So the Benito Santiago era ended after 6 games and 23 at bats. When the Bucs first dealt for the aging backstop, I had commented that, in the end, the deal would be of little consequence because I felt that neither Santiago nor Leo Nunez would have any significant impact on their new teams. Well, half of that prophecy proved correct.

Now, a mere day after Benito was handed his walking papers, Leo Nunez has been called up from AA to fill a roster spot for the Kansas City Royals. No matter how long Nunez stays on the big league roster, and no matter how much (or little) he contributes, the Royals come out of this looking like geniuses. They dump a 40 year old catcher (and erase the mistake they had made signing him in the first place) and pick up a 21 year old hurler that can throw gas.

When I initially assessed the deal, I figured that Nunez would probably have little major league value. I am still not sold on his ultimate upside. I think he projects as a middle reliever or setup guy. I he reaches his potential, he could be a Juan Rincon-type (sans the juice). If he falters, he will be one of many fireballers who couldn't cut it at the major league level. Regardless, no matter what he does, he already will pay better dividends for the Royals than the Santiago will pay for the Bucs. In fact, the Bucs are the ones doing the paying, as they are on the hook for $900,000 of Santiago's salary.

Moves like this are becoming a bit of a trademark for GM Dave Littlefield. Two years ago, Littlefield traded Chris Young and Jon Searles for Matt Herges only to discard Herges a couple of months later. Herges never even played a game for the home team. Young later moved onto the Texas Rangers and has been establishing himself as a decent pitcher. In fact, in a yet another irony, he pitched quite a gem this evening.

Odds are, Nunez would have had a hard time making an impact for the Bucs. In an organization stocked with arms, he would have likely ended up the victim of a numbers game and been shipped out. But that's hardly the point. When you are a small market team, giving away talent is the worst sin you can commit, and the organization seems to be making a habit of it.