Minnesota Twins Trade Denard Span to the Washington Nationals for RHP Alex Meyer

It is no secret the Minnesota Twins are in need of some pitching help. It is also no secret that the team felt as though they had a wealth of strong players that can play in the outfield. The combination of these has culminated in a trade that sends Denard Span back home.

Span, who is from the Washington D.C. area, started his professional career with Minnesota in 2008, and has been a staple in the Twins outfield since. In his time with Minnesota, Span has held a batting average of .284 with 23 home runs while playing strong defensively for the team.

Span's name has come up on several occasions in the past couple years in trade talks, but nothing has come to fruition until this deal with the Washington Nationals securing a right-handed pitching prospect by the name of Alex Meyer.

Meyer, a 6' 9" righty who played his college ball for the University of Kentucky, becomes one of the top prospects the Twins have to fill the role as pitching ace - a role the team had once hoped Francisco Liriano could have claimed before a pair of lackluster seasons leading to a trade to the Chicago White Sox. The last real ace the Twins have had on their roster was Johan Santana, before being traded to the New York Mets.

Meyer was selected by the Nationals in the first round of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft at 23rd overall. He has a fastball that clocks in the mid 90 mph range, and has spent his post college career pitching in the Nationals' single A ranks.

The anticipation is that it will take about two more years to develop Meyer into a starter in the Majors, which raises questions on whether or not the Twins have thrown in the towel on 2013 in the hopes of building for the future. Twins General Manager Terry Ryan told the media this isn't the case, saying "We are trying to be competitive."