Duensing, Guzman and Knoblauch

A few years ago I greeted the 2007 baseball season with a print column examining how the decision to draft Chuck Knoblauch was still impacting the Twins. (I would link to that piece, but I can't find it in the Free Press website.)

Brian Duensing is the
third regular starter
to emerge out of the
Chuck Knoblauch tree.
The others: Eric Milton
and Carlos Silva.

I haven't revisited the issue in part because I can't really tell now what the Twins got for Jason Bartlett. (How Bartlett ties in: Part of what the Twins got when they traded Knoblauch was an outfielder named Brian Buchanan. Buchanan's major contribution to Minnesota was fetching Bartlett, then a Class A infield prospect, from San Diego.)

Bartlett provided two good years at short for the Twins before being packaged with Matt Garza and a minor leaguer for Delmon Young, Brendan Harris and a minor leaguer. How to apportion Young and Harris to Garza and Bartlett is my issue. I tend to think of that trade as Young for Garza (which now appears fairly even), Bartlett for Harris (heavily favors Tampa Bay) and Jason Pridie for Eduard Morlan (irrelevant).

Anyway, LaVelle Neal today notes that Knoblauch led to Brian Duensing.And how that ties in: Cristian Guzman was a cornerstone of the Knoblauch trade with the Yankees. When he went to Washington as a free agent, the Twins got a third-round draft pick as compensation -- and that pick was Duensing.

The Knoblauch pick -- a pick made more than two decades ago -- translates on today's Twins to Duensing; Nick Punto; some portion of Delmon Young and Brendan Harris (who is not on the 40-man roster but remains in the organization; and, I believe, Paul Kelly, a minor league shortstop who has been plagued with injuries.

One good move snowballed with a series of other good moves.