season. Either way, I say good luck Twins and have fun being mediocre again next season.