Joe Christensen of the Star Tribune is reporting that the Twins have traded Carlos Gomez to the Brewers for shortstop JJ Hardy. Interesting move by Smith. He continues a promising trend in a GM: When he feels that a move or a plan hasn’t panned out, he does not stubbornly stick to his guns. Rather, he cuts ties and cuts his losses, rather than forcing square pegs into round holes. He did it with Mike Lamb, Kevin Mulvey, Phillip Humber, and now with the most visible piece of the Johan Santana trade – Carlos Gomez. I have to say, I’m shocked, and a little sad, because I still think Gomez has a chance to become a very good player. That said, this is a clear signal that Smith is trying to win now. Gomez surely was at least another year in progress (most likely more). I’ll have a more detailed write-up early next week.

On that note, my apologies for not updating lately. I’m in the middle of a mid-term for my Criminal Procedure Class, and it’s basically been consuming my existence for the last two weeks. More regular updates should be starting again next week.