Nunez deal didn't move needle, but that's fine

Four thoughts as we approach Monday's no-waiver trade deadline in MLB:

• For the Red Sox to break the Curse of the Bambino in 2004 to finally win a World Series, it took making history — at the expense of the Yankees — by coming back from a 3-0 deficit in the ALCS.

If another curse is going to be lifted this season, the Yankees could very well play a critical role, albeit in a much different way.

New York, which is going nowhere this season, has dealt a pair of dominant lefthanded relief pitchers to the Cubs (Aroldis Chapman) and Indians (Andrew Miller), helping improve the chances that one of those long-suffering franchises will win it all in 2016.

It would be fitting if it transpired. The Red Sox proved that cursed-to-first could happen, with the Cavaliers jumping on board just a couple months ago in the NBA. If one of those baseball teams broke through, and you believe things like this happen in bunches, it wouldn't be farfetched to think a certain purple-uniformed football team could be next after that.

• If you are a heavy Twitter user (hand raised here, guilty as charged), you know one of the beauties and curses of the social media site is the free flow of information, particularly when it comes to news like trade chatter.

The beauty: You can find out almost immediately when news breaks. The curse: There is plenty of bad information out there, ranging from less-than-credible rumor reporting to flat-out made up stories from fake accounts made to look like those from real reporters.

Let this be a reminder, then: Proceed with caution Monday.

• If the most notable trade the Twins make during the frenzy leading up to the deadline ends up being the swap of Eduardo Nunez for Giants prospect Adalberto Mejia, fans might look back on it as underwhelming.

But they probably shouldn't look at it as disappointing.

Of all the players on the Twins roster, none was more of a "sell high" candidate than Nunez, a utility player — perhaps unfairly cast as such, but perhaps rightly so based on his body of work — who emerged to have a career year and represent the Twins at the All-Star Game.

That the Twins and interim GM Rob Antony were able to parlay that into a lefty who projects as a potential 2017 rotation candidate is reflective of the types of moves this team should be making.

• On the flip side, if the Twins don't end up dealing Ervin Santana, there's a rational school of thought that can explain why that's not a bad thing. Namely: if an organization with some nice pitching prospects but few sure things trades someone like Santana, there might be a need to go out and sign someone like Santana for 2017 anyway.

Why not keep the known commodity at a known cost ($27 million total over the next two years) instead of taking a risk?