What do the Twins have with J.J. Hardy?
Trading Carlos Gomez for Hardy might turn out to be the steal of the offseason. Last year was a dismal one for the still-young shortstop; he posted just 1.4 WAR in 115 games. But 2007 and 2008 were phenomenal—4.6 and 5.0 Fangraphs WAR, respectively. After that 2008 year, getting Hardy for a prospect on the verge of being a complete bust would have been ludicrous. But, gosh, that 2009… nearly every indicator that could have declined did just that. Never a plate discipline whiz, his strikeout rate peaked at 20.5 percent, leading to a worse-than-Delmon .302 on-base percentage. His power vanished, too, as he recorded a .128 ISO, compared to his .195 figure in 2008. There are, though, reasons for optimism. It’s encouraging that Hardy posted the second-best walk rate of his career (9.2 percent) in such an otherwise-unsettling year. Additionally, his defense at shortstop remained steady—he’s always had a positive UZR. And there are those tremendous performances in 2007 and 2008. There are m
