Delmon Young will be duking it out with Carlos Gomez as fan's favorite Twins' newcomer in 2008. Delmon definitely has the edge in that he's already an established every-day player. Delmon, younger brother of Dmitri Young, came to the Twins in the Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett trade in November. Let's take a look at his numbers:

Delmon Young, at age 22, has a lot of potential. 2007 was his first full year in the majors he trailed only Ichiro Suzuki in the AL for most at-bats. He played in all 162 of Tampa Bay's games. Delmon is a free-swinging right handed hitter, whom that Twins hope can develop into more of a power hitter as me matures.

Young spent most of his time as a RF last season for Tampa Bay (and also played 29 games in CF), but he'll shift over to LF for the Twins in 2008. He has a rocket of an arm, so combined with Michael Cuddyer and Carlos Gomez, baserunners will be thinking twice before trying to advance an extra base this year.

Young has a well publicized temper, and has had his name inserted into sports writers' often used "changed person / change of scenery" story template. I'll believe it when I see it. Delmon Young isn't near the Elijah Dukes category of bad athletes, so I'm not too concerned about him being a problem.

Young will fit nicely as the Twin's #3 hitter, allowing Joe Mauer to move to #2, a position more fit for him. Mauer, Young, Morneau, and Cuddyer should make for a pretty fun middle of the lineup to watch this year.

Other 2008 projections

Pitchers

• Scott Baker
• Francisco Liriano
• Livan Hernandez
• Boof Bonser
• Kevin Slowey
• Philip Humber
• Nick Blackburn
• Pat Neshek
• Matt Guerrier
• Juan Rincon
• Jesse Crain
• Dennys Reyes
• Glen Perksin
• Joe Nathan

Hitters

• Joe Mauer
• Justin Morneau
• Brendan Harris
• Adam Everett
• Mike Lamb