Farewell, Johan-- A New Era Begins

When I think of Johan Santana, I don’t think only of a two time Cy Young pitcher, or our ace in the hole. I think of the smiling man who shaved Bert Blyleven’s head after a bet. I think of the man who’d wear his cap backwards and dance around in the dugout. I think of the man who always went out and gave his all for the team, no matter what the circumstances. I think of the pitcher who told his 3rd baseman not to worry about ground balls by the mound. I think of the man who was ‘en fuego’ both on and off the field. I think of the man who loved to take at bats, and who was forever telling his manager to put him in the line-up. I think of the Johan Santana that was the face of the Minnesota Twins.

This trade doesn’t come as a shock to any of us, but that doesn’t make it any easier. Losing Torii Hunter earlier this off-season hurt—and losing Johan hurts even more. It seems our team is falling apart before our eyes, with our key players—the faces of our franchise—disappearing before we are really ready to say good-bye to them.

It’s hard to admit that we need to rebuild, and I personally wish we could just do all the rebuilding with the same old pieces. But this is baseball, and it’s a business as much as it is a passion inducing sport. This year was rough for us, made rougher by a lot of the unexpected trades that took place. But trades happen whether we want them to or not, something we’ve all learned the hard way this year with Luis Castillo, and then Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett. And just like trades, the periods of reformation and rebuilding come when we don't always expect them.

On opening day, we won’t see the same familiar faces on the field; there’ll be Delmon Young (who will hopefully refrain from throwing any bats), Adam Everett and Mike Lamb, Carlos Gomez…

The beginning of a new, hopefully successful era, is soon to begin in the Twins organization.

I know a lot of fans out there, even those who aren’t Twins fans, who think this trade was not the best of choices. People think the Twins management left the offers sit on the table too long, with teams who were not willing to be backed into the corner. I personally think we could have gotten more for the best pitcher in baseball, but as I’m not the general manager of the Twins, I guess what I say or would have done doesn’t really count. As fans, there's nothing we can do, and if we sit and dwell on all the trades that could have been made, should have been made, should never have been made...well, we just won't get anywhere. It's part of being a fan; hopefully we'll all come out of this with our undying loyalty to the Twins still intact.

I keep telling myself that we’re rebuilding, that it’s going to be okay, but…it’s hard to believe.

I wish Johan the best of luck with the Mets, I really do—I think he’ll look good in their snazzy black uniforms, and we all know he’s going to have a blast hitting out there. He grew frustrated with the organization when they traded Luis, a feeling of unhappiness that I think grew as the season progressed. He will probably be very happy out there with the Metropolitans, which is what I hope for. The fact that we won’t have to face him often is going to help avoid some hurt, as well (unlike with Torii, who will be on our field on opening day at center, wearing the number '48'…only in an Angels uniform).

Here’s to 2008, I guess: the first year of the Post Santana-Hunter Era.

Let’s hope we can rebuild this team right.