Rays deal Delmon to Twins

The Rays completed a six-player deal late Wednesday to send AL Rookie of the Year runner-up Delmon Young to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for RHP Matt Garza, SS Jason Bartlett and a minor-leaguer.

The Rays also gave up INF Brendan Harris and minor-league OF Jason Pridie.

The Rays get Garza, who will go right into their rotation, and Bartlett, who becomes their starting shortstop. They also get minor-league RHP Eduardo Morlan, a 21-year-old who was 5-3 with 18 saves and a 3.10 ERA with Class A Fort Myers and Double-A New Britain. He struck out 99 in 69 2/3 innings.

"It's a business decision, and it helps out both teams,'' Young said. "We had too many outfielders and one of them had to go.''

Young said he was "excited" to to join the Twins and would "go over there and help out their club with 100 percent effort.''

He said he was not surprised the Rays would trade him because "you always know if there's an offer they can't resist they're going to pull the trigger.''

The Rays were in serious discussions throughout the day and earlier seemed poised to get veteran reliever Juan Rincon, but concerns surfaced about his elbow, and Morlan was substituted in the deal.

"I haven't heard anything," Young said when reached on his cell phone mid-evening Wednesday. "Just gimme a call when something gets done or not done."

The key pieces to the deal is Bartlett, who would step into the team's starting shortstop role, and Garza, a talented 24-year-old right hander who likely would become the Rays' No. 3 starter.

The Rays are also close to working out a deal to sign veteran free-agent reliever Troy Percival, who pitched under Rays manager Joe Maddon with the Angels. Percival pitched to a 1.80 ERA in 40 innings with the Cardinals last season after coming back from arm problems that led him to a brief retirement.

"Percy has huge admiration for Joe Maddon and he's instructed me to kind of really roll up my sleeves and get something done within the next couple days," Percival's agent, Paul Cohen, said Wednesday.

Reports of the potential deal surfaced around mid-afternoon and Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman left Wednesday afternoon's stadium rendering unveiling abruptly, with his BlackBerry attached to his ear after telling the Rays PR staff he wasn't available for comment.

The Rays would lose a key piece out of their prized outfield. The 22-year-old Young hit .288 with 13 homers and 93 RBIs and made 16 outfield assists.

Garza was 5-7 with a 3.69 ERA in 16 appearances last season. Bartlett is a career .271 hitter, a base-stealing threat and owns a .967 career fielding percentage, but he is coming off a season in which he made a career-high 26 errors.

Harris, who hit .286 with 12 homers and 59 RBIs, opened his first full major season as the Rays starting shortstop, but was moved to second later in the season when questions about his range and durability arose.

"My phone's been blowing up all day," Harris said when reached on cell phone. "I haven't heard anything from Tampa directly, so I'm just waiting. I'm really surprised though."

Pridie, who was just added to the team's 40-man roster last week, was selected by the Twins in last season's Rule 5 Draft and returned to the Rays before the season. he had 14 homers and 26 stolen bases between Double-A Montgomery and Triple-A Durham.

In other Rays news, the team traded right-handed reliever Brian Stokes to the Mets for cash considerations. Stokes, who was 2-7 with a 7.07 ERA, was taken off the 40-man roster last week and designated for assignment.

Comments

[REALLY Love the Hot Stove League]

For the record 11/28/07- 10:49am, 11/28/07-7:23pm are not the same person, & to amend my 7:23pm post of that date, if Garza delivers as advertised, we might be in the early stages of the development of a starting rotation that rivals that of the Braves during the 90's & early 00's. If that happens, then overall this indeed could be another Zambrano for Kazmir deal. Conversely, it could end up resembling Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio, or Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas. While I doubt either of the latter outcomes, we likely won't know the true outcome of this trade for at least a few years. This is a dynamic that is unique to baseball, and is one of things that makes it such a great sport to follow.

[Frank]

What's the point of developing young players if the Devil Rays are just going to trade them when they get good? Seen it for years. Don't be happy about this trade, Garza will be gone in a few years anyways when he starts making more money.

[Whaddyagonnado?]

They'll Do It Every Time, Rays fan edition --

Before any trade: "Our whole team stinks. We'll never win with any of these guys."

After any trade: "We'll never win without THAT guy. Our management stinks."

[JJ Jones]

If you trade Baldelli, Gomes or Dukes, you aren't going to get a guy like Garza in return.

[Steve]

I like GARZA but we gave up too much...Should've dealt BALDELLI, GOMES, DUKES and picks before DYoung.

[Paul]

We're going to have a tough time finding 93 RBIs from anyone else playing RF - they certainly won't come from Gomes.

Garza, Scotty K and Shields better all have great seasons because run production will be down in St. Pete in 2008.

[Bob R.]

That's what coaches are for, moron. They have a drunk for a pitching coach. Navarro could have the second coming of Johnny Bench helping him but he doesn't have the tools for anything but AA.

[crash]

troy percival is a huge key here
maybe niemann but definitely edwin jackson have the stuff to become closers, but not if they are thrown into it.
percival proved he can still bring it and is said to be as much of a guru/coach as a pitcher.
still think navarro has posada-like potential a fair way down the road, but these young bucks need a brian schneider/brad asumus/damien miller type to help them now.

[CK]

Imbeciles. It was a stupid trade by any standard. Young has tremendous potential. He was second in team RBIs, first in the league in outfield assists. What is so great about a 3.79 ERA? Check Garza's last half performance. Better yet, have a doctor check his arm. Then we can call him Wilson Alvarez.

And by the way, the Rays are an A team, not a AA team.

[Jeremiah]

The Rays gave up one quality player for three. Good trade. Garza is the third starter behind Kaz and Shields. Bartlett will be the starting SS. Also, Morlan could be a steal. I have heard from many Twins fans that were not happy he was included. Young is a very good player but the Rays won this deal.

[Marshall]

Has anyone realized that garza only played the last half of the season last year?
1st 7 starts---2.14 ERA
Last 8 starts---5.54 ERA

[Jeff]

You will love Garza. Bartlett is a very good defensive SS who can add a spark to the offense. Morlan is a VERY good prospect who throws gas. TB's team just got a lot better, and few here know it. But, in the end it won't matter because this team NEVER makes the playoffs in the East. Sad.

[CK]

Garza is a #3 right NOW he projects out as a good 2 with possible ace potential.

[Stu fiddles while the Trop burns]

Rays (AA) draft Young
Twins (AAA) trade for Young
Twins trade Young come contract time to the Yankees/Red Sox (MLB)

Yep, sounds about right. Good ol' Tampa hyping up the kid as the rock of the franchise and then tearing him down as soon as they inexplicably boot him out of town. Funny that all summer they said they would have to be absolutely floored to deal one of their young studs and now they are thrilled to land a "number 3 starter".

But hey, if all else falls into place, you guys will have a pretty little sail over the field where your bottom feeding boys play.

Rays LOL

[Tampabaysportsfanatic]

Good trade for the Rays. They addressed three areas of need and dealt from a position of strength. Adding Morlan swung this deal int he Rays favor and now they are going after Percival as well. Adding Garza allows them to move some of the young stud pitchers we have to the bullpen to help or trade them away for more bullpen or offensive help. I think this was a fair trade and both sides got what they needed.

Remember the name Justin Ruggiano because you will see him in that outfield very soon.

[Marshall]

im not denying that garza is a great young talent. but i dont think trading delmon young away for young pitching is worth it. delmon young should be traded away for johan santanna, not an unproven young pitcher. why spend the last few years drafting pitchers if ur just gonna trade for them? what if garza blows his arm out? the risk just isnt worth the reward.

especially when u give up harris for bartlett. in my mind thats a downgrade at shortstop. why do u need to trade away a serviceable shortstop with 20 points higher batting average, more home runs, rbi, and HALF THE ERRORS, for another serviceable shortstop who's a year older?

why should the fans be optimistic about the future if we keep getting rid of our young players? it was just a few years ago when aubrey huff, jorge cantu, chad gaudin, and lance carter were "the rays of the future"

[Richard]

If you look only at tangibles, this appears to be a bad deal. But if you look at the great teams, intangibles play a big part. With Young's surliness, selfishness, and plate undiscipline, this is not what winners have. Long pitch counts equals winning teams, (Yanks, Bosox, etc). The great teams usually have deep pitching staffs also. The Rays are finally looking at a winning formula. Especially if Garza suceeds.

[CK]

Then I take it you don't want upgraded win-loss record either?

[Guy who has no idea who Matt Garza is]

This is a dumb trade. I don't want upgraded pitching!

[CK]

Haha, I liked the line about Stu getting his pretty little sailboat.

The most important part of this deal is that it shows that the front office is willing to make moves, to improve now. Its risky and will not always be an easy pill swallow, but this move should make the team considerably better for next season.

Young production from last year should not be missed, Longeria will make up alot of those RBI's and defensively we now look pretty good.

[duh]

You people are all so dumb. What do the Rays need? Pitching and a solid infield. What do they do? Trade for pitching and a solid infield. Do the math, you freaks.

[J]

Baldelli DH Crawford LF Upton CF Pena 1B Gomes RF Iwanura 2B Longoria 3B Navarro C Bartlett SS Bench: Jaso C Wilson UT Guzman UT Ruggiano OF. This should be just enough offense. With an improved defense and pitching(especially the pen), this looks quite exciting. It does seem as though these slick New York Wall Streeters have a legitimate plan. This roster should be competitive immediately, and meaningful games may be played at the Trop in September. If so, you will get your pretty little sailboat Stu---and be a hero in the Tampa Bay community to be remembered for the ages.

[Dave (with a Captial D)]

I always find it amusing when people take to mimicking, it's the sincerest form of flattery.

Navarro, while he needs a lot of improvement with the stick, is an excellent defensive catcher, and knows how to call a ball game. He is young and has room to grow with the bat.

Iwamura won 5 gold gloves in Japan, and when he came over here, indicated he would/could play 2nd or short of needed. If you're a gold glove infielder and are willing, you can play 2nd.

Thanks for proving my point that a lot hinges on Baldelli staying healthy.

You've clearly never seen Garza pitch, or are just a casual baseball observer. Maybe if you put forward Toronto instead of Baltimore you'd have more creedence. Baltimore are a bigger joke than we have been, and will continue to be as long as Angelos owns them.

[marshall?]

You don't care if Garza is the next Roger Clemens? You wouldn't trade Delmon Young for the next Roger Clemens? Brilliant.

[Marshall]

i dont care if garza is the next roger clemens. you cannot make a trade like this

[Marshall]

im still trying to figure out how u trade your best arm in the outfield with 90 rbis as a rookie. i was just getting excited about the new stadium...and then they make this move.

freidman and maddon have no business running a major league baseball team.

[J]

Kazmir, Shields, Garza, Jackson and Niemann. Percival, Wheeler, Salas, Reyes, Glover, Dohmann and Balfour. It is clear as to what the plan is: strong, young and hard thowing cheap starters--- with and a veteran bullpen. This may work.

[D.G.]

Wow, it's rare to see hitting traded for pitching, but a 3.79 ERA over 16 starts in the AL is nothing to laugh about at all. We'll miss the 93 RBIs for sure, and, well you saw the record Garza had behind poor run support. But, seriously, say the trade is a wash. And, should the Rays ever make the postseason -- where pithching matters a ridiculous amount more -- it'd be nice to have a Garza versus a Young who still has to learn plate discipline and can be pitched towards. If Rocco could ever give us 150 games and hit .280-20-75 we easily win the trade.

[dave]

I think I was a bit premature with my projections. Baldelli is not healthy. The DH position is not up to snuff. Bartlett may not be an upgrade and Aki is playing a new and unfamiliar position. We all know how terrible Navarro is. Make that fourth or more likely fifth since Baltimore will do
more to improve themselves. Sorry I got carried away.

[CK]

Those of you offering up Baldelli or Dukes instead of Young have no clue what we just aquired. Garza was an extremly high ranked Pitching Prospect that has played well at the ML level. Our pitching prospects are all at least a year or two away, and none of them may be better than Garza is and will be. This move makes us better today and unless Young becomes a superstar which I seriously doubt it should be better for us in 2-3 years.

[RPD]

Thanks for a great rookie year Delmon. We look forward to the rest of your career. Best of luck to you.

[Love the Hot Stove League]

Another bonehead maneuver by the dolts from Wall Street. They are headed for another last place finish. And you can forget about that pie in the sky stadium. When the public gets educated, it will be voted down 3 to 1.

[Oh no, it's lou, sweet lou bygosh]

This is a bad trade by any standard. If they didn't offer Baldelli, they should have. I can understand why a team would not want Baldelli who hasn't shown up for a full season in 4 years.

[Dave]

Know what, the more I look at this the better and better it looks.

It all hinges on Baldelli staying healthy though.

Imagine:

C Navarro
1B Pena
2B Iwamura
SS Bartlett
3B Longoria
OF Crawford, Upton, Baldelli
DH Gomes or Dukes

Add in an easy to obtain 4th/5th OF through free agency, nice line-up.

SP Kaz, Garza, Shields, Jackson, Price
MR Wheeler, Glover, Hammell, Reyes, Percival, Rincon

Sonnanstine and maybe even Neimann available if needed.

Friends, that lineup is very good. 3rd best in the East.

Outfielders are a dime a dozen, arms as talented as Garza's are not.

[deal]

Garza is only 2 years removed from college and he's already pitched well in the majors. You can never have too much pitching and Garza is legit. If Price, McGee, and Davis all turn out better than Garza, that's great. It just means the Rays would have an incredible rotation and a real good pitcher for trade bait or the back of the bullpen. It's not a given that all of them will be better than Garza though. The Rays offense will be fine without Delmon.

[JD]

Bartlett has better range & a stonger arm than Harris. His errors tend to be on routine plays rather than when his range is tested. Maybe the change of scenery will improve his focus. With the Twins' focus on fundamentals, I can see why they might want to move him.

Garza will definitely improve the Rays rotation. His record doesn't reflect how he pitched last year. Lack of run support killed him in several games; he could have easily had 12 wins with a little support at the plate. Unless the Rays shore up the bullpen, he may be in for another mediocre year for W/L with a good ERA in 08.

[Telemachus]

This is a steal for the Twins. I wish the Brewers had made a play for Young, since the Rays are giving him away. Young should be one of the best five OFs for the next decade. In consecutive years now the Rays have lost a #1 overall pick outfielder. Garza is good, but he doesn't know how to pitch, he tries to blow every batter away, and Price, Davis, and McGee could all end up being better. Strange trade for Tampa.

[Morlan]

Hmmm. Rincon dropped and Morlan added. I don't trust minor league relievers. At least Rincon had some good years in the majors.

[Chris]

First Garza, is a great young starting pitcher that will immediatly be our legitimate #3 Starter, and he his is a very good #2 and maybe even an ace. We have never had 3 good starting pitchers. Add in that we choose the the last two spots from Sonnastine, Jackson, Hammel, Niemnann. That looks pretty good now and potentailly great.

Trading Delmon Young is risky, but fact is while a great arm he was hoorible in his routes to balls, while a great swing and bat speed he has no desire to wait for the right pitch, and with all his attitude problems was risky to ever fulfill his potnetial.

Brendan Harris was not a Shortstop he barely was a 2nd baseman. Defensively he was not going to cut it. Offensively he played way above his head through the first half. he was a great find at the time but he did not have any long term role with the team. Bartlett is a SS, with defensive metrics that rank above average across the board. Ofeensively he is better than Harris showed over the 2nd half.

Rincon and Pridie our throw ins. Rincon could provide us a Decent to above average Middle-Late Relief.

This is a risky trade, yes, but the reason why the Rays have been perenial losers has been there refusal to cash in on potential players while there value was high and using them to improve their roster inventory at the ML level. With this trade and the signing of Percival(as rumored). We managed to upgrade our SP, SS, RP, while we do take a mild hit at RF short term it will not be that big of a deal with guys like Rugg, Baldelli, Gomes, and even Dukes that could at least play close to Delmon's level last year and maybe better.

This team now should be able to hit 80+ wins.

[2 Patrick]

Patrick, the people going nuts over this deal don't know Hughes and Buchholz. If they did, they would also know Garza. Going into 2007 (before he lost prospect status), Garza was ranked ahead of every Rays pitching prospect. And the Rays have alot of great pitching prospects. Garza pitched well in the majors last year when they called him up. Bartlett and Rincon (if he's healthy) are upgrades too. It sucks to get rid of Delmon, but if you want to get a stud young pitcher you have to give up something good. The Rays staff in 2008 is now respectable and will be filthy good by 2009. This deal helps now and in the future.

[Ray of Sunshine]

STUPID trade. Delmon has the potential to be a perenial All-Star and we had him tied up cheap for years. I don't see Bartlett being much of an improvement over Harris. Garza is OK, but not worth Delmon. And if all those minor league pitchers in the pipeline are as good as advertised why do we need Garza? All I can figure is Delmon gave the Rays an ultimatum- trade me now or you'll regret it, but I don't see how he had the leverage to do that. Doesn't make sense competitively or economically. $tu is spending too much time and money on new uniforms and stadiums instead of building the team. Can I get my season ticket money refunded?

[Dennis]

Woops, meant to say Ben Zobrist, not Upton below.

[uh]

Dennis, BJ Upton didn't play one game at shortstop last year. But he is still wrong to say Harris opened the year as the starting shortstop. Ben Zobrist started the year at shortstop. Harris started after Zobrist fell on his face again.

[Dave]

Hurts parting with Young, but Garza is a very good pitcher. I'm he has Kaz type talent.

Not sold on Bartlett, but he could regain form and be worth it. He has a ton of speed.

Rincon is a good addition to the pen.

Not a terrible deal.

Baldelli better get, and stay, healthy.

[Dennis]

"Harris, who hit .286 with 12 homers and 59 RBIs, opened his first full major season as the Rays starting shortstop"

Harris opened last season as the Rays starting shortstop? Someone might want to tell BJ Upton that.

Man, how quickly folks -- even sportswriters -- apaprently forget.

[J]

As constructed, this is a poor trade for the Rays in terms of value. Hopefully, this is just a set up for a much more significant deal---and I am not talking about Troy Percival. Dukes still needs to go, fire-baller relievers who throw strikes need to be brought in and the current lineup needs to learn to work counts. It would have been better to continue to develope the current talent...

[David]

Give the twins Baldelli instead.

[Big Nasty]

this trade SUCKS .... the Kids who own/run the Rays are barely old enough to do anything besides trade baseball cars

the Rays need to bring me to the new stadium and show me on their jumbotron!!!

YEAAAAAH BOY

[Brant]

This is a dumb trade. The Ray's have a SS prospect that is only a year away and are gathering a laundry list of pitching prospects that will be ready in the next few years. What they do not have anymore is OFs with power potential. The only reason the Rays would need to pick up Garza is if they are going to trade Kazmir soon. If the Ray's are that deadset on trading Young, at least trade with the Giants for a better pitcher....

[me]

this is a stupid trade how can you possibly trade the best hitter in baseball for 10 years i hope they smarten up and do not make this trade bartlett is the big part i dont understand you brignac only probably a year and a half away form the majors and bartlett isnt going to get much better than what he is now