Delmon Young, OF, Tampa Bay Devil Rays

April 7, 2006 @ 14:29:34

By Bryce McRae
Edited by KFFL Staff

Background

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays have not been good to their fans in recent years.  The team has a 518-775 (.401 winning percentage) all-time record since their inception in 1998, and unlike their fellow expansion team the Arizona Diamondbacks (who won the World Series in 2001), they have never threatened for a division title, let alone a World Series title.  However, all hope is not lost if you are a Devil Rays fan as the future looks brighter then ever.  The Devil Rays have several young prospects who are ready to make a impact at the major league level.  Outfielder Carl Crawford, outfielder Joey Gathright, outfielder Rocco Baldelli, infielder Aubrey Huff and starting pitcher Scott Kazmir are all players on the Devil Rays who, while not household names yet, could be in the near future.

According to most baseball experts, the best prospect in the Devil Rays organization is outfielder Delmon Young, the first overall draft pick by the Devil Rays in 2003.  Some of Young's earlier career highlights include being named California prep player of the year in 2002 (first junior to win the distinction since Oakland Athletics third baseman Eric Chavez) and setting a United States junior national record for most home runs.  In 2002, he competed in the Junior World Championships for the United States, hitting nine home runs and batting in 16 runs in just nine games.  He has also won numerous awards, including Baseball America's 2005 award for Minor League Player of the Year.

Positives

Young is the complete five-tool player, having the arm and speed to play either of the corner outfield positions and the bat to be a threat to go deep anytime.  Let's look at some stats from his time in the minors to back up these points.

Table: Delmon Young minor league statistics

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP.	SLG.	AVG.
2004	A-Charleston	131	513	95	164	26	5	25	115	53	120	21	6	.386	.536	.320
2005	AA-Montgomery	84	330	59	111	13	4	20	71	25	66	25	8	.386	.582	.336
2005	AAA-Durham	52	228	33	65	13	3	6	28	4	33	7	4	.303	.447	.285
Totals:	--	267	1071	187	340	52	12	51	214	82	219	53	18	.370	.531	.317

As can be seen by these statistics, Young can hit for power as well as average, he has the speed to rack up doubles, triples and stolen bases and he has proved it at every level except the major leagues.

He also has the big-league pedigree, as he has grown up around baseball players, his brother being selected in the first round of the 1991 MLB draft.  He also stepped in when he was 18 and competed with the best minor league baseball prospects in the Arizona Fall League, one of the tougher leagues in minor league baseball.

As a fantasy option, Young should provide you with great stats in each one of the big five stat categories (home runs, RBI, average, stolen bases and runs). Also, he is still young so those in dynasty leagues should be able to enjoy him for years.  He also has never suffered any major injuries in his career, which is always a bonus.

Negatives

Young has what one might call attitude problems.  He feels as though the Devil Rays are being cheap and don't want him to hit free agency soon (he has threatened to leave once his contract ends) and this is the main reason why they have not called him up.  While this could just be a case of paranoia, he does have a point as he has proven at each level that he can succeed. 

Also, Young will need to get his strikeouts under control and be more patient at the plate.  In his three years in the minor leagues he has 219 strikeouts compared to 82 walks.  This won't directly affect his fantasy status but it is definitely not a bonus.  However, other teams have shown they can forgive this (Atlanta Braves and outfielder Jeff Francoeur) and the Devil Rays will most likely be able to do the same.

From a fantasy point of view, Young is also behind three talented, and young, outfielders on the Tampa Bay roster.  Crawford is one of the best lead-off men in the majors while Gathright and Baldelli are both above average players at their respective positions.  Young will most likely have to unseat Baldelli or Gathright to get a chance at the major league level, and even at that time it could be as a platoon option, two of the worst words a fantasy owner could hear.

Summary

Young might have a few attitude problems and it can be said that there is no love lost between him and the Devil Rays organization, however, most of his problems with the team stem from a lack of respect he feels he is being shown by the organization.  This could easily be repaired by the team calling him up.

When the team signed him to a contract in 2003, it was a major league deal, meaning the team had four years for Young to make the team's major league roster or else he would be placed on waivers.  Therefore, one would expect him to be playing major league ball soon.  Young might accuse the team of being cheap (the sooner he comes up, the sooner he can hit free agency) but it appears the team is just being cautious they don't expose their franchise player to too much at an early age.  They don't want to have another Josh Hamilton (Tampa Bay's No. 1 overall draft pick in 1999) on their hands.  It is also a similar approach that they took with Crawford and Baldelli, choosing to bring them up slowly.

They can't, however, keep Young quiet (both his mouth and his bat) forever so expect him to be called up and stay in the majors sooner rather than later. Once there, he is as sure a thing as you can get for a future franchise player; think Cincinnati Reds outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. (before injuries) or former New York Mets outfielder Darryl Strawberry (before his personal problems).  Ironically, both those players provide good examples as to why the Devil Rays are being so cautious with Young.

If he is available in your league, he is definitely worth picking up, although you may have to store him away for a little while.  In dynasty leagues, if available, sign him.  A year or two ago people might have gone " who?" when you picked him up but now the last laugh should be on them.

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Bryce McRae
Bryce McRae is a Managing Editor with KFFL and has been involved in fantasy sports since 1999. He joined KFFL as a volunteer writer in March 2005 before becoming a Hot off the Wire Analyst in March 2006. He began working in his current capacity in September 2008. His work has appeared on fantasy sports sites such as Yahoo! and CBS Sportsline as well as in print. He graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2008 with a B.A. in History and U.S. Studies.

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