Also, last year when the rumors were swirling over who the Astros would trade him to, wasn’t there something about him not wanting to come to Minnesota? A clause in his contract preventing it maybe?

The fact is that draft picks ARE valuable commodities in baseball, but fans don’t realize it because (a) They aren’t traded, so their value isn’t as discussed/understood; (b) Their value may not be realized for several years while the player makes his way through the minors; (c) The draft has several dozen rounds (which makes it appear more random, though the TOP prospects still have a pretty good chance of becoming MLB players of some type).

Still, I understand the frustration at some fans over losing these players, and you can’t really say that they’re “wrong” just because Cuddy and Kubel became overpriced and there was more to gain by letting them go. I think part of the fans’ emotional reaction stems from the fact that Kubel was once a celebrated prospect and despite a few good years, he and the Twins never fully realized the promise that we hoped for when he was just a young player flailing away at pitches in the 2004 ALDS. It’s an empty feeling to see these guys leave for nothing when you know the team has little chance of actually improving next year, even if they’ll probably do better than 99 losses.