Twins Trade Morneau: The Morning After

Last night, the Star Tribune published a letter from Justin Morneau to the fans of the Minnesota Twins. It was short and concise, exactly as you'd expect something to be from Justin. The final section read:

"I am sorry that during my time here we weren’t able to achieve our ultimate goal of winning the World Series, but I will forever carry many wonderful memories of my time here. I will always cherish every day I was lucky enough to play in front of you fans in a Minnesota uniform."

We were lucky, too. Few Twins players deserved to win a World Series title in Minnesota more than Morneau. Now, at least, he has a chance to hoist the trophy with the Pirates.

Here are a few other items of note from the last twelve hours or so.

• Catcher Josmil Pinto was called up yesterday to take Morneau's place on the roster. Gardy has said that Pinto will do a lot of the catching in September, which is good for any number of reasons. Between Double-A and Triple-A this season he hit .309/.400/.482, and based off of his success this season he should crack our Top 10 prospects list for 2014.
• Glen Perkins caught Gardy in an elevator in the team hotel yesterday, where he learned that the organization had traded Morneau. In my mind it plays like a scene in a movie.
• From the same article, Brian Duensing is said to not be optimistic about the Twins re-signing Morneau over the winter.
• Also from the same article, among the players Gardy listed as taking time at first base (Chris Colabello and Chris Herrmann, while he didn't mention Chris Parmelee or Joe Mauer) was Trevor Plouffe. Plouffe, the Twins' everyday third baseman, playing first base would require one or two logistical changes. With rosters expanding and Danny Santana potentially on the way up, third base could open up for Eduardo Escobar or Pedro Florimon in order for Santana to get some playing time. It seems unlikely that Brian Dozier would shift over after having a good year. Alternatively, what if the Twins wanted to shift Plouffe to first in order to give somebody else a few looks at third base? Like Miguel Sano? Pure speculation of course, but this morning I have my eye on the future. We'll have those answers soon enough.
• Finally, as Bryz had it last night, the PTBNL for Justin Morneau is Duke Welker. Read Bryz's breakdown of the trade to get a sense of what Welker has to offer.