Bill Smith Starting His Legacy?
According to LEN3, the Twins are close to acquiring Delmon Young. Having heard earlier this morning that Boof Bonser's name had been dangled to the Devil Rays, I excitedly jumped to the conclusion we were about to get another mega-steal. Alas, that's not the case; Boof's name is not on the list here. Instead, we'll be giving up Garza.
Apparently it's a big deal, sending Garza, Bartlett, and Rincon to Tampa Bay for Delmon Young, Brendan Harris, and Jason Pridie.
Let's look at some 2007 stats.
Garza (SP, 23): 5-7 W-L, 96 H, 32 BB, 67 K in 83 IP, 3.69 ERA
Bartlett (SS, 27): .265/.339/.361, 5 HR, 20 2B, 43 RBI, 23 SB in 510 AB
Rincon (RP, 28): 3-3 W-L, 65 H 28 BB 49 K in 59.2 IP, 5.13 ERA
Young (OF, 21): .288/.316/.408, 13 HR, 38 2B, 93 RBI, 10 SB in 645 AB
Harris (SS, 26): .286/.343/.434, 12 HR, 35 2B, 59 RBI, 4 SB in 521 AB
Pridie (OF, 23, minors): .303/.352/.487, 14 HR, 32 2B, 66 RBI, 26 SB in 524 AB
Garza's stats are pretty good, and at his age he should just keep getting better. For a pitching-starved team like the Rays, he'd be an excellent addition. As a straight up trade, Garza for Young seems to be pretty close to even; I say that because I don't want to give up Garza and I know the Rays don't want to give up Young. The only reason it would happen is because we're full of young pitchers and they're full of young outfielders.
The problem is that Young plays most of his games in RF. I think the last thing we need is a power struggle in right and a vacuum in center. Young has played a few games in CF, but I don't think it's safe to just pencil him in as the new starter.
The second part of this trade I really like. Bartlett & Rincon for Harris & Pridie seems to lean pretty heavily in the Twins' favor. Harris is a shortstop who hits better than Bartlett and is a year younger. Pridie is a good CF prospect who may (or may not) be ready to step in as our new starter, but will definitely be able to provide depth either on the bench or at AAA. Meanwhile, Rincon is awful and we get to get him off our roster and save some money on his salary.
Delmon Young has had numerous personal problems, which makes it slightly less likely that the Twins will go for him. Frankly, I was surprised to see his name. But I don't think there's very much to worry about. It's a bit harder to be a bad apple like that in a foreign environment away from your trouble-making friends, where the established players are all straight laced, in a city where this little activity of that nature. It's pretty likely Young's problems won't come with him, but we may be getting a better deal in this trade because of his checkered past.
What does this do to the team?
We lose one of our top pitchers, someone who everyone penciled into the rotation for years to come. In return, we get a top-flight hitter who may be able to play CF, along with a good CF prospect for AAA or the bench. We also upgrade SS and drop Rincon.
If there's any team in the league who could absorb the loss of a guy like Garza, it's the Twins. Thus, this looks like a clear win for the Twins. And while the fact that we lose a top pitcher seems to make it less likely that we deal Santana, I think it actually makes it more likely. After all, what better way to absorb the loss of Garza and Santana than by adding Hughes or Bucholz/Lester? However, this deal totally changes the trade landscape for us. In the Santana deal, do we still go after Melky or Crisp/Ellsbury, or do we start to focus on getting a third baseman?
Things are getting exciting. Bill Smith could be setting himself up for the start of a good legacy.
Posted by Sean Schulte at 2007-11-28 15:00:58
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