Delmon Young

With the departure of Carlos Gomez , the role of most scrutinized player in the outfield has unequivocally been awarded to Delmon Young . His status as a below-average defender has been well-documented, and 2010 will be a do-or-die season for him. If he can't find some success at the plate, there will be little reason for the Twins to hang onto him.

The emergence of Rene Tosoni , 23, certainly isn't helping Young's cause. Should Young struggle in 2010, Tosoni could be a candidate for an early or mid-season promotion.

Delmon Young is at a crossroads.

It may seem strange to read that line about Young, as usually you read about aging veterans reaching a crossroads, not 24-year olds who seemingly have their entire career in front of them.

With a slow grounder to to short, it was all over. The joy of game 163, the September magic, the 2009 season, baseball in the H.H.H. Metrodome, all of it.

It was a good run for the Minnesota Twins and in any evaluation of the season, that needs to be the foundation. The Twins beat their expected wins by six games and won a division in which they were projected to finish no better than third.

But, to borrow a line from the Bard, we come to bury the Twins, not to praise them.

Minneapolis is a modern Mudville tonight. Gloom hangs like the first snow snow clouds of a bitter upper-midwestern autumn over shell-shocked Twins fans. A mere three outs from stealing the New York Yankees' home-field advantage in their American League Division Series, and holding a seemingly comfortable two-run lead as closer Joe Nathan entered to begin the bottom of the ninth inning, Minnesota blew its golden opportunity. A Mark Teixeira single, followed by a game-tying two-run opposite-field home run by Alex Rodriguez, sent the game to extra innings.

June 6, 2006.

Justin Morneau and the Minnesota Twins sat comfortably in forth place in the American League Central, 11.5 games behind the first-place Tigers.

Their record was 25-32. They had lost three in a row and had been outscored by 41 runs on the season.

Fast forward to the end of the year and Minnesota not only won the division by exactly one game over the Tigers,. 

The Twins lead the division for all of one day—the day that mattered.

Despite beating the Rays and Matt Garza on Sunday, the Twins probably wish he had been their starter.

While both Garza and the man he was traded for, Delmon Young, have been less than their teams may have hoped for, it is clear who got the best end of this deal.

A big part of the reason that the Twins wish they had never made the deal is their need for a solid middle infielder and the performance of Jason Bartlett(1.3 UZR, 31.2 VORP good for third best in baseball).

Still, there is time for the Twins to recoup their losses, right?

The "Good" Outfield Problem

Five outfielders for four positions: Denard Span, Carlos Gomez, Delmon Young, Michael Cuddyer, and Jason Kubel. Here is a brief run-down of each and what their playing time should look like:

Leading up to the 2009 season for the Minnesota Twins, the question was how the team was going to find playing time for their five main outfielders.  

Michael Cuddyer, Denard Span, Jason Kubel, Carlos Gomez, and Delmon Young were all candidates to see significant playing time, but Ron Gardenhire was supposed to have a difficult time divvying up the playing time among them.  

Well, we are 35 games into the season and the play of the five aforementioned outfielders thus far have dictated their roles.  

When the Minnesota Twins traded for Delmon Young prior to last season, everybody thought the team was bringing in a hitter with big power potential. The assumption was rightfully so; Young had hit .288 with 13 homeruns and 93 RBI with the Rays and was just barely 21-years old.

In his first season with the Twins, Young hit .290 with 10 homeruns and 69 RBI. The numbers weren't bad; Young upped his average from the year before and also struck out 22 fewer times. Yet the expectations that the homerun totals would rise with age caused most to be critical of Young and the trade.

Those comparisons to great hitters of recent yore have long since died down. Suddenly, Delmon Young was just another talented, but struggling outfielder who had his current employers wondering if he would ever develop into something special.

It's still much too early to ascertain whether Young, the first pick in the 2003 amateur draft, will turn into an offensive presence like Albert Belle, a hitter to whom he's most often compared. But Young, after a slow start in 2009, is definitely showing signs of life.