The Twins on Friday traded for shortstop Orlando Cabrera (above) from Oakland for a minor league shortstop, Tyler Ladendorf.
This is a true going-for-it-now deal. Cabrera is 34 and on a one-year contract. If he qualifies as a Type A free agent — and he currently projects to — his contract prohibits his team from offering arbitation, so the Twins would not get any draft pick compensation.
He can hit a bit, and he's got a pair of Gold Gloves on his resume, but at 34 he's lost a step or two, and even in his youth he was rather miscast as a top-of-the-order hitter. Still, he should improve the middle infield, pushing either Nick Punto or Alexi Casilla out of the lineup.
Ladendorf is an interesting prospect, a shortstop with offensive potential, but odds are that he'll wind up moving to a different position before he reaches the majors (if he does).
This doesn't do anything to help the Twins in the long run or even the medium run — I don't expect them to re-sign Cabrera — and may hrut them over time if Ladendorf turns into a top-flight second baseman. Come 2010, the Twins will still have a hole in the middle infield.
But for 2009, it should work.
Just plugging a hole again. How many great names have the Twins had come through there over the last 22 years? How many of them actually contributed during their short stay? Maybe Cabrera will be different. Maybe he'll re-sign and stay on for a few years. But I'm not holding my breath.
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