Phillies interested in Twins' Delmon Young?
Phillies baseball personnel have been asking pointed questions about Twins outfielder Delmon Young, the former overall No. 1 draft choice of Tampa Bay, according to sources.
Phillies interested in Twins' Delmon Young?
Paul Hagen
Paul Hagen reporting from the winter meetings in Las Vegas:
Throwing out the ceremonial first rumor of the winter meetings ...
Phillies baseball personnel have been asking pointed questions about Twins outfielder Delmon Young, the former overall No. 1 draft choice of Tampa Bay, sources told the Daily News. Young is probably best known for a 2006 incident when he was suspended 50 games in the minor leagues for throwing his bat at an umpire. (See the video of the incident below.)
He was traded to the Twins after the 2007 season. The Phils are believed to be looking for a replacement for Pat Burrell, who is not expected to re-sign.
Young has yet to show Burrell’s power. He’s hit just 26 home runs in 1,346 big-league at bats. Last season he batted .290 with 10 homers and 69 RBI for Minnesota. But he’s still just 23 years old.
The Twins have an excess in the outfield with Michael Cuddyer returning from an injury-plagued season, Carlos Gomez (who came from the Mets in the Johan Santana trade) and Denard Span, who has established himself as their leadoff hitter.
So they are apparently willing to listen to offers for Young. A potential snag from the Phillies perspective is that they almost certainly would ask for top prospect Jason Donald and are also seeking bullpen help.
Young has developed a reputation for being somewhat hardheaded and uncoachable, one of the reasons Tampa Bay was willing to trade him. At the same time, he’s still just 23 years old, clearly has talent and appears to fit a Phillies need.
Somewhere earlier today it said the Phils are on Jermaine Dye's no-trade-clause list. Anyone else wonder why? What's so bad about hitting in a place that will net you an extra 3-5 HR a year? And no one can say that Philly isn't a contender anymore, (which was always the old excuse), so I can't see why anyone would refuse a trade here.— B in DC- Delmon Young is an over-rated scrub. He was traded to the twins by the Tampa Bay a few years back, and the Twins got robbed. I don't remember the exact trade, but I'm pretty sure it involved Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett... commonly known as one of the biggest ripoffs of all-time (recent past) in pro sports. Almost as big of a ripoff as the time Tampa traded scrub Victor Zambrano, not Carlos Zambrano, for Scott Kazmir. Look, Tampa knows talent. They let Young go. If we pick him up, I'll be so disappointed.— rich_gelman
- he only got 50 game for that? He should have been tossed for at least a year or two and maybe even some jail time. Did you see that?— scars73
- Everyone keeps mentioning T.O. - that's a bad comparison. T.O. is a headache because he's a loudmouth who wants more money, but he (generally) backs it up on the field. Young's a headache because he's nuts/dumb/both.— B in DC
- i like the upside and anythings better than keep hearing "platoon"— EskinzWack
- Keep looking for now. There are plenty of non-head cases out there and with more power. If someone wants proven relief pitching and a prospect they need to offer up proven quality. Rumors again about Wolf coming back???— psuwelsh
- We should get more than Delmon Young for Clay Condrey et al. Condrey, although scrubbish at times, would fortunately (yet wrongly) be perceived around the league and by opposing fans as a successful reliever, with good numbers, coming from MLB's best bull-pen (with World Series experience, and a ring). His stock is at an all-time high, no doubt. I wouldn't be disappointed if they traded Clay Condrey, but if it's for Delmon Young, off with Amaro's head. Not saying Condrey can get us something better than Young, but I don't want Young stinkin' up our outfield. Please. Don't do it.— rich_gelman
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- Can't we bring back Jose Offerman instead?— Sully
- Trade Donald?? Come on, really!! I rather see him in left then Young. Do we all remember what happened when we all though the Eagles could control T.O.???— OneChampionshipPLEASE
- Is PacMan Jones available too?— commissioner_gordon
- He had good aim with the bat, as well as good velocity. Maybe he can help us in the pen.— cadilacjack
- Sure, go get him but don't give up Donald. If you can get him on the cheap, go for it.— davekrieg
- Young is extremely talented and probably comes very cheap because of the perceived off-the-field issues. And he is only 23 and can reasonably be expected to mature, especially with a strong contingent of veteran leaders around him. You get him if the price is right. And you definitely trade Donald today if (but only if) you make the team better right now. The Phillies nucleus is in its prime today, and management has a responsibility to maximize the results before the core of the team ages.— PhillyGuyinNY
