Delmon Young traded to rival Detroit Tigers

By Peter Schilling Tue., Aug. 16 2011 at 7:02 AM

Categories: Twins

Pin It

Delmon Young, left-fielder, uh, not-extraordinaire, crack RBI man, Misfits fiend, movie lover, and hero to every Twin Cities punk baseball fan, has cleared waivers and been traded to the Detroit Tigers.

The Twins receive former Edina High School standout Cole Nelson, and the proverbial player to be named later. According to the Star-Tribune's La Velle E. Neal III., Nelson's Class A numbers are, well, mighty mediocre: 5-11, 4.87 ERA, with 87 K in 105 IP. Which suggests that the Twins were eager to dump Young.

MLB

Granted, Delmon Young's numbers have been down this year. Dude had 4 home runs and 32 RBI, with a .266/.305/.357 line. Maybe the Tigers are looking at his three year totals in September, which are good but not great: .296/.337/.456 in the back-to-school month.

The Tigers Jim Leyland plans to bat Delmon third tonight, before Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, and Jhonny Peralta. That means pitchers are going to be trying to keep him from walking, which should mean some fat pitches for him to hit.

As a Tigers fan, I'm excited, but as a Twins fan who listens to and watches games more regularly at home, I'm going to miss the guy. Obviously, the Twins are going to bring Revere up permanently, and with Denard Span in center, are hoping to land either Michael Cuddyer or Jason Kubel at a price they can afford.

But I'm also guessing that Delmon didn't fit into "the Twins way"--which, though somewhat nebulous to me, suggests a total selflessness to the club, no grandstanding, no being loud and unruly. You know, a bit more Rick Monday and a bit less Reggie Jackson (to use totally dated, 1970s examples.) A way which seems to give the team a string of Central Division titles and little else. Teams that don't have this "way"--you know, like Chicago and Detroit--can only hang a World Series title and an AL Pennant in their rafters. But so what? At least we have clean cut, high-type young men.

Maybe Delmon Young will thrive elsewhere; maybe he'll fail. In any case, good luck to him in his new digs.

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter: Our weekly feature stories, movie reviews, calendar picks and more - minus the newsprint and sent directly to your inbox.