Rays do a group chest-bump after seeing swap turn sweet

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. - Nick Blackburn was making a team-leading 31st start for the Twins on Friday night. The rookie righthander was in need of a good one. The Twins had lost six of his previous seven starts, including three in which he failed to get through five innings.

It was scoreless when Akinori Iwamura led off for Tampa Bay in the bottom of the first. Blackburn jumped ahead in the count, and then Iwamura lifted a fly ball toward left field.

This looked harmless off the bat, and then there was Delmon Young taking choppy steps in the general direction of the ball. He made a futile reach, the ball hit off the low wall in the left-field corner and ricocheted past him.

Iwamura cruised into third, and Blackburn was in instant trouble.

Somewhere, the Rays' executives responsible for last winter's large deal with the Twins were, nodding with satisfaction.

Think Kathleen Turner on a beach in paradise at the end of "Body Heat." Think Gene Hackman driving away with the gold bars at the end of "Heist."

That's the smugness Andrew Friedman, the Rays' young general manager, and his braintrust would have the right to feel over the exchange made on Nov. 28, 2007.

Tampa Bay sent outfielder Young and infielder Brendan Harris to the Twins for starting pitcher Matt Garza and starting shortstop Jason Bartlett. There were also minor league throw-ins: outfielder Jason Pridie to the Twins and pitcher Eduardo Morlan to the Rays.

Generally, the trade was applauded in Minnesota for two reasons: A) Young's numbers as a 21-year-old rookie -- .288, 13 home runs, 93 RBI -- offered a promise of stardom; and B) the Twins were in desperate need of righthanded power after the loss of Torii Hunter to free agency.

We have watched Young step to the plate nearly 600 times in a Twins uniform. Those visions of promise and power turned into a constant gritting of teeth as Young piled up meek outs by swinging early at nonstrikes.

He has been a flop as a run producer, and a flop as a left fielder, and don't be surprised if the Twins attempt to move him for a third baseman (San Diego's Kevin Kouzmanoff?) during the offseason.

As for Harris, the Twins wanted him to be the regular second baseman, but he couldn't turn the double play. He was most comfortable playing shortstop but didn't have the range. And Matt Tolbert, a rookie coming off a months-long injury, has played third over Harris in this series.

How about the other side of the deal?

The Rays clinched a tie for their first playoff berth in 11 years of existence with an 11-1 victory on Friday night. A day earlier, John Romano, a sports columnist for the St. Petersburg Times, was in the press box at midafternoon and considering his options.

One column possibility: "Imagine life without Bartlett and Garza," he said.

In Minnesota, what we can only imagine is the Twins' postion in the AL Central with a season-long regular at shortstop and a power righthanded arm as a presence in the rotation.

OK, without Young and with Michael Cuddyer hurt all year, the Twins would've been short in the outfield. Guess what? A guy like Jason Michaels would've cost nothing and offered production in the same ballpark as Young's.

Garza will turn 25 in November. He throws in the mid-90s, a rarity in this post-steroids era. He is 11-9 with a 3.66 ERA and has pitched 179 2/3 innings. The Rays see him as so important they are trying to sign Garza to a long-term deal.

And Bartlett?

The Tampa Bay chapter of the baseball writers will name its Rays award winners before today's game. There's a good chance the MVP award for the Rays' first successful season will go to Bartlett, who filled a huge shortstop gap here and left one back in Minnesota.

The mantra from Twins General Manager Bill Smith has been unchanged since the trade: "You have to give up good players to get good players."

Sadly, the Twins gave up good players to get an underachiever and a backup infielder.

Friedman can't look as good on a beach as Kathleen Turner did back when, but the owner should give him an expense-paid vacation in paradise for getting away with this robbery.

Patrick Reusse can be heard weekdays on AM-1500 KSTP at 6:45 and 7:45 a.m. and 4:40 p.m. • preusse@startribune.com