At 3B, 10-15 homeruns in anemic for a power spot and does he have the defensive range to play short on an every day basis. I think he would make a good utility infielder with a little bit of power. We do need to look elsewhere for an starter at both SS and 3B.

Harris spent a lot of time at third (where he was a decent platoon partner with Buscher) and second while Bartlett was at short all year, so Bartlett offensive numbers get a boost. Not to mention Harris is a dreadful defender everywhere while Bartlett plays the premium defensive position in the infield with great success. Plus, Harris got to mostly platoon by the end of the year, and I suspect his numbers were buoyed up somewhat by this (though I’m too lazy to check). Factor all that in, and Bartlett was the superior player by a wide margin.

I don’t think there’s any way to cut it other than the Rays side of the trade is looking far stronger for now. Young may break out sometime, but for now, the Rays won every aspect of the trade.

Bill Smith has been quoted as saying he’s in the market for an everyday shortstop. He would not be in the market for an everyday shortstop if we still had Bartlett around. Why? Because Bartlett is one of the best defensive shortstops in the game.

Harris is a good third base platoon player and bench player. But he’s not an everyday shortstop. The Rays clearly won that aspect of the deal.

Right now Young for Garza is looking like a landslide in favor of the Rays. That might change. But I wouldn’t put money on it.

The only part of the trade that the Twins won was Pridie for Morlan.

If the Twins don’t make that trade but make the Santana trade, they would be in a much better position going into the off season. They would have an everyday shortstop and a right/left tandem in the rotation that would be the envy of the league.

One is playing in the World Series, the other is golfing.

Your assessment is right on.

Twins’ fans wouldn’t even know who Jason Bartlett was if he hadn’t worn a Twins’ uniform. He’s a mediocre player who can’t stay healthy and who has probably seen his best days – which weren’t too damned good. His one notable asset is his speed. Injuries tend to rob guys of that as they approach 30.

The post-season to this point has been Bartlett’s career in a nutshell. He made two errors, both on routine plays, one that negated his one post-season RBI (he drove himself in on what has become for him a rare home run – it was off a curve that was so bad that I mentally had hit it out of the park as it was en route to the plate before Bartlett had a chance to swing. The home run for Bartlett? The blind squirrel/acorn adage.)

One error came on a terrible, unforced throw, the other on a four-hopper that he played from his heels. He could have charged it easily. Bartlett was always an equal-opportunity error maker. Some guys boot it and some guys throw it badly, Bartlett plays it right down the middle, giving us a little of each.

He stranded 16 runners in the ALDS and ALCS in exchange for his sole RBI.

Offensively, Harris is his superior. Bartlett’s few post-season hits were actually for some extra bases, but he has really become a singles hitter. He does have nice right-field gap power, but he doesn’t go that way – or smart pitchers just don’t pitch him to allow that much – anymore.

Bartlett was not the Rays’ MVP. Longoria was. But the beat writers gave him the ROY nod, so Bartlett got the MVP. It’s kind of a joke that someone who played in so few games was given the MVP. He had only 125 starts, and three other games as a sub. That’s a real slap in the face to the guys who answered the bell 150 or more times.

As for Harris, he’s got his merits as a fielder. He was certainly better as a third baseman than Buscher. Buscher’s fielding will keep him out of the lineup in the future unless he makes some great strides. There were at least a half-dozen Twins games this year where Harris made a play at third that was challenging and came at an important time, and Buscher could not have made any of those. Buscher has poor footwork, doesn’t charge balls well, and now and then does an odd glove-to-hand exchange before the throw that makes you think that he just feels uncomfortable over there.

Bartlett’s a no-hit infielder. Nick Punto had a better year. He’s older than Bartlett, can field, and misses plenty of games.

Bartlett’s OPS+ was never much to write home about and has been in a decline for three seasons. Brendan Harris is a year younger, has a higher career OPS+ and even with the slight decline in that number this past season he’s way ahead of Bartlett.

It will come down to being a Garza for Young/Harris deal at the level of who was a big-leaguer at the time of trade. The Rays probably won’t have to do much to win the deal between the minor leaguers. Jason Pridie’s SO total was atrocious at AAA last season, which has unfortunately been his pattern. At age 25, with little power, it’s hard to imagine his concept of the strike zone will improve, and that will keep him from a starting job in the big leagues. He’s unlikely to ever be in anyone’s plans beyond a fourth outfielder, tops.

More importantly, nobody mentioned anyone else, including Longoria, when dicussing the reduction in runs allowed between 07 and 08. Only Bartlett was mentioned.

But you did not back up a single remark with support. Review the questions I asked, dig up some of those numbers, and then present them. Do it objectively. You might be very surprised that Bartlett had less impact than you think. Or you might learn there is plenty of support for your assertion.

But the way to do this is to have a theory and then go out and find out if it’s true. The way not to do this is to either make a statement with no support, or to just look for the numbers that suit your position and ignore the others. Because that’s not Sabermatics, that just spewing opinions, which is what Sabermatics is supposed to improve on.

Tossing our the 200 runs and not even bothering to ask, “I wonder how many fewer home runs were allowed by Tampa pitchers” is one way to start. That’s not going to work in the favor of the Tampa sports writers, because undoubtedly the Rays allowed fewer home runs this year, and that’s going to trim that number below 200. The number of runs reduced will still be impressive, but not as impressive. Then there will be other factors not related to Bartlett that will further reduce the number. It’s inevitable.

When you are done with just that part of the review, you will have an entirely new starting point.

And take a look at the Rays record without Bartlett. What was the W-L record with him out of the lineup. That will be easy for you to do because he missed one big stretch which will account for most of the games started by others at SS in ‘08. Was the Rays’ W-L percentage worse with him not starting, or better? If it’s better, it’s a strong argument that he wasn’t the MVP. If it’s almost the same, it suggests he might not have been as valuable as thought, but maybe he was worthy of the MVP.

If you note, I’m saying Bartlett was not the MVP and that he isn’t a very good ballplayer. I didn’t say he had nothing to do with the run reduction. I’m saying it sure as hell wasn’t close to 200 runs, and I don’t see why anyone would use that number in support of his MVP annointing.

More importantly, nobody mentioned anyone else, including Longoria, when dicussing the reduction in runs allowed between 07 and 08. Only Bartlett was mentioned.

But you did not back up a single remark with support. Review the questions I asked, dig up some of those numbers, and then present them. Do it objectively. You might be very surprised that Bartlett had less impact than you think. Or you might learn there is plenty of support for your assertion.

But the way to do this is to have a theory and then go out and find out if it’s true. The way not to do this is to either make a statement with no support, or to just look for the numbers that suit your position and ignore the others. Because that’s not Sabermatics, that just spewing opinions, which is what Sabermatics is supposed to improve on.

Tossing our the 200 runs and not even bothering to ask, “I wonder how many fewer home runs were allowed by Tampa pitchers” is one way to start. That’s not going to work in the favor of the Tampa sports writers, because undoubtedly the Rays allowed fewer home runs this year, and that’s going to trim that number below 200. The number of runs reduced will still be impressive, but not as impressive. Then there will be other factors not related to Bartlett that will further reduce the number. It’s inevitable.

When you are done with just that part of the review, you will have an entirely new starting point.

And take a look at the Rays record without Bartlett. What was the W-L record with him out of the lineup. That will be easy for you to do because he missed one big stretch which will account for most of the games started by others at SS in ‘08. Was the Rays’ W-L percentage worse with him not starting, or better? If it’s better, it’s a strong argument that he wasn’t the MVP. If it’s almost the same, it suggests he might not have been as valuable as thought, but maybe he was worthy of the MVP.

If you note, I’m saying Bartlett was not the MVP and that he isn’t a very good ballplayer. I didn’t say he had nothing to do with the run reduction. I’m saying it sure as hell wasn’t close to 200 runs, and I don’t see why anyone would use that number in support of his MVP annointing.

This is a no-brainer, Bartlett was named team MVP, he has blossomed into being a leader in the clubhouse as well as having a pretty good season defensively, improving quite a bit from last year. Isn’t it ironic that these were the exact things the Twins were concerned he didn’t have?

Now as far as Harris is concerned, I am of the strong opinion that the Twins should spend some money on a solid power-hitting 3B. I wasn’t really impressed with Harris although, I think he is useful in a utility role. But what about Matt Tolbert? If the Twins don’t go shopping for a 3B this offseason then I still think Tolbert is a better option than Harris.