Smile Politely. Speak Directly. A Champaign-Urbana Culture Blog

When the Minnesota Twins traded Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett, two of their best young players whose last names didn't begin with "M," to the Tampa Bay Rays for Delmon Young this past offseason, it was bittersweet. Garza and Bartlett had shown a lot of potential for the Twins; Garza was a rare (for the Twins, anyway) right-handed power pitcher, and Bartlett was keeping stiffs like Juan Castro and Nick Punto from getting starts at shortstop. And then when Young got off to a slow start both in the field and at the plate this spring, things looked bleak. But Delmon has heated up over the past couple of months, and Twins fans are hoping that he can affect the American League Central race in a positive way the rest of the season.