Spanning the globe…Denard heads from Minnesota to Washington

In a significant acquisition, the Washington Nationals acquired Denard Span from the Minnesota Twins giving them the center fielder and leadoff batter they have needed. In exchange, the Twins added 6’9″ minor league pitcher Alex Meyer.

Myer who is 22-years-old, still a tad old for a pitcher who has only pitched in the low minors, was a first-round pick in 2011 out of the University of Kentucky, and was 10-6 with a 2.86 ERA last season in stops between Class A Hagerstown and Class A Potomac. Myer throws 95-96 miles per hour and it is reported that he has hit 100 MPH. He struck out 139 in 129 innings in his two Class A stops last summer.

Ben Revere most likely will be filling Span’s center field slot. Span is a career .284 hitter with 90 steals and a .357 on-base percentage during five seasons with the Twins, and hit .283 last season with four homers and 41 RBI.

The addition of Span to the Nationals outfield, joining Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth, probably means Michael Morse heads to first and Adam LaRoche shops his skills elsewhere. If the Nationals do sign “the Roche,” for the two years the Nationals want to offer versus the three years that LaRoche seeks, it most likely puts Morse on the trading block probably for a starting pitcher.

Span is a good contact hitter who doesn’t hit a lot of homers, but does hit doubles.

Here are the center fielders who hit the most doubles in 2012