Oh, man, there hasn't been this much of a to-do around Twinsland since the Twins front office cast their eyes at Anna--I mean Kris--Benson. The Twins went out and got themselves a real live professional baseball player, welcoming him with open arms into their Happy Haven for Light Hitting Second Baseman. But this is no Bruno for Tommy Herr (spit)--obviously the risk in a trade is what you give up, and in Terry Ryan's infinite wisdom we seem to have acquired Bret Boone for a dented batting helmet and a bag of Big League Chew. It's more 'acceptable risk' than 'blockbuster deal', but we're Minnesotans--that's how we run our lives. Anyway, BG stopped doubting Ryan after she loudly complained, I can't believe we gave up Bobby Kielty!

The Strib lays out the terms:

It's a low-risk move for the Twins. Seattle has agreed to pick up the remainder of Boone's $9.2 million salary this season, around $4.6 million, The Twins will send the Mariners a low-level minor league player to be named later. The Mariners didn't have any other leads, so they took the Twins' deal rather than get nothing at all. So the Twins aren't giving up much while they hope Boone will thrive in a playoff chase and rediscover the form that led to seven consecutive seasons of at least 19 homers and 63 RBI from 1998 to 2004. Boone's 252 career homers are the sixth most ever by a second baseman.

Meanwhile, Pat Reusse reveals that Bret Boone actually invented the Boyfriend of the Day:

Boone was known in Seattle for wearing T-shirts that paid tribute to his greatness -- presumably in jest. The most notorious came in 2001, when he had a T-shirt from Nike's "Chicks dig the long ball" advertising campaign. "I wore it every day, and put a piece of tape over 'the long ball,' " Boone said. "I would write in the name of the player who I thought was the hero from the night before. The other guys waited to find out who was going to get the name on the tape.

"If no one was worthy, I would put my own name on the tape: 'Chicks dig Boone.' It was a lot of fun."

As for BG's fellow Twins bloggers, reactions are ranging from ambivalence to uncertainty. Here's a few samples:

Twins Geek: Hmm. Might work.

Question 3: Will Boone turn back into a stud? (i.e. Should I get excited about this trade?)

This is (literally) the million dollar question. You definitely should be excited, because it looks like the Twins just got something for nothing. Or at least nothing more than being attractive to an aging veteran.

But your excitement should probably be tempered a bit if you heard Terry Ryan in any of his interviews this weekend. Ryan was NOT optimistic in acquiring Boone, and claimed that he would only acquire him if Boone became a free agent. Which either means that he was playing things very close to the vest, or that he didn’t feel like Boone was likely to rejuvenate his career here. I would bet on the latter, and I would be that Ryan is probably right.

Aaron Gleeman: Ah, why the hell not?

With all of that said, trading for Boone carries very little risk as long as the PTBNL is no one significant. If all the Twins are sending to Seattle is a live Single-A arm or perhaps a Triple-A spare part -- and I have enough faith in Terry Ryan to believe that's the case until proven otherwise -- this amounts to little more than claiming a player off waivers for the second half.

Frightwig: Eh.

This smells an awful lot like Chicago picking up Roberto Alomar last year--and didn't we snicker at Kenny Williams and those miserable bastards then?

Yes.

Infield at Third Base Line: Ah, heck, I dunno...

Has he sucked because his team sucked?

Maybe. A lot of people (including the Twins front office, which ain't exactly stocked with morons), seem to think the excitement of a pennant race will bring out the best in him.

Is he a better option at second than a healthy Nick Punto?

Probably not. But second isn't Punto's only position, and we do have that glaring vacancy at third.

Is he a better option than Rivas?

Probably. Even if he hits for a Rivas-like average, he's got way more power, and that means something to this team. It means runs.

The Bleacher Bums: Oh boy.

Oh boy.