Martin Prado For Delmon Young?
By MJ Lloyd
Now that the “for sale” sign has been firmly planted in Martin Prado, teams are lining up to fan the rumor flames of the Hot Stove League. The Rockies showed up last week in the news and I was underwhelmed with the unofficial offer of Seth Smith. The Tigers joined the mix on Monday with a potential Delmon Young offering according to MLB Trade Rumors…
"Morosi adds that the Tigers are willing to trade left fielder Delmon Young for the right second baseman, but it’s not known whether the Braves are interested.*snip*Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski said Friday on MLB Network Radio to host Jim Bowden, “We’re not going to non-tender Delmon Young. I mean, that’s just not going to happen.” Young, 26, hit .274/.298/.458 in 178 plate appearances for the Tigers after coming over in an August trade, adding five postseason home runs. With a projected $6.3MM salary, Young was thought to be a non-tender candidate for the Twins but is currently penciled in as the Tigers’ left fielder for 2012."
That’s awfully nice of the Tigers to open the trade speculation for Prado with a player that the General Manager had to announce they weren’t going to non-tender. Maybe they can throw in that kid at the concession stand who keeps dropping his retainer in the deep fryer but his uncle work in the front office so they can’t fire him.
Former NUMBER ONE OVERALL pick, Young, had a career year in 2010 with the Twins hitting 21 home runs and a .298/.333/.493 (AVG/OBP/SLG) slash line. He even played slightly less terrible defense in left feld, -10.0 UZR (ultimate zone rating), than the previous two seasons but a blindfolded Brett Gardner is still probably better.
In 2011, Young was only below average in the outfield with a -2.8 UZR but the Twins dealt him to the Tigers anyway. He finished the year with 12 home runs and a .268/.302/.393 line. Young belted five (5!) home runs during the ALDS and ALCS this year but his .235/.278/.676 line didn’t help the Tigers reach the World Series.
Prado finished 2011 with the same .302 OBP as Young but he hit one more home run and can at least play defense at multiple positions well above the traffic cone level. Plus, Young should cost more than Prado anyway. I’m going to add Delmon Young and the Tigers to a growing list of trades I wouldn’t make.
I expect the Mazaltan Fighting Guacamole to make a more enticing offer this weekend.