Right out of the offseason gate, Twins General Manager Bill Smith has, in theory, killed two birds with one stone. The birds being the roster question marks, and the trade of beleaguered yet talented Center Fielder Carlos Gomez for beleaguered yet former All-Star Shortstop J.J. Hardy being the stone.

Gomez’s departure solves the outfield’s “logjam”, penciling in Delmon Young, Denard Span, and Michael Cuddyer as Target Field’s opening outfield, and brings in a middle-infielder who’s had great success in the past, but struggled this year, onto the roster to hold down the SS position for the foreseeable future (and doesn’t have “Punto” across the back of his jersey).

So cross off #5 and most of #4 off my list of questions for 2010.

This was a good move for the Twins even though its not a slam dunk. Hardy is still young (27), plays phenomenal defense, and has hit 24 and 26 home runs in a season before. Gomez has hit 12 in his career, and Hardy’s 11 last season while he ’struggled’ was still more than the total of Nick Punto, Brendan Harris, Matt Tolbert, and Alexi Casilla.

The move may eliminate Orlando Cabrera from contention for a return, but I would still like to see the Twins bring him back, either to play second base or fill in around the infield when needed (*wink-Bill Smith). There are still questions at second and third after this move, but 2 questions is better than 3 when it comes to the 4 infield spots in my book.

I’m a little sad to see Gomez go, but the team will not miss what he did for them as much as they will appreciate what Hardy can bring to arguably the most important position on the field. There isn’t that great of a fall off defensively with Span in CF instead of Gomez, and Span’s offensive production speaks volumes more than Gomez’s.

If Bill Smith has proved anything in his short tenure, its that he’s not afraid to make deals, lets hope this one works out how he envisions. Now, on to questions 1, 2, and 3 Mr. Smith…

Mauer Wins 2nd Consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Award

In what should be a prelude to an Award Season fleecing by Joe Mauer, he has been named the AL’s Gold Glove winner at catcher.

This comes as no surprise, as Mauer has been heralded as an elite defensive backstop since being drafted 1st overall in 2001. It’s his second consecutive after winning his first last year, and provided he stays healthy, will be the leading candidate to win it every season he plays for at least the next 10.