Twins Acquire Delmon Young

Twins acquire Delmon Young, Brendan Harris and Jason Pridie from Tampa Bay Rays

Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN -- The Minnesota Twins announced Wednesday that they have acquired outfielders Delmon Young and Jason Pridie along with infielder Brendan Harris from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for pitchers Matt Garza, Eduardo Morlan and infielder Jason Bartlett.

Young, 22, was a unanimous selection to the 2007 Topps Major League Rookie All-Star Team after batting .288 (186-for-645) with 38 doubles, 13 home runs, 93 RBIs and 10 stolen bases as he played in all 162 games for Tampa Bay. Young, who was the first overall selection in the 2003 First-Year Player Draft, was just one of seven players to appear in every game last season and ranked second in the American League with 645 at-bats. Last season, the 6-3, 215 pound outfielder led all American League rookies in hits (186), rbi (93), total bases (263), multi-hit games (55) and outfield assists (16), was second in doubles (38 ) and extra-base hits (51), third in home runs (13), fourth in batting (.288), sixth in stolen bases (10), eighth in on-base percentage (.316) and slugging percentage (.408) and 10th in walks (26). Young was named the Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America in 2005 and owns a career .293 (226-for-771) batting average in 192 games.

Harris, 27, hit .286 (149-for-521) with 35 doubles, three triples, 12 homers, 59 RBIs, 72 runs scored and 42 walks in a career-high 137 games in 2007. The 6-1, 200-pounder started 45 games at second base (.994 fielding percentage) and 86 games at shortstop (.968 fielding percentage) for the Rays last season. Harris has a career batting average of .273 (172-for-631) in 189 career games. The infielder was acquired by Tampa Bay from the Cincinnati Reds on Jan. 2, 2007 and was the Chicago Cubs fifth round draft choice in the 2001 First-Year Player Draft.

Pridie, 24, split time between Double-A and Triple-A in 2007. He hit .290 (81-for-290) with 16 doubles, seven triples, four home runs and 27 RBIs in 71 games with Montgomery before being promoted to Durham. In 63 games as the Bulls centerfielder, Pridie hit .318 (78-for-245) with 16 doubles, four triples, 10 home runs and 39 RBIs. Pridie was selected by the Twins in the 2005 Rule 5 Draft and spent the 2006 Spring Training season with the Twins before being returned to the Rays.

The Tampa Bay Rays will receive right-handed pitcher Matt Garza, who posted a 5-7 record with a 3.69 ERA (83.0 ip, 34 er) and was voted the 2007 Twins Most Outstanding Rookie by the Twin Cities Chapter of the BBWAA. Garza, 24, was the Twins first pick (25th overall) in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft and was named the USA Today Minor League Player of the Year in 2006. The Rays also receive infielder Jason Bartlett who hit .265 (135-for-510) with 20 doubles, seven triples, five homers and 43 rbi in a career-high 140 games in 2007. In four seasons with the Twins, Bartlett had a career batting average of .272 with 48 doubles, 10 triples and 10 home runs in 321 games. Also included in the trade is minor league right-handed pitcher Eduardo Morlan. Morlan, 21, started the season with Class A Ft. Myers and went 4-3 with 18 saves and a 3.15 ERA (65.2 ip, 23 er) in 41 games. The Cuban native struck out 92 batters while walking 17 before being promoted to Double-A New Britain where he made two relief appearances for the Rock Cats.

I'm surprised that the Twins would get rid of Garza. But at least they filled their CF void...