News Roundup: Shane Youman Claimed

by Charlie on Nov 28, 2007 5:42 PM EST in News Comment 9 comments

-P- As UtesFan89 pointed out in the diaries, Shane Youman has been claimed on waivers from the Phillies. It's kind of a weird feeling to not actually care that the Pirates have lost a player on waivers to another team. Youman's about as low-upside as a major league pitcher can possibly be; there's about a .00001% chance this claim ever comes back to bite us. Also, Josh Sharpless cleared waivers and is headed to Indianapolis. One would think Sharpless would be more interesting to other teams than Youman, but I guess there's just that much desperation for guys who can start, however badly.

-P- The Rays and Twins are "close" to swapping youngsters Delmon Young and Matt Garza. The Twins would get Young, shortstop Brendan Harris, and minor league outfielder Jason Pridie, while the Rays would get Garza, shortstop Jason Bartlett and reliever Juan Rincon.

I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop on this one; this can't be right. I get that the Rays need pitching and defense, and that this trade would address both those needs by adding a very good young pitcher in Garza, a better defensive shortstop in Bartlett and a pretty good reliever in Rincon. But Rincon had a terrible second half last year, Harris is probably better offensively than Bartlett, Garza is almost two years older than Young, and Pridie is a real prospect, not a throw-in.

Also, whatever questions about Young may exist about his makeup or about his control of the strike zone, his upside is still just tremendous - just for reference, three of his top four comparables at Baseball Reference are Tris Speaker, Roberto Clemente and Joe Kelley. And Young has the top-prospect pedigree to boot. He could easily flame out, or he could emerge as a superstar as soon as next year. Garza's a terrific young pitcher but there isn't a pitcher in baseball I'd trade for Young - and Bartlett and Rincon aren't nearly good enough as complementary pieces to make me trade him. Believe it or not, over the past couple years, Tampa Bay has been a very well-run franchise, so I have to think there's some piece of information I'm missing here, because from my vantage point it looks like the Rays are getting hosed.

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.00001% chance

Of course, the most likely scenario with Youman is that he has exactly one good game for the Phils and it comes against us.

The Delmon Young rumor sounds like the Rays defying the basic principle of multiplayer trades: the team that gets the single best player in the trade wins. The Rays will be sorry if they do this one. Trading one top talent to fill multiple holes is the sort of thing you do when you're on the fringe of the post-season, not when you're struggling to get out of last place.

by WTM on Nov 28, 2007 6:00 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Delmon

"Garza's a terrific young pitcher but there isn't a pitcher in baseball I'd trade for Young."

Wow. That's quite a compliment. I don't know if I'd trade him for Garza, but I'd take a Peavy, Santana, Oswalt-type pitcher in a heartbeat.

by bolton on Nov 28, 2007 11:00 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Even...

given those guys' contract situations?

by Charlie on Nov 29, 2007 2:41 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

DY

Thought you were writing about talent alone. Yes, if I were the Twins GM I might be reluctant to take on that much salary.

by bolton on Nov 29, 2007 2:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I meant

The Rays.

by bolton on Nov 29, 2007 2:33 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

It's a done deal

AP says: Young, Harris and Pridie for Garza, Bartlett and Morlan.

by bucdaddy on Nov 28, 2007 11:17 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Attitude

Delmon's always had attitude issues, and they also have the entire Elijah Dukes Lifetime Special to deal with. Not to mention guys like Crawford, Baldelli, Gomes, and others in the OF.

There's a lot of debate on whether Delmon will be another Vlad Guerrero or another Garret Anderson. If he's the next Vlad (Guerrero, not our Vlad <g>) then Tampa blew it. But if he tops out as Garret, a good but not great player, then Tampa can win on this deal.

Personally, I do agree that it's a deal I wouldn't make as Tampa Bay but there's no denying that Garza has the potential to be an ace. Combine him with Kazmir, Shields, David Price, Jake McGee, Jeff Niemann, Hellickson, and the other crop of very good young arms down there and you have some serious bargaining power later to make other moves.

by OmarMoreno18 on Nov 28, 2007 11:21 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Don't forget BJ

I think both teams got better. Each dealt from surplus and got things they need.

Yeah, Delmon might turn out to be great, but don't forget TB has BJ Upton in the OF, along with Crawford, Baldelli, Gomes, even Dukes. TB is loaded with young offensive talent just about everywhere. They need defense, particularly at SS--Bartlett--and they're getting a terrific young starter in Garza to go with Kazmir and Shields in '08. Then they can watch Price, McGee Nieman, etc. develop to fill out their rotation in a couple of years. But don't overlook Morlan. A 21 yr. old kid who tore up high A ball and finished the year with a couple of games in AA--99 Ks in 69 2/3 innings. TB is finally putting together a decent pen to go with everything else.

Young hitting between Mauer and Morneau instantly makes Minn. into an offensive machine. Brendan Harris will probably play 2B for them and he's a big upgrade offensively over Alexi Casilla and he's got a decent glove there. The Twins are loaded with young arms, and could part with Garza.

But now what do they do with Santana. That's going to be very interesting.

by rogero on Nov 28, 2007 11:43 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

And Don't Forget

The Rays will once again have the number one pick, so they can replace Delmon Young's bat with Pedro Alvarez.

Have to figure the Twins will trade Santana for a package that includes a center fielder (Melky Cabrera, Jacoby Ellsbury?) and at least two pitching prospects.

by bolton on Nov 29, 2007 12:12 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs