The Minnesota Twins have been one of my favorite teams since 1987. I remember the year because (a) they beat the Detroit Tigers in the ALCS after the Tigers cheated the Blue Jays out of the AL East title; and (b) Kirby Puckett, a short, round ball of energy, played out of his mind and instantly became one of my favorite players. He repeated the performance, and possibly exceeded it, in 1991 with his Game 6 heroics. To me, it was devastating when he announced his retirement due to glaucoma. I'm pretty sure I cried.

I'm older now so I'm not going to cry over the Johan Santana trade. I'm angry. I'm upset. I'm glad the Twins don't mean as much to me as they used to. This is, hands down, one of the worst trades in baseball history. I'm glad I'm not Carlos Gomez, Phil Humber, Kevin Mulvey or Deolis Guerra because if they don't combine for 2 or 3 MVPs and 2 or 3 Cy Youngs, this trade is an abject failure. You absolutely, positively, CANNOT trade the single best pitcher in the game for a bunch of prospects. You absolutely, positively, NEED to get at least 2 major leaguers back in a deal for the single best pitcher in the game. Failing that, you need to swallow hard and give Santana 6 years and $120 million. I realize that Carl Pohlad is a cheapskate. But he didn't get to be a billionaire by making bad business decisions. Not signing Santana ranks as a terrible business decision.

Twins GM Bill Smith has just staked his entire career on those four young men. For his sake, I hope his scouts are right.