The Marlins continued their long history of selling away star players to meet their bottom line. In a blockbuster deal that was swirling around yesterday, Miami traded away a fifth of their 25-man roster from last Opening Day. The Blue Jays were the lucky recipients of the fire sale in Miami and it now looks like Toronto will be fighting for a spot at the top of the American League.

Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, and Mark Buehrle are the centerpieces of the trade. Miami did well to get some good pieces in return but most of the best pieces they got back aren't going to be MLB ready for next season. There are plenty of people mad at the ownership in Miami after opening a brand new stadium last season. New Marlins manager Mike Redmond has to be left shaking his head.

As a fan of the Twins, it's hard not to wonder what could have been. There are plenty of holes on the Twins roster for next season and the front office could have filled most of them with a deal like the one Toronto just pulled off. Minnesota needs to add multiple starting pitchers and it would help to strengthen up the middle infield.

It sounds like the Twins were in talks with the Marlins about multiple players but the details aren't exactly clear on who was involved or how deep talks got. There are obviously plenty of things that have to be considered when it comes to trade of this type. Maybe the Marlins didn't want anyone in the Twins system or the Twins might not have been offering some of their top prospects.

We may not ever know what could have been...

Here's a look at what the Twins could have looked like next season if Reyes, Buehrle, and Johnson were brought into the fold. Obviously, not all of the names listed below might have survived the offseason on the Twins roster but it's still fun to dream.

SP: Josh Johnson

SP: Mark Buehrle

SP: Scott Diamond

SP: Liam Hendriks

SP: Kyle Gibson

C: Joe Mauer

1B: Justin Morneau

2B: Jamey Carroll

3B: Trevor Plouffe

SS: Jose Reyes

LF: Josh Willingham

CF: Denard Span

RF: Ben Revere

DH: Ryan Doumit

That looks like a roster that could contend in the AL Central in 2013 but that dream won't come to fruition. Instead, we wait for the Twins to make their first offseason move and we are left to contemplate over a lost opportunity.

What would you have to give up? Hicks? Gibson? Parmalee? I actually like the Marlins move. Doesn't it resemble what Oakland did last year or Boston did this year?

Since when did Oakland ever have as high-profile players as Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, and Jose Reyes?

It looks like we would have traded Dozier, Deduno, Benson, Rohlfing, De Vries, maybe Parmelee, maybe Harrison, maybe Slamma since we aren't giving up any major league chips by your lineup. My guess is we wouldn't have gotten the haul for garbage - basically worthless parts we wouldn't miss like I mentioned above.

Sometimes the biggest mistakes aren't the risks you take, but the risks you don't take. Kudos to the Jays for being persistent and communicative enough to walk into a fire sale bonanza. TR, of course, was nowhere near the action -- precisely where Twins fans will be seated for the foreseeable future.

A perfect roster solution for the Twins, but there is no way they could or would have taken on that much payroll. One of the pitchers maybe, but not all of that payroll.

Since when did Oakland ever have as high-profile players as Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, and Jose Reyes?

Do you forget that they trade a lot of their players for prospects. Gio Gonzales, Bailey and Dan Haren brought them a haul of prospects that took them to the playoffs this year?

"Maybe the Marlins didn't want anyone in the Twins system or the Twins might not have been offering some of their top prospects."

Ding Ding Ding. Maybe you nailed it. What do the Twins have for highly rated prospects above the low A level? On the multiple threads about this trade the sad fact is the Twins don't have much to trade. If the 2012 draft selections pan out they will have trade chips. Not now, they have nothing to offer other than what they do not want to trade.

Yeah....they can dangle Hendriks who finally got a win. Someone might find Hermsen tantalizing. They have a grouping of outfielders, with Benson possibly being the wrong prospect out, but no one stepping into the fold next year.Dozier is a chip that wasn't overtly exciting for getting a 3/4ths shot at the Big Leagues, and Escobar is....well, replacement value. No catching. No corner infielders about A ball. Slama is a prize chip, but the Twins don't think so.