Carlos Gomez News

What do Brendan Harris and Gene Larkin have in common? In a perfect world, the answer would be simple: nothing .

When the Brewers traded JJ Hardy for Carlos Gomez, they sealed their fate as to how they will acquire starting pitching this winter.

The free-agent market will officially be open for business at 11 p.m. CT Thursday and with it comes the opportunity for the Twins to begin exploring the market for ways to improve their club for another run at the postseason.

Milwaukee Brewers general manager Doug Melvin has made his team much better with some moves early in this off-season. The trade of J.J. Hardy to the Minnesota Twins immediately improved the squad on many levels.

When Twins center fielder Denard Span heard the news that teammate and fellow outfielder Carlos Gomez had been traded to Milwaukee for shortstop J.J. Hardy, it was a bittersweet feeling.

With the departure of Carlos Gomez , the role of most scrutinized player in the outfield has unequivocally been awarded to Delmon Young .

Their two cornerstone talents - Johan Santana, a year away from free agency, and Torii Hunter, a free agent - were on the verge of departing.

Michael Cuddyer had one of the bigger comeback seasons in the American League this year, and on Saturday the Twins rewarded him by picking up his $10.5 million option for 2011.

When the Minnesota Twins drafted Torii Hunter in the 1993 MLB Draft, there was no question that he would become Kirby Puckett's replacement in center field for the Twins.

Shortstop J.J. Hardy has long been linked to the Mariners as a possible trade target, but it's not going to happen.

Two winters ago, the Twins got Carlos Gomez from the Mets as the centerpiece of the Johan Santana trade and made the 22-year-old Torii Hunter 's replacement in center field, despite little evidence that he was ready.

The Twins have traded a toolbox without a key for a mystery. Carlos Gomez has talent, the greatest of which is raw speed.

Milwaukee traded Hardy to the Twins yesterday for speedy outfielder Carlos Gomez.

Now that a day has passed, and Brewers' GM Doug Melvin has spoken about it, it's time to figure out what the acquisition of Carlos Gomez means for the Brewers this offseason.

In both my 2009 postmortem and my 2010 offseason plan, I laid out two key points.

The Minnesota Twins have acquired shortstop J.J. Hardy from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for outfielder Carlos Gomez.

And so the Tigers endured one final late-inning Metrodome meltdown, this one the most painful of all.

With the Joe Mauer situation on the back-burner, the Twins now can turn their attention to which of their internal free agents they would like to retain for the next season.

Despite playing just over half of the season, Joe Crede managed to be Minnesota's second most-valuable infielder.

Note: This is the fourth installment in a ten-part series analyzing the Twins' 2009 season.