Delmon Young Traded to Tigers

Delmon Young was traded to the Twins' AL Central rival Detroit Tigers on Monday and did not disappoint in his debut with his new team. In his first at bat against Francisco Liriano, Young hit a home run in his first at bat as a Tiger. It was only Young's 5th home run of the season and Young finished the night 2-4 with just the RBI from the home run.

Young was traded for a minor league pitcher in Class A who has an ERA just south of 5 and was a former 10th round pick. Some trade...

The Twins won the game 9-6 and Young was barely the story of the night. Jim Thome hit his 599th and 600th home runs last night to join the 600 home run club. Thome had not hit a home run since August 4th. The Detroit Tigers honored him by posting a congratulatory message on the scoreboard after he hit number 600. Thome also received a standing ovation from the Detroit Tigers fan as he rounded the bases.

I Went to the Game Last Night and

Wow! What a game. First of all, I was absolutely positive we were going to lose after the first inning. Once Liriano gets off to a Shaky start, you can pretty much count on him to be pretty bad for the rest of the game. I was partially right, he still couldn't throw a strike to save his life, but he threw enough good pitches to get himself through the game. The first four innings were god awful. The Twins kept threatening but couldn't get any timely hitting. That all changed when Danny Valencia stepped to the plate with Michael Cuddyer on first base. He hit a huge double that would give the Twins their first lead. The Twins weren't done just yet, Smelmon Young got another hit, scoring a run. Lastly, Trevor Plouffe it a two run moon shot (pictured left receiving high fives after his homer last night).

My favorite part about this? This was all done with two outs. We couldn't get a big hit the whole game, and then three people stepped up one after another. this was a game the Twins should have lost because of the shaky start they got from Liriano and because of the two errors they committed (really three, if you count that grounder Nishioka bobbled that was ruled a hit). So congrats to the Twins on a big game last night and hopefully they keep it up and can sweep the Royals.

Delmon Young scheduled to be back

After last year’s breakout season Twins fans everywhere had high hopes for outfielder Delmon Young. Unfortunately, the much improved Young suffered a left oblique strain early in the season hasn’t taken a major league at bat since April 18th. Fortunately for Twins fans everywhere Young is scheduled to return this Friday when the Twins take on the Toronto Blue Jays.

If Delmon can get back to last year’s form where he drove in 112 RBI and batted .298 (which is basically .300 in my book) then it will be a much needed offensive boost for the struggling Twins.

Minnesota Twins Homestand

The Minnesota Twins have the talent - Mauer, Morneau, Thome, Kubel, Cuddyer, Young, Valencia, Span, Nishioka, etc. We know the 7-12 record is not an indication of what they are capable of. A lot of people will say it's the starting pitching or perhaps the new bullpen. Right now, the offense needs to swing the bats better. Let's just say the Twins have more to be desired in the offensive statistics categories and they will need to do more with the bats. The pitching has not gotten a lot of run support and that is part of the issue. We are 30th in runs scored and that stat must improve. Let's get after it on this homestand.

Minnesota Twins Split With Baltimore Orioles

The Minnesota Twins split a 4 game series with the Baltimore Orioles this week at Camden Yards. The Twins took the opener and the closing game, sandwiched in between were two victories by the Birds. So, after 19 games the Twins sit at 7-12. Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Delmon Young, and Tsuyoshi Nishioka have been out of the lineup at times, making it a little harder on the manager without his regulars. After an 8 game roadtrip, the Twins will now have a 6 game homestand. They will host the Cleveland Indians for 3 and the red-hot Tampa Bay Rays for 3. The Indians are 13-6 and lead the AL Central. This series is a nice time to gain some ground.

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Delmon Young Gets a Raise

The Minnesota Twins and Delmon Young avoided arbitration. The two sides agreed to a one-year contract for 2011, worth $5.375 million. Delmon Young had a breakout season last year, batting .298 with 21 home runs and a team-high 112 RBIs. He made $2.6 million last season. Congratulations to Mr. Young, you earned the raise. Hopefully Delmon can continue his pace and show he's a player to be reckoned with in baseball.

PS - Delmon Young was on the cover of MLB Sporting New Baseball last month with Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers.

Francisco Liriano and Minnesota Twins Reach Deal

The Minnesota Twins and Francisco Liriano avoided arbitration over the weekend, agreeing to a 1-year, $4.3 million deal. The new one-year deal is a signficant raise for Liriano, who last year through arbitration with the Twins agreed to a $1.6 million deal. The two sides met exactly in the middle this time as the pitcher asked for $5 million and the club countered with an offer of $3.6 million. Liriano went 14-10 last season with a solid 3.62 ERA. He had scoreless inning streaks of 23 and 21. This is a very affordable deal. The deal leaves only Delmon Young left in the arbitration process.

How Sweep it Is: Minnesota Twins Takes All 3 Games from Chicago White Sox

The Minnesota Twins defeated the Chicago White Sox 8-5 last night to push their AL Central lead to 9 games and magic number to 8. Carl Pavano got his 17th win of the season, Delmon Young hit his 18th home run, and Matt Capps earned his 13th save. Things started a little dicey, when Carl Pavano came up and in on Paul Konerko. Konerko was hit in the nose by the pitch and stayed in the game while the trainer was attempting to pull him from the game. Mark Buerhle retaliated when they hit Michael Cuddyer the next inning. The AL Central is now virtually locked up and the Minnesota Twins are back home against the Oakland Athletics on Friday night. We now are tied with the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees for most wins in the American League.

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Minnesota Twins Take Down Chicago White Sox 9-3

The Minnesota Twins defeated the Chicago White Sox 9-3 in the opening game of a 3 game set in Chicago. The win puts Minnesota 7 games up on Chicago with 18 games left. Clearly nothing is over until it's over, but barring a major collapse, Minnesota should expect an AL Central crown. Francisco Liriano went 6 innings to earn his 14th victory of the season. Delmon Young hit his 17th home run of the season on his 25th birthday, JJ Hardy was 2-4, and Denard Span had a bases clearing Alex Rios error (bobble in center field) to end with 4 RBI's.

Jesse Crain also got out of a big jam and struck out MVP candidate Paul Konerko and slugger Manny Ramirez with the bases loaded in the 7th inning. Crain has been unbelievable since June. The Minnesota Twins now stand 86-58 and only trail the New York Yankees (88 wins) and Tampa Bay Rays (87 wins) in wins in the MLB. Keep an eye with those two teams as it will most likely determine who the Twins could face in the first round of the playoffs, as well as home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Minnesota Twins and Baltimore Orioles Recap, Carl Pavano, & Delmon Young

The Minnesota Twins took 3 of 4 against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards over the weekend. In a hot and humid environment, the Minnesota Twins were able to nearly sweep the Orioles if not for a 3-2 loss on Friday night. They now sit 1 game back from the Chicago White Sox and visit Kansas City for a 3 game series. Here are some notes from the series:

-Delmon Young went 8/17 with 7 rbi. His stat line is now .322, 13 home runs, and 74 rbi. Talk about a turn around.

-Carl Pavano pitched a complete game 5-0 shutout on Thursday. He's 12-6 with 5 complete games. Talk about a steal over the offseason, Bill Smith looks pretty good on that one.

-Jason Kubel hit another grand slam and Denard Span made another incredible catch

-Orlando Hudson went to the DL because of an oblique strain, Jose Morales was recalled from AAA, and Justin Morneau is still out

Minnesota Twins take 2 of 3 from Detroit Tigers, Tampa Bay Rays up Next

The Minnesota Twins won the rubber match yesterday afternoon 5-1 against the Detroit Tigers. Justin Morneau hit his 16th home run, Kevin Slowey pitched 6 innings, and the Twins pushed their division lead to 1 1/2 games. Joe Mauer got the day off so backup Drew Butera caught. Outfielder Delmon Young moved up to the #3 spot after hitting in the #7 spot almost all year. Young went 1-4 with 1 RBI in his first appearance in the third spot, where Joe Mauer usually bats. Michael Cuddyer played 3rd base again which allows Jason Kubel to play right field and Jim Thome at the designated hitter position. The Minnesota Twins now start a 4 game series against the Tampa Bay Rays. Carl Pavano will get the mound and has pitched 2 consecutive complete games.