By Jim Callis
July 16, 2003

Apparently looking for a leadoff man who will enable them to move Jacque Jones into the middle of their lineup, the Twins acquired Shannon Stewart and a player to be named later from the Blue Jays on Wednesday. But Minnesota gave up Bobby Kielty, who may be just as qualified to hit in the No. 1 spot and will cost much less. Stewart makes $6.2 million this year and becomes a free agent in October, while Kielty makes $325,000 and won't even be eligible for arbitration until after the 2004 season.

Stewart, 29, is an athletic left fielder with good speed and gap power. He never has walked as much as the current Blue Jays administration would like, however. In 71 games this season—he missed 19 days in June with a strained right hamstring—Stewart has hit .294-7-35 with a .347 on-base percentage. Though he stole 51 bases in 1998, he has just one swipe in three attempts in 2003. Despite his physical gifts, he's an average defender with a weak arm, which means the Twins likely will shift Jones from left to right field. In 855 major league games, Stewart has batted .301-73-356 with 163 steals, a .367 OBP and .447 slugging percentage.

Kielty, 26, had a hard time nailing down a regular job with Minnesota but produced when he played. He hit .291-12-46 in 289 at-bats a year ago and has hit .252-9-32 in 238 at-bats this year. He's a career .269-23-92 batter in 224 games, and his OBP (.375) and slugging percentage (.444) compare well to Stewart's. He's also a better outfielder and his arm is significantly stronger, though he's not as fast. One point of his concern is Kielty's lackluster production against righthanders this season. Though he's a switch-hitter, his on-base plus slugging against righties (.695) is significantly worse than against lefties (.999), which hadn't been a problem in the past. Then again, Stewart has similar splits (.705 versus 1.092) in 2003.

Dec. 17 update: The Twins received lefthander Dave Gassner to complete the trade. Gassner, 25, was a 24th-round pick out of Purdue in 2001. He's a finesse lefty who has an unremarkable 85-89 mph fastball, but he does own a good changeup, pitchability and command. He also throws a slider that acts more like a cutter, plus a curveball. Because he has less-than-overwhelming stuff, he'll have to prove himself at each level, and he has accomplished that mission thus far. Gassner has a 27-17, 3.07 record in 2½ pro seasons and won his lone start in Triple-A in 2003. He spent most of the year at Double-A New Haven, going 10-4, 2.79 in 35 games (19 starts). In 145 innings, he had a 92-28 strikeout-walk ratio, while opponents hit .253 with 10 homers against him.