I was going to entitle this post "Good Riddance to Delmon Young and his Strained Oblique, Sprained Ankle, Laughable Defense, Weak Bat" but something tells me he'll starting producing and become a total Twins killer now that he's been traded to the Detroit Tigers.
Funny, he actually thought the move was a prank when Bill Smith first called him to deliver the news. As if he couldn't understand why the Twins would ever want to get rid of him?
In return, Minnesota will receive minor league left-hander Cole Nelson and a player to be named later.
Although he had a breakout season last year, free of injury even, Delmon never did become the powerhouse hitter the Twins had hoped for when they acquired him from the Tampa Bay Rays back in 2008. He was batting .266 with just four homers and 32 RBI in the 84 games he participated in this season. Oh, and he stole a base once too.
Nelson, a 6'7", 235-pound, 10th round pick in 2010, was 5-11 with a 4.87 ERA in 26 appearances for the Class-A Lakeland Flying Tigers this season. He's from Edina, so that's neat I guess.
How do you feel about the trade? If you're wondering, I'm so ecstatic I don't even care who the player to be named is.
Update: Of course, Young goes yard off Francisco Liriano in his first at bat as a Tiger.
