Last week the Twins traded Denard Span to the Nationals because they had Ben Revere to play centerfield. Today, they traded Ben Revere to the Phillies for Vance Worley and a pitching prospect because they had, um, Aaron Hicks to play centerfield?

They went from a team with many centerfielders to a team with less than one centerfielder. I can’t really fault the strategy given that they are probably a few years away from contention and that they wanted to maximize the return for guys who they don’t expect to be pieces of that success.

But I do have to wonder about the timing. Why wouldn’t they wait for Bourn, Hamilton, and Swisher to clear the market? Maybe that takes certain teams out of play for their guys, but wouldn’t it make the remaining teams more desperate? The Twins didn’t have to move Span and Revere for cost reasons or time horizons, so they could easily have waited this one out.

I also have to say the returns haven’t been spectacular either. Meyer, Worley, and Trevor May. I’m not sure those three guys dramatically improve their future success. In a best case scenario based on the scouting I’ve read on the two prospects, we’re looking at two #2s and a #3/4 guy with solid club control. That’s a good return, but that’s the ceiling. Prospect evaluation is full of uncertainty and those #2s could easily turn into bullpen pieces, swingmen, or nothing.

The Twins had a plethora of centerfielders and traded them all to bulk up their pitching depth. I think it needs to be said that two major league centerfielders are probably more valuable than one proven mid to lower rotation guy and two respectable ceiling prospects given that the centerfielders were on team friendly deals.

Hard to like this for the Twins in my book, which means as a Tigers fan, I love it. Grade: C