Wow, I did not see this coming. According to La Velle Neal of the Star-Tribune, the Twins and Rays are close to making a pretty big trade that may not technically be a blockbuster but is damn close:The main pieces changning teams would be outfielder Delmon Young and righthander Matt Garza. But indications were strong on Wednesday that as many as six players could be involved.Young finished in a distant second place to Dustin Pedroia for AL Rookie of the Year honors this year after hitting .288/.316/.408 with 13 home runs and 93 RBI. Scouts believe that he's only tapped the surface of his potential, though -- he hit .316 over parts of three minor league seasons and should eventually hit 30 homers a year in the majors. He's had a few run-ins with authority in his short career, but he's still only 22 years old and there's no doubting his talent.
In addition to Garza, the Twins would send Tampa Bay shortstop Jason Bartlett and reliever Juan Rincon for Young, shortstop Brendan Harris and outfielder Jason Pridie. Pridie was with the Twins during spring training of 2006 as a Rule 5 pick.
As for Garza, he's been touted as a potential ace but has put up good-not-great numbers in the majors compared to excellent numbers in the minors -- basically making him the pitching equivalent of Young, I guess. The change of scenery should do him good, though -- not because I think there's something inherently good about pitching for the Rays, but simply because the Rays are more likely to stick him in the rotation and leave him there, whereas he was always working on a relatively short leash in Minnesota.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-28-2007 @ 5:09PM
ron said...
Good for Garza, the weather is a heck of a lot better in Tampa than the Twin Cities.
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11-28-2007 @ 5:46PM
dart503 said...
Really? I thought they both played in Domes.
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11-28-2007 @ 7:49PM
Megalomaniac said...
Rincon's elbow giving the Rays a chance to rethink trading Delmon, they should take it. Trading Delmon makes little sense to me.
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11-28-2007 @ 8:52PM
Chris said...
This makes no sense...the Rays THINK Rocco
Baldelli MAY be healthy next season so they need to free up an outfield slot. Baldelli hasn't played a full season in 2+ years. This is a bad trade for the Rays and means they will be short an outfield slot (when Baldelli does down for the season again)in exchange for a POSSIBLE starting pitcher. Young proved himself last year and will only get better. Garza is an unproven commodity. Once again, another organization has picked the Rays pocket similar to the way the Reds picked up Josh Hamilton last winter.
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11-28-2007 @ 9:45PM
ChasO said...
If it happens, does this deal mean that Melky Cabrera and Crisp/Ellsbury are no longer needed or wanted by the Twins in order to finalize a Santana deal.
In that case, it would take two potential starters plus another player or two to get Santana. Both Boston and the NYYs have the pitching to spare, but both also do not want to send away two of the guys they see helping them build the franchise going forward.
Of the two teams, it is the NYYs who are hungrier for pitching so my thought that Santana would go to NY remains unchanged.
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