It was sport in the media and cyberspace to make fun of Carl Pohlad, with the name calling and calling out serving as shorthand for all of the things people didn’t like about the way he ran the Twins. That’s the way it is in sports. Everyone is smarter than the people making the decisions and signing the paychecks. Even if you’re not, you have the right to think you are.

My perspective goes back to 1983, when I started covering the Twins and the team — then owned by Calvin Griffith — was on the market to be sold and moved. There were groups in Denver and Vancouver making serious overtures, and rival groups in Tampa and St. Petersburg that were battling to get the Twins to move south. There was even a Tampa radio station at the time that regularly gave scores of the “Tampa Bay Twins.” Hrbek and Gaetti and some of the others were finishing their second full season in the majors and it didn’t seem out of the realm that their third one would be played on a home field someplace else.

Pro sports franchise sales move at glacial pace. Nothing happens and then, all of a sudden, a deal is announced and the public gets introduced to the new owners. That’s what happened in July of 1984 when Pohlad became owner of the Twins. It was a giddy time because it looked like baseball had been saved by a Minnesotan coming forward to buy a Minnesota team and keep it here. (While Calvin came to be thought of and remembered fondly, at the time of the sale he was seen as something of an ogre owing to the sale talk and the Twins’ inability/unwillingness to keep their best players.) It was also giddy because the Twins unexpectedly found themselves chasing a division title, a pursuit that fell short in the final week of the season when they choked in Chicago and Cleveland, allowing Kansas City to win the division. (Trust me, there was a time when the Royals were good.)

Some bad stuff happened during the Pohlad years. The ballpark debate was repeatedly bungled, the contraction silliness was embarrassing and the lost seasons of the 1990s — when guys like Scott Stahoviak, Rich Becker and Frankie Rodriguez were being passed off as the future — made it look for a time like the Twins had stopped caring about quality. More recently, the signing and failures of marginal veterans felt like repairs being attempted on the cheap and the Santana situation could have been handled differently.

But Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek stayed with Pohlad’s Twins when there was supposedly more money elsewhere — and the challenge will be for the younger Pohlads, in markedly different times, to get current cornerstones Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau to do the same. There will be rightful pressure to put an even better team on the field when the Twins move into their new ballpark in 2010, and we have every reason to expect the Twins to make moves to contend in ‘09, even if it means stretching a budget that feels like Monopoly money.

Compare Pohlad’s ownership of the Twins with that of other Twin Cities sports owners. There was consternation back in the day that Griffith didn’t sell to Harvey Ratner and Marv Wolfenson, who would later bring the NBA to Minnesota. Harv ‘n’ Marv were much beloved when they bought the expansion franchise, but a few years later they tried to sell the Timberwolves to a group that would have moved them to New Orleans if the deal hadn’t fallen through. So much for love. And there was Norm Green with the North Stars who became the Dallas Stars… and Red McCombs with the Vikings who always seemed headed to San Antonio… and the Glen Taylor/Kevin McHale braintrust that has turned the Wolves into the laughingstock they have become… and from what I can tell Wild fans are starting to get impatient with their team’s problems… and I’m not yet sure what to make of the Wilfs.

When it comes to championships, I believe the quarter-century scoreboard reads Minnesota Twins 2, Others-in-Minnesota 0. I’ll argue that, despite the things that made me crazy, it wouldn’t be that way without Carl Pohlad.

The irrepressible Jason (and I use that term fondly) ended the last thread with a plea that we no longer talk about free-agent acquisitions. However, I am an advocate of free speech (short of falsely yelling “fire” in a crowded theater and “Mike Lowell” for a team that plays on turf) and am loathe to dictate behavior.

For the most part, we are a reasonable crowd here in Section 220 and I understand the combination of frustration and fatigue that sets in. I believe in the notion that most of the serious stuff takes place in a way that becomes public quickly and suddenly, at least when management has some control over the situation. As fans, we are still in the backwash of the public serial drama that surrounded last winter’s Santana trade and Hunter departure. The Delmon deal hasn’t worked out so far and we have not chosen to make a big deal out of the fact that Craig Breslow has taken over as the reigning Sandy Koufax of the major leagues. (That’s the distinction of being the best Jewish lefty in baseball, of course. Sorry, Scott Schoeneweis) Signing Sean Henn (not a tyPo) as a minor-league agent doesn’t do much (2-6, 7.56 in part of four MLB seasons),

The hot stove is cooling a bit. I mean, there’s something reassuring about driving home through the snow listening to XM’s Home Plate even if it means overdosing on the Sabathia signing, WWMD (What will Manny do?), contract ho’ Rafael Fercal Furcal and the greatness of the Boston Red Sox’ front office. Bringing up XM also allows me to point out that “Baseball This Morning” is no longer a must listen now that the Mark Patrick-Buck Martinez team has been ousted. They knew the game and conveyed more fun than the current guys — and provided listeners with the added benefit of an occasional reading from Section 220.

Here are a few good hot-stove fixes:

*Get ahold of Seth Stohs’ 2009 “Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook.” It’s 80 pages of minor-league analysis from Section 220’s favorite non-Strib blog. Lots of detail about minor-leaguers and an entertaining foreword by Pat Neshek. Seth pretty much tabbed Neshek as a prospect before Neshek knew he was a prospect, so the foreword is a nice way for the reliever to return the love. You can order it here.

*Make sure you have cable enough to get the MLB Network, which debuts January 1. All baseball all the time. And the network will give you a chance to record the Ken Burns baseball series, which will be running on Tuesday night.  Here’s more about the network from mlb.com. One suggestion:The aforementioned Mark Patrick is on the free-agent market. MLB Network should sign him.

*Circle Jan. 24 on your calendar for the “2nd Annual Last Hot Stove League Banquet.” Last year’s was supposed to be the last one, but they lied. If you went, you heard Bill Lee ramble and Clark Griffith offer context and Mike Veeck retell the story of Disco Demolition Night. Umpire Tim Tschida is confirmed for this year and there are Corey Koskie rumors going around. It’s going to be at the Harriet Island Pavilion and you can find out more, become a sponsor or donate an auction item by calling Julian Loscalzo at 651-227-3437. (I’ll be donating a chance to watch a game with me in the Section 220 seats.)

And if the Twins haven’t done anything by then, we can organize a march on the Metrodome.

If we don’t talk before then, enjoy the Holidays.

Ron Gardenhire was in Fargo on Wednesday afternoon, speaking at a farm trade show, and the subject of the outfield came up.

According to the Fargo Forum, Gardy said he wants a starting outfield in 2009 of Denard Span, Carlos Gomez and …

… Michael Cuddyer.

Been nice knowing you, Delmon.

Gardenhire said about his outfielders-of-choice: “Those three guys need to play every day. Delmon is in the mix. He’s a hell of a player, a hell of a talent. But to me, those three guys should be your outfield and then you go from there.”

This is the strongest indication yet that Young is available to a team that can offer up something reasonable in return. Gardy told the Fargo group that teams have inquired about Young.

Anyway, what’s just as interesting about Gardy’s words is the faith he has in Cuddyer to come back in 2009 and be one of the productive right-handed bats that the Twins were missing last season.

It also means the Twins are “officially” acknowledging that they traded a starting shortstop (Jason Bartlett) and a starting pitcher (Matt Garza) for two role players — and without even being able to dump Juan Rincon in the process.

So let’s see… If Casey Blake signs on Monday and the season started next Thursday, the lineup would be: Span, lf; Casilla, 2b; Mauer, c; Morneau, 1b; Blake, 3b; Kubel, dh; Cuddyer, rf; Harris, ss; Gomez, cf. We can still hold out hope for an upgrade at shortstop, perhaps from a package that includes the aforementioned deposed outfielder.

Sometimes, Delmon, baseball is a lot like fashion. As the fashion diva Heidi Klum would say, if she took John Gordon’s job: “One year you’re in — the next you’re out.”

Just wanted to weigh in on the pursuit of Casey Blake. I think it’s a good idea, although I’d be intrigued by the prospect of trying to keep Joe Crede healthy enough to play 120 games in 2009 with the prospect of him playing third base in the new ballpark (on grass) in 2010. I’m amused by the conflict that exists among many Twins fans: The team doesn’t go after free agents and then, when it does, management is pursuing the wrong guys. Do something, but NOT THAT!

If Casey Blake had come to Minnesota last season, taken over third base and hit 10 home runs in 53 games, we would have hailed the acquisition as a success and, quite possibly, the reason for the Twins winning the AL Central. Keep in mind that Blake at third would have allowed Brendan Harris to play more shortstop, which seems to be his best position (despite limited range) and spared us some of Nick Punto’s painful late-season at-bats. The latter move would have been an acceptable offense-for-defense tradeoff, especially with Punto more available to play the late innings at short or third.

While not exactly Corey Koskie, Blake would have been a slight defensive upgrade over Harris at third and a  definite improvement over Brian Buscher. Those of you holding out for a Buscher/Harris tandem at third base in 2009 need to watch enough replays from last year to know that Buscher is a frightening full-season option, especially in a traditional platoon with the left-handed bat getting most of the playing time.

Also, while we tend to think of Buscher as a hitter, he had 6 extra-base hits in 137 plate appearances after July 26 (when Blake went to the Dodgers); Blake had 23 in 233.

To put Blake in the same class as the Hernandez/Everett/Batista/Ortiz signings of recent years is silly. He would be an improvement for a team that needs to get better.

In a post last week, I made reference to the fact that Carlos Gomez is represented by Scott Boras, a name that chills front-office staffs throughout baseball. That note caused the commenter Jim Crikket to write: “I had forgotten that Gomez’s agent is Boras. That, in itself, moves him to the top of the list of Twins OFs that I’d trade if the decision is made to thin the OF herd. He’s a potential Gold Glove CF, but he’s clearly got problems with the bat and when you add the fact that, as a Boras client, there’s no way he remains a Twin beyond his arbitration years, yeah… he’s #1 on the ‘expendable OF’ list in my book… especially since it appears Span can handle the CF job just fine.”

So here are my questions:

*Does a team with the ongoing needs of the Twins, especially when it comes to power, need two players who essentially do the same thing — play a solid center field, run very well, hit a few homers and have the potential (one shown in 2008, one still developing) to bat leadoff for years to come?

*Would you be looking to trade one of them sooner rather than later? If so, which one would you deal? Or would you rather have Gomez in center and Span in right for the next several years?

*Do you buy the notion, advanced by Gomez and sometimes talked about on Twins broadcasts, that he will eventually be a middle-of-the-order hitter who will combine power and speed?

*How much should Gomez’ popularity figure into the discussion?

*What does it say if a team jettisons a player because it is wary of dealing with his agent?

When front office staffs hold their post-season meetings, they are typically not only planning for the following season, but for years down the road. The best thing for 2009 isn’t always what’s best for the 2010s, and one of management’s jobs is to balance present and future needs — and try to figure out ways to meet both at the same time.

You can bet that Delmon wasn’t acquired from Tampa Bay to become possible trade material a year later. But things change and now that issue has been under discussion. Span’s progress, which was surprising to most of us, is probably sparking some conversations the Twins wouldn’t want to make public.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t talk about it.