I posted this in another thread, but I thought it merited its own fan post. So here goes:

In all of the talk about the Delmon Young trade, everybody blames Bill Smith. I am as guilty as anyone. My criticisms is not about this trade (good riddance) but about the trade that brought Young here in the first place. Bringing in Young was a bad trade then and it has only gotten worse. You just don’t trade two precious commodities for one player in a position of relative abundance. (And don’t talk to me about Harris and Pridie: They were fillers to grease the skids, nothing more.)

But what is missing is the sense that Delmon Young has underperformed his scouting projections in Minnesota by a huge margin. Those who say we gave away a former number 1 draft pick and BA top prospect are right. But is that our fault? If you had asked 30 scouts at the time of the trade, 28 would say his future was very bright. All 28 of those were wrong. Even among SABR-centric minor league aficionados on Sickels’ site, the initial consensus was that the Twins got the better end of the deal. It was no mere enthusiasm to expect something between Albert Belle and Vladamir Guerrero from Young.

Is it Bill Smith’s fault that he had one good year and three horseshit years? No. Is it the coaching staff’s fault? No. It’s on Delmon Young. By all accounts, he was one of the most talented players to ever wear a Twins uniform. The fact that he was the worst regular outfielder in Twins history (by the numbers) tells you how poorly he played here. I’m surprised nobody is outraged at what a dog he was.

Go ahead. Get it out. He’s a Tiger now. Now is not the time to play Minnesota nice. Let’s hear a collective Bronx cheer for the biggest disappointment to don a Twins uniform since David McCarty. Let’s give him the regular Chuck Knoblauch treatment when he comes to Target Field. He deserves it!