Our Twins travel to Cleveland for a 4-games series with the division leading Indians. I’ve been hearing for about a week that this is gonna be one of the most exciting trade deadlines in quite some time. We will have to see how it is at the finish line to gauge if that is true or not. For Twins fans it might be a little different than it is for Indians Fans. The Twins have moved Nunez and we are waiting for some more minor deals. For the Indians… they woke up pretty excited yesterday morning. They acquired Andrew Miller and Jonathan Lucroy only to have Lucroy pull out that no trade clause; “It says here that I don’t have to go to Cleveland if I don’t want to.” Lucroy used the clause as leverage and tried to issue some demands. Such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest must be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Indians said "No" and will induct 2Pac instead. Trades just don’t always go as planned. Here are some things to think about: 1. Trade Shows – These are exhibitions organized so companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and customers, study activities of rivals and examine recent market trends and opportunities. In some cases… the only cost of booth space at a trade show is the soul of those who will have to work the booth. 2. Manhattan – Some history books claim that the island of Manhattan was traded for $24 worth of beads. The truth is a little bit different… In 1626 Dutch settlers actually traded iron kettles, knives and cloth to the Canarsie tribe for the land now known as Manhattan and we look at it today as one of the most lopsided deals ever. However… it really wasn’t a bad deal for the Canarsie because their home turf was the area now called Brooklyn. The Island actually belonged to the Wappinger Tribe. This precedent made it OK for me in 1984 to sell my sister’s stuff for beer money. 3. Stocks –There used to be a time when you had to call your broker to trade your stocks. Now it’s done on your smart phone with little need to call broker Bob. It used to be a pretty sweet gig for broker Bob. He got paid regardless if your stock went up or down. I’m not sure what Bob is gonna do now with all these deals happening without him. His job options are limited. He only got into being a stock broker because he didn’t have the charisma to make it as an undertaker. 4. Spices – We are so spoiled these days… we got all the spices we need in our spice racks. It wasn’t always like this… spices used to be very, very valuable. Roman soldiers were paid with a handful of salt. The handling, storage and preservation of all that salt to compensate the soldiers became cumbersome and inefficient so they started compensating with money to buy their own salt. This is where “salary” (salt money) comes from. Cinnamon… pepper… ginger… you could only get that in Asia and there was only one route to get you there. There were massive battles for control of that one road because that control meant unimaginable wealth. Finding a new route to get to the cinnamon and pepper led to the discovery of the New World. Yes… America was only discovered because mashed potatoes were bland. 5. Baseball Cards – As a youth… I had shoe-boxes full of baseball cards. I hadn’t reached my teen years and yet I was able to come up with complex cataloging systems to find any player I had easily and quickly. I traded with my friends and we bought multiple packs at the store and we chewed every piece of gum. I jumped for joy when I needed and finally got Larry Hisle and I was frustrated when I got my 20th Jamie Quirk. I had quite the collection until my sister sold them all for Beer Money. ____________________ Lineups: TWINS Brian Dozier [R) 2B Joe Mauer (L) 1B Max Kepler (L) RF Kennys Vargas (S) DH Kurt Suzuki [R) C Eduardo Escobar (S) SS Eddie Rosario (L) CF Jorge Polanco (S) 3B Danny Santana (S) LF Jose Berrios [R) P INDIANS Carlos Santana (S) DH Jason Kipnis( L) 2B Francisco Lindor (S) SS Mike Napoli [R) 1B Jose Ramirez (S) 3B Lonnie Chisenhall (L) RF Rajai Davis [R) LF Tyler Naquin (L) CF Roberto Perez [R) C Danny Salazar [R) P Game-time forecast: 83 deg F, mostly clear, no chance of rain, winds from the N at 8mph. Play ball! Go Twins! Click here to view the article