Milledge has batted .257/.326/.414 in a shade under 400 plate appearances spread across two seasons. That’s not great for a guy who slots more as a corner outfielder, but when you consider that he turns 23 in April, it’s just fine.

There have been questions about Milledge’s character ever since he was drafted, but there’s no denying his talent. I remember being impressed when I saw him at the Arizona Fall League in ‘05. I’d heard good things but the numbers didn’t overwhelm me. Every time I saw him bat (extremely small sample), he hit the ball with authority.

On the other side, Church gets on base and has some power. He’s sort of like Brad Wilkerson. That’s a pretty solid player, but it shouldn’t be enough to land a talent like Milledge, who could be among the best of his generation (not will be, could be; big difference).

Is Schneider enough to make up the difference? In a word, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

Oops, I said that out loud, didn’t I…

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• Capitol Punishment
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Post from: Knuckle Curve

Headed to Minnesota

Interesting deal for both sides. In Young, the Twins get a replacement for Torii Hunter, who recently bolted for the greener pastures of Anaheim. Although Young may have been a tad overrated by his former manager in Tampa Bay, the kid has game. Also, he’s young, cheap, and likely to improve.

Young hasn’t always been a model citizen, but there is a ton of upside here. He could outperform Hunter as soon as, well, right now. Given their financial situation, this is a shrewd pickup for the Twins.

Harris had a nice season at shortstop for the Devil Rays, but the sense I get is that he’s a bit stretched defensively at the position and might be better suited to second base or even a utility role. Then again, that’s what folks used to say about Bartlett, and he’s turned out to be a solid big-league shortstop, so who knows.

Pridie is a prototypical Devil Rays prospect — power, speed, no plate discipline. His stock had fallen in recent years, and in an organization as stacked as Tampa Bay’s, he wasn’t likely to get much of a shot.

Headed to Tampa Bay

On the other side, Garza was Minnesota’s #1 prospect headed into 2007 according to Baseball America, which said among other things that “calling him a No. 2 starter behind Johan Santana almost seems conservative.” For a team desperate to add depth to a rotation headed by Scott Kazmir and James Shields, the acquisition of Garza makes perfect sense.

Bartlett provides the Devil Rays with a more proven big-league shortstop, albeit one whose value is heavily tied to his ability to hit for a high batting average. Morlan, the other player coming to Tampa, is a native of Cuba who had been a starter before 2007 and who had been rated Minnesota’s #21 prospect by BA coming into the season. In his first campaign as a full-time reliever, the 21-year-old posted some impressive numbers (most notably 12.61 K/9) in the Florida State League.

Fun trade. It isn’t every day you see two of the top young talents in baseball swapped for each other.

Others Voices

• Twins Geek
• Rays Index
• crashburnalley

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Enter Tampa Bay Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon, talking about the fact that his outfielder, Delmon Young, didn’t win the AL Rookie of the Year:

It’s really disturbing. I can see him not winning the award, but leaving him off eight ballots is just a sign of personal prejudice.

In this case, “personal prejudice” is code for “understanding the criteria for determining excellence.” The folks who left Young off the ballot presumably recognized that a 91+ OPS from a corner outfielder just isn’t all that exciting.

Don’t get me wrong, Young has a bright future ahead of him if he can keep from doing Really Stupid Things, but aside from the batting average and RBI, his rookie season wasn’t special. Each writer gets to put three names on the ballot, and I could totally see going with Dustin Pedroia (an easy choice for #1 despite his Red Sox affiliation), Brian Bannister, and Daisuke Matsuzaka. I’m not sure that’s how I would have voted, but I think it’s perfectly justifiable without bringing any nonsense about “personal prejudice” into the discussion.

I think it’s wrong. At that point, it has nothing to do with the player’s performance. The award is not a popularity race.

Okay, how long has Maddon been in baseball? And he honestly believes that the award is not a popularity race? Is he even paying attention?

I don’t think there was any way he wasn’t one of the top three rookies in the league.

Right, but eight writers disagreed, and it’s a defensible position.

And how many other rookies in the history of the game played 162 games like he did?

So now excellence is a function of showing up to work every day. Sorry, but this doesn’t belong in the discussion at all. Still, give Maddon credit for defending his player even if it’s not entirely justified.

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Post from: Knuckle Curve

Another day, another poll. Today we’re looking at the American League Rookie of the Year, an award I haven’t talked too much about in this space. My preseason pick was Royals third baseman Alex Gordon, and although he finished with respectable numbers, he’s not my choice.

Neither is Tampa Bay’s Delmon Young. I expect him to win the award because of his big RBI numbers, but I’d go with Boston’s Dustin Pedroia. In addition to outhitting Young this year, Pedroia also plays second base.

Beyond Pedroia, you could make a decent case for Baltimore right-hander Jeremy Guthrie, although the fact that he managed just seven wins is probably a deal breaker in the voters’ eyes. Daisuke Matsuzaka? His season was better than he gets credit for, but with all the hype surrounding him, that’s just not good enough.

So. Who would get your vote?

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Quick comments:

• Kendall and Pierre have humongous contracts. Kendall’s is up at the end of the ‘07 season, but the Dodgers get to pay Pierre a total of $36.5 over the next four years. Good times.
• Punto’s futility at the plate borders on the historic. Since 1961, only seven players have had a worse OPS+ while qualifying for a league’s batting title; the most recent was Neifi Perez, playing for the Kansas City Royals in 2002.
• There aren’t really any bad-hitting corner outfielders. It’s surprising to see Bay at the bottom of the left fielders. We’ll cut Young some slack due to the fact that he’s starting in the big leagues at age 21. That makes up for a lot.

Kip Wells (6-16, 5.65, 76) could overtake Eaton, while Olsen’s lead over Dontrelle Willis (8-15, 5.27, 80) appears to be safe. Eaton is on pace to become the first pitcher to finish with a winning percentage while being at the absolute bottom of the ERA+ pile since Colby Lewis (10-9, 7.30, 68) did it in 2003 while “pitching” for the Texas Rangers.

Post from: Knuckle Curve