Just a quick post here that the Twins have traded CF Carlos Gomez to the Brewers for SS J.J. Hardy. I’ve written a quick story for StarTribune.com that will be posted momentarily, and will have more here throughout the day.

Hardy and Twins GM Bill Smith will be available in a conference call at noon. More later.

Update: Smith did not rule out pursuing a second baseman or third baseman this offseason but noted that Manager Ron Gardenhire likely will keep Nick Punto in the lineup somewhere.

Smith said the Twins definitely will tender a contract to left fielder Delmon Young.

“Absolutely, he’s going to be tendered a contract,” Smith said. “Delmon had a good year last year, he grew up a lot, I know some of the numbers aren’t where anyone — especially Delmon Young — wants them. He grew up a lot, he matured a lot, I think he became a good teammate.

“I know Ron Gardenhire’s very high on him. Joe Vavra — I had a talk with him the other day, and I think people are optimistic Delmon has a chance to blossom, hopefully in 2010 and realize some of the great skills he has.”

Asked how it affected Hardy’s trade value, knowing he’s not eligible for free agency until after 2011, Smith said, “To give up Carlos Gomez, where we’re going to give up four years of control, it’s important to get somebody we’re going to have for more than a year. So it’s a positive for us to have J.J. Hardy and the ability to keep him for a couple years. And let’s see what happens, we may keep him a lot longer than that.”

A few quotes from Hardy:

“I feel like it’s actually going to work out good for both teams, both organizations. Obviously the Twins had two center fielders, the Brewers had two shortstops, and they both needed the opposite.

“For me, I’m excited about the trade. I definitely knew I was going to get traded from the day they did send me down [to Triple-A Nashville in August]. I felt like that was their plan, I didn’t know who [he’d get traded] to, but once I got the call this morning I was pretty excited about it.

“Yeah, I think the change of scenery will be good for me.”

What happened last season?

“I don’t want to think about anymore. It’s over, I was happy when it ended. It was just kind of a nightmare year for me. Even when I was up there, I wasn’t at a level I wanted to perform at, and then when I got sent down, it just made things worse.

“I got off to a really slow start. I feel like there’s been several years now that I’ve gotten off to a slow start and be able to bounce out of it. This year was different for me, I just feel like I never could really get comfortable, and it just kind of snowballed from the first month that was not good.”

What gives him confidence looking ahead to 2010?

“I don’t think the change in the teams is going to be that big of a deal, I don’t think the change in leagues is going to be that big of a deal for me. I told myself come probably May, when I was still struggling and when I got sent down in August, that all that I needed was for the season to end and I’ll be normal again. Every year, I go about the same thing in the offseason, I come to spring training and I feel ready to go, and I feel that’s what’s going to happen next year.”

We’ll have much more on the trade for tonight’s first editions.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 12:17 pm and is filed under Twins thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.