Well, the Brewers had a greater incentive to trade Hardy than the Twins did Gomez. Escobar had a great 2009 season and looked every bit as good as Hardy, and he probably will be (though with less power). The Twins did have a bit of a jam in the outfield, but Delmon Young still hadn’t shown much and they could have kept Gomez as a pinch-runner or late-inning defensive replacement. They weren’t actively shopping Gomez as the Brewers were Hardy, but they didn’t hesitate to trade him to fill a hole. Still, based on WAR and estimated salary figures, here’s what the trade looks like through 2012 if we include Span (I am just guessing, based on MLB average, what Hardy, Gomez, and Escobar will make in arbitration):

Hardy: 6 WAR, $15 million
Span: 9 WAR, $4.5 million
Gomez: 4 WAR, $5.5 million
Escobar: 5 WAR, $1.2 million

These are pretty conservative WAR estimates, based each player’s current projections, and I would expect Span and Escobar to put up numbers much closer to their 2009 seasons going forward. Minnesota does comes out ahead in terms of talent, but at a much higher cost. The Twins are spending $1.3 million per win, while the Brewers just $740,000. Still, this is much lower than the market value $4.5 m for a win and the Twins can afford to spend a little more per win. It looks like a good trade for both sides.

I doubt Hardy is in danger of losing his job to Trevor Plouffe. Plouffe hasn’t shown anything at the major league level. He’s awful in the field and isn’t even better than Hardy at the plate. You are right that the Twins will want to save money, but they are more likely to do so by letting their expensive relievers (Guerrier and Crain) walk, or not picking up the options of Jason Kubel or Nick Punto.