Jim Souhan: A bold move is necessary to send the right message

Bill Smith has spent a lot of time lately giving three-hour tours of the new ballpark, and meeting with Lee County officials at the Twins' spring training home in Fort Myers, Fla. He did not spend any time this month consummating a trade that would make the Twins better, so the next time he gives a tour of beautiful Target Field, he should bring the visiting dignitary to the infield and proclaim: "This is where Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau will play together ...

... for at least one whole season!"

Smith, the Twins general manager, has until this afternoon to make the kind of impactful trade his franchise requires for so many reasons. The Twins missed an opportunity to land the player who best fit their needs, second baseman Freddy Sanchez, who was traded by Pittsburgh to San Francisco on Wednesday.

Sanchez is a righthanded-hitting line-drive producer who would have batted second for the Twins, between Denard Span and Joe Mauer. He would have deepened the lineup. He would have put more runners on base in front of Mauer, Morneau, Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer. He would have solidified the middle infield, and left the Twins less reliant on the mercurial Alexi Casilla, who is replacing the .200 Mendoza Line with the .160 Lexi Line.

Sanchez would have given the Twins a chance to win the AL Central this summer, and he would have started at second or third base in the sure-to-be-revamped infield when Target Field opens in 2010. He would have cost $8 million, hardly a royal ransom for a team opening a new, publicly funded ballpark.

In fact, there are so many reasons for the Twins to make a trade that a list is in order:

1. Trading for someone such as Sanchez is the kind of move necessary to prevent a Target Field Doomsday Scenario. Mauer and Morneau have gone on the record twice in the pages of the Star Tribune in the past month insisting that Mauer could leave for free agency after the 2010 season if the Twins don't prove they are trying to win a championship. Closer Joe Nathan has added to the chorus.

It is a certainty, also, that Morneau would look to leave if Mauer departs. Imagine that -- Target Field with no Mauer, no Morneau and no fans. Why go to D.C. to see the Washington Nationals when you can see them right here?

2. Sanchez could have become the Shannon Stewart of '09. Stewart, like Sanchez, was not a great player or a prolific run-producer, but adding Stewart's line drives and professional at-bats to the top of the order transformed the 2003 team.

3. Like Stewart, Sanchez could have provided an emotional jolt for a team that has hovered around .500 most of the summer.

4. The Twins could have acquired Sanchez for Valencia, a talented prospect who is far from being a polished ballplayer, or someone who can be trusted to start at third in the first game in Target Field.

5. The best reason to protect prospects such as Valencia is that the Twins can't afford to delve into free agency. The funds provided by the new ballpark should, though, enable the Twins to delve into free agency, or to pay someone like Sanchez for as long as he is productive.

7. Perhaps most pertinent reason for making a trade is the presence of three healthy All-Stars in their prime in Mauer, Morneau and Nathan.

Those of us who suffered through the mid and late '90s know just how rare it is for a thrifty team to field three elite All-Stars.

The Twins can save money and rebuild when Mauer and Morneau are gone. Until then, the front office is obligated to try to capitalize on their presence.

8. The increasingly rabid fan base has spent a lot of money on seats in the new stadium. There is no law saying the Twins have to wait for the new stadium to open to spend that money.

9. The American League, like the AL Central, is wide open. With no great team present, the hottest team will make it to the World Series.

The trades of Johan Santana and Matt Garza, though, leave Smith without much credibility in Minnesota, or in the Metrodome's home clubhouse. For his sake and his franchise's, he needs to establish himself as an aggressive boss of a team that intends to surge, not limp, toward Opening Day 2010.