Twins Aquire Delmon Young!

[wang_chi7]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3131988

Twins Get:
Delmon Young
Brenden Harris
Jason Pridie (minors OF)

Rays Get:
Matt Garza
Jason Bartlett
Edwardo Morlan (minors P)

Great deal, I'm already liking the new GM. Young is a really good hitter and young OF who will be a nice replacement for Hunter in center (I assume thats where they'll stick him). Brenden Harris is an improvement over Bartlett also, at least IMO.

Here's the new guys' stats (sorry its hard to read):

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
Young: 192 771 81 226 47 1 16 103 27 151 12 5 .293 .319 .419 .738

Harris: 137 521 72 149 35 3 12 59 42 96 4 1 .286 .343 .434 .777


Compared to Bartlett:
140 510 75 135 20 7 5 43 50 73 23 3 .265 .339 .361 .700

Garza is a decent young pitcher, but was well worth the price for one of the top young players in the league. Assuming they either keep Santana for the year or get a pitcher or two in the trade, he's not leaving a big hole as they have many good pitchers in the organization. They desperately needed a bat in the OF and the improvement in the infield is nice too.

[Demi]

*gasp* A young pitcher for some offense? Something Ryan never would have done. He kept us competitive, but truthfully, it's a lot easier to watch good hitting then good pitching. Obviously just my opinion, but make games a bit more bearable. If you're going to be bad, I'd rather be 10-8 bad, then 1-0 bad.

Definately a good trade imo, now let's see what we get for Santana!

[wang_chi7]

*gasp* A young pitcher for some offense? Something Ryan never would have done. He kept us competitive, but truthfully, it's a lot easier to watch good hitting then good pitching. Obviously just my opinion, but make games a bit more bearable. If you're going to be bad, I'd rather be 10-8 bad, then 1-0 bad.

Definately a good trade imo, now let's see what we get for Santana!

I like pitching duels, the most fun I had at a game was Santana's 17 K's in 8 innings. I'm still pissed at Gardy for taking him out with a chance to tie Wood and Clemens.

But this is just a very smart trade, almost surprised Tampa went for it, but they needed pitching have way too many outfielders to fit. Young is one of the best young hitters out there and he's got a good arm to boot. I mentioned earlier that he might play center, I think I'm wrong there; he's best fit in right, but probably will go to left because Cuddyer is in left already (unless they would move him to third or to left?) He's played minimal time in center (and that must have been when I caught him a few times on TV just by luck.)

The thing I just couldn't stand about Ryan was his ignoring of the need for power, small ball only goes so far and most of the time bunting is actually a bad idea statistics have proven. Its a big reason Ortiz didn't stick in Minnesota, he was taught to not turn on pitches that he now crushes (he talked about it in SI a couple years ago.)

[DanAS1]

I still fear that this franchise is going to hell in a hand basket. But I support this trade. We're obviously upgrading our hitting, and I wasn't convinced that Garza was going to succeed as a pitcher. He might ... but nobody wants to watch a bunch of .230 hitters every night.

[PurpleMustReign]

Like Demi said, I can't believe we gave up a young pitcher, but thank GOD we did. We actually have someone who can hit now, but we still have an insane amount of good looking young pitching.

[wang_chi7]

Like Demi said, I can't believe we gave up a young pitcher, but thank GOD we did. We actually have someone who can hit now, but we still have an insane amount of good looking young pitching.

Exactly. Garza has had some nice moments and I think he'll be a fine starter for a number of years. But I'll lay money on Young becoming a star over Garza anyday. He was the number 1 pick for a reason. I also liked the move in the IF, we'll lose a little defensively probably but he's way better at the plate. The difference in the field will likely be less than what is gained at the plate.

Really, Tampa Bay didn't get a very good deal. At least I don't think so. Garza is no sure thing and they needed pitching help ASAP as they have a good core of players now but are hurting on the mound. I'm kind of surprised he didn't garner a better arm for them. They didn't get screwed, but I think the Twins will benefit more from the move.

[DeeEss57]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3131988

Twins Get:
Delmon Young
Brenden Harris
Jason Pridie (minors OF)

Rays Get:
Matt Garza
Jason Bartlett
Edwardo Morlan (minors P)

Great deal, I'm already liking the new GM.

I will reserve judgement on the new GM until I see whether the Twins keep Johan or not. I will not be happy if we do. And I might be inclined to stop watching the Twins if we do. I will not watch this team go through the same thing they went through in the 70s.

The Twins were one or two players away from big things. I don't see that happening with the moves I've seen the team make so far. We've lost one of our big offensive and defensive players and now we've replaced him. Now we not only need the things we needed before these moves, now we need more. How is that improving the team?


Dawn
Twins fan since day one

[wang_chi7]

I will reserve judgement on the new GM until I see whether the Twins keep Johan or not. I will not be happy if we do. And I might be inclined to stop watching the Twins if we do. I will not watch this team go through the same thing they went through in the 70s.

The Twins were one or two players away from big things. I don't see that happening with the moves I've seen the team make so far. We've lost one of our big offensive and defensive players and now we've replaced him. Now we not only need the things we needed before these moves, now we need more. How is that improving the team?


Dawn
Twins fan since day one

Losing Hunter was out of the GM's control, they made him an offer but he took a better one in Anaheim. With aging legs, and his inability to get on base I saw it as a bad move for Anaheim. Minnesota gave him a smart deal, but there was a team willing to overpay. Not his fault.

For the rest of the team, I think they've made improvements. Young is one of the best up and coming hitters in the league and Harris's offense will offset what is lost on defense. Minnesota has too many .240 hitters that are pretty good at defense. They needed guys who produce at the plate, even if it means losing a little bit on defense.

I hope they keep Santana unless they get a great deal for him. They better not settle because he can come in useful this year and there's still the (small) possibility they can get a deal done. He'll still garner nice return in a July trade if they do it that way. In doing that, they get the majority of his season in Minnesota and teams will be bidding extra hard for a playoff push and to avoid him hitting free agency where other teams can get involved. If the Mets would offer Reyes and pitching I'd do it, or if Yankees offer Cano and Hughes I'd do it. But I'd be demanding two young major leaguers and probably a prospect or two. Less than that, they may as well keep him. If they would hold onto him, there'd be a much much better chance at making the postseason and actually getting passed the ALCS. They have a really good core team that will fight Cleveland for the top of the Central. Losing Santana before the year obviously would bring them down a rung unless they got someone of note in return.

[ap28]

Bartlett was a piece of crap... this is a great trade. I think the new outfield with Craig Monroe, and now Young will make up for the loss of Hunter at center. We have 3 above average outfielders now... Cuddyer being the third. Personally, I like the idea of trading Santana. He will free up a ton of cap room and the players we could get in return for him alone are all prospects/starters now.

[wang_chi7]

Bartlett was a piece of crap... this is a great trade. I think the new outfield with Craig Monroe, and now Young will make up for the loss of Hunter at center. We have 3 above average outfielders now... Cuddyer being the third. Personally, I like the idea of trading Santana. He will free up a ton of cap room and the players we could get in return for him alone are all prospects/starters now.

Monroe is pretty average, if he returns to form. Last year he stunk though. If Santana is traded though, I'd expect an OF to be involved (preferably a CF), but a 2B or 3B might be instead; a starting pitcher is almost guaranteed to be part of any deal on top of either of those.

[PurpleMustReign]

I agree with Dawn, we can not lose Santana. Its not an option. We need him, Liriano, Baker, and the other young pitchers to get to where we need to be. We do also need offense. I realize most of it won't be his fault with Montgomery Burns owning the team, but really, we don't have to pay Hunter, Mauer is signed, and I'm guessing we won't be keeping Nathan (he is being overpaid anyway). The money is there. Its just a matter of giving Johan a fair deal.

[wang_chi7]

I agree with Dawn, we can not lose Santana. Its not an option. We need him, Liriano, Baker, and the other young pitchers to get to where we need to be. We do also need offense. I realize most of it won't be his fault with Montgomery Burns owning the team, but really, we don't have to pay Hunter, Mauer is signed, and I'm guessing we won't be keeping Nathan (he is being overpaid anyway). The money is there. Its just a matter of giving Johan a fair deal.

It would be great if they got the deal done, but they are pretty far away on terms. Santana wants more than Zito's 7 years 126 million (which is fair considering he's way better than Zito.) The dollars offered per year are about agreed upon, but the team was offering I think 4 years and he wanted at least 2 years more than that. They could get it done, but I'm not holding my breath. It sounds like its only 50/50 he gets traded this offseason so the team must think they can get a deal figured out. They're already giving him about 14 a year, so it wouldn't be an astronomical raise. Pohlad needs to give it the nod. Keeping a guy like him around will only show the fans he cares and more people will come to the park.

[DeeEss57]

Bartlett was a piece of crap... this is a great trade. I think the new outfield with Craig Monroe, and now Young will make up for the loss of Hunter at center. We have 3 above average outfielders now... Cuddyer being the third. Personally, I like the idea of trading Santana. He will free up a ton of cap room and the players we could get in return for him alone are all prospects/starters now.

We'd better get some good pitching if we're going to part with Johan. Beyond him and Liriano, we've pretty much had nothing the past two seasons. Without Johan, we have Liriana. That's it. With the trouble the Twins have had getting reliable three and four starters, losing Johan would be catastrophic for the pitching staff.

But what really irks me is that Carl finally held us hostage long enough and got his damn stadium. Now he's dismantling the team because he's a cheap SOB. He's got more money than any other professional sports owner, but he's the cheapest. I always thought Calvin was bad, but Carl is worse. And, yes, we've managed to win division titles on the cheap. But it really sucks when we can't keep our stars because he won't pay them.



Dawn

[wang_chi7]

We'd better get some good pitching if we're going to part with Johan. Beyond him and Liriano, we've pretty much had nothing the past two seasons. Without Johan, we have Liriana. That's it. With the trouble the Twins have had getting reliable three and four starters, losing Johan would be catastrophic for the pitching staff.

But what really irks me is that Carl finally held us hostage long enough and got his #### stadium. Now he's dismantling the team because he's a cheap SOB. He's got more money than any other professional sports owner, but he's the cheapest. I always thought Calvin was bad, but Carl is worse. And, yes, we've managed to win division titles on the cheap. But it really sucks when we can't keep our stars because he won't pay them.



Dawn

Amen to that. Some of it is the situation in baseball as a whole. But much of the blame is on the shoulders of Pohlad.