O's Ship Brett Jacobson and Jim Hoey to Twins for J.J. Hardy

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Done deal.

Orioles get
J.J. Hardy
Brendan Harris

Twins get
Jim Hoey
Brett Jacobson

Find the article on ON here.

[Tenth Inning]

Can't say enough good things about this trade. Hardy has a ton of upside, and taking on Harris' contract in the deal probably prevented BAL from giving up established bullpen pieces. I'm very pleased.

[CamdenRevival]

I keep becoming a bigger fan of this deal the more I look at it. The fact that it came on the heels of the Bartlett-Reimold near-fiasco makes it all the more rewarding. Here's some extra statistics from his so-so season that makes this deal look even better:

-Hardy's Road stats: .282 with 5 HR. Target Field is not a good hitter's park. Camden Yards is.
-Hardy's 2nd Half: .304 with an .805 OPS. He was switching leagues, so the 2nd Half is a better barometer of what he can do.
-4 pitches/PA. A guy that works the count!!! The Orioles need that at the bottom of the order.

I think he's an everyday SS who will hit .275 with 10-15 HRs and a dependable glove. Hey, in New York, that gets you $50M.

Brenden Harris feels like Ryan Freel to me until he proves me otherwise. I'd rather have Andino...

This might be a steal for the Orioles and the downside is really limited. Hoey and Jacobson both have talent, but, like Mickilio, they were buried on the depth chart. Hoey will be 28 and has been through multiple surgeries. His time is now or never and there's no way he cracks the Oriole 2011 roster. Jacobson still hasn't pitched past A ball at 24, so he's a long shot to be a bullpen mainstay.

So, in total, the Orioles have given up one setup man and 3 minor leaguers (and no one from the core four of Matusz/Arrieta/Tillman/Britton) and got an entire left side of the infield that could very well hit 50 HRs (replacing the 4 HR of Bell/Izzy). Plus, we just re-signed a closer in Koji. As much as people love to hate MacPhail, let's give him some credit. Now if only we could pick up a legit 1B, this would be the best winter meetings week the Orioles have had in years.

[Don]

It spells doom to Isturiz simply because Harris could play all three infield positions. He might have a bit of trouble at short, but he could get away with a spot start. He is a better all around type to have as a backup to insure Brian Roberts.

I am not sold on Jim Hoey at all. Guy has good stuff, but you can find his types every single season with veterns or you have the ability to find one every draft. Jacobson has too many control issues without the top shelf of Kam Mickilo. I suspect that he will not be a dominate pitcher in the major leagues because he is hot one week and cold the next. It is a bad combination for a starter, even worse for a bullpen arm.

Overall, it fits two needs and the Orioles were planning to buy bullpen arms.

I know I have heard some fans question why so many minor league pitchers. They have to remember the Orioles dropped an affiliate and have so many young promising arms in the SAL, NYPL, GCL and there is simply not enough spots to go around.

[DPR420]

Andy is a trade wizard. Something was obviously up with Hardy and someone in power in Minnesota, but wow, to sell this low requires some persuasion. fantastic move converting more useless bullpen arms into an everyday player and a utility infielder. I feel like packaging Harris was their version of packaging Simon, but still, Hardy makes it worth it.

[Shorebirdfan]

Agree, even though they haven't landed a whale, the winter meetings have been very productive as a whole and the price has been very cheap. I give the front office a lot of credit. Now offer Lee 7 years and $155 million and let's go home.

[Don]

Cliff Lee is worth a great deal of Money, but he is not a 20+ million type of pitcher that you want to make the basis of your rotation. He might be this type for another three years, but those last 4 will not be worth the deal you make to sign Cliff Lee.

Just one mans opinion.

[Lucky Jim]

Essentially, and based on historical performance, the O's added a minimum of 4 wins next year, and a maximum of 10 wins via Reynolds and Hardy. And they did it with four relievers, only one of whom had any major league experience, and only one of whom was under 25. Remarkable. Further, both Reynolds and Hardy are on the good side of 30.

I don't think anyone can question AM's activity, his multi-tasking, or his results. No whale, yes, it's true. But really we need to see Markakis, Jones and Wieters take the necessary next step forward. When I go to sleep tonight, I'll have dreams of this in my head (though w/o any real order/RH/LH considerations):

1. Roberts: .285/.360/.420
2. Markakis: .310/.380/.500
3. Wieters: .280/.360/.500
4. Reynolds: .240/.340/.500
5. Scott: .275/.350/.525
6. Jones: .280/.330/.500
7. 1B: .280/.340/.475
8. Hardy: .270/.330/.420
9. Pie: .280/.330/.420

That's one heckuva balanced line-up. We really need Jones and Wieters to become the .800+ OPS guys they should be, and have Markakis bounce back to his near-.900 OPS level. If we do, we'll score a lot of runs.

[DougDE]

Happy with this trade also. Eliminates the blackhole that our 9 hole has been for 2 years. Hopefully he gets his body/wrist well rested and healed and I think he could easily hit 15 hrs. If he can stay healthy we could have our SS for the next 3-5 years until Machado's ready

[Esskay]

Hard to argue with this one. MacPhail has managed to address SS and 3B at the cost of David Hernandez and a couple of fringy relief prospects. Seems like a winner to me.

That said, those of you who expect more than a .700 OPS from JJ Hardy are pretty optimistic, I think. We've gone from historically bad (offensively) at SS to below-average, not to good. For sure he has upside, and there are some reasons to think that he can be good, but if you expect it you are setting up for disappointment.