Delmon Young Topic Page

Friday night's game 2 of the ALDS was every bit as disappointing as Tuesday's tie-breaker game was satisfying. For multiple reasons the Twins lost the game by a single run when Mark Texeira hit an 11th inning walk-off home run down the left field line. Prior to that the Twins had a couple opportunities to seal a victory.

In the fourth inning Carlos Gomez was caught off second after a Matt Tolbert single to center. Delmon Young was coming around to score easily, but Gomez was tagged before Young crossed the plate, ending the inning with no runs for the Twins. Gomez had no business rounding second on that play, but even after making that mistake he should have kept going, allowing Young enough time to score.

The Twins came just shy of the postseason last year, however made very little moves in the offseason to make the team better. It's clear that they're counting on growth from within to make this team contend in 2009.

Looking to improve this year.

Michael Cuddyer struggled through injuries last season. While he was rehabbing a hand injury, he was struck by a ball and broke his foot. The string of bad luck limited him to just 279 plate appearances, hafter surpassing 600 in each of the previous two years.

Compared to last season, not a lot changed for the Twins this past winter. Last offseason saw the loss of Johan Santana and Torii Hunter as well as a trade that sent Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett to the Tampa Bay Rays for Delmon Young and Brendan Harris. This offseason's biggest move was the signing of Joe Crede, who comes into the season still trying to shake off any doubt about his health.

Let's take a position-by-position look at where the Twins stand in 2009 compared to 2008.

Just about everything went right on opening day. In game two, just about nothing went right as the Twins fell to the Angels by a score of 9-1. Boof Bonser labored to get through six innings. It could've been worse—Boof left 3 runners stranded in scoring position.

Game Time: 6:05 PM (CT) Location: Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Opponent: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Michael Cuddyer was rewarded for a great 2006 and a decent follow-up season in 2007 with a 3-year $24 million contract, which will keep him in Minnesota through the 2010 season. Let's dive into his numbers:

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:

John Walsh posted analysis of the best outfield arms of 2007 over at The Hardball Times. The entire piece is worth the read, but I just wanted to point out the Twins that appeared on the lists.

The response to the 6 player trade centered around Matt Garza and Delmon Young has been mostly positive. Here's what some other Twins bloggers had to say about it:

Lavelle just posted that the deal has been finalized.