Outfield Still Remains a Weakness After Delmon Young Signs 1-Year Deal

It’s official Phillies fans. Delmon Young has inked a 1-yr deal worth 750K to join the crowd of hopefuls looking to snag one of the open corner outfield spots. If you are unfamiliar with Young, his contract should tell you that this is not going to make waves in the baseball circles.

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Here is what you need to know about the Phils new left fielder.

– He was drafted first overall in 2003 by the Rays.

– He was later flipped to Minnesota for Matt Garza (I think TB won that one).

– After an un-ispiring stint with the Twins Young landed in Detroit where he provided some right handed pop, and even hit some clutch post season homers for the Tigers.

That’s Young’s career in a nutshell. What makes Young appealing to RAJ and Co., aside from the fact that they have few proven outfielders, is his right handed power. His 18 home runs could be a welcome addition to this power starved club. More likely though, Young’s baggage and previous deficiencies will follow him to Philadelphia.

While he provides a little pop, his OPS+ of 89 last year was well below average. His home run totals have never been astronomical, and he hasn’t shown constant gap power at any point in his career.

If that’s not enough to make you question this move, Young’s defensive attributes are nearly non-existant. You don’t need any fancy sabermetric notations to figure out that this guy can’t field. He played only 226 innings in the outfiled last year, primarily getting into the lineup as the Tigers DH. Without that luxury, Charlie will be hard pressed to find time for Young in the field without giving himself an ulcer. Of course, with all the potential outfielders in the mix Young could be yet another part of a platoon, or provide some power off the bench in the late innings. At the end of the day, 750K isn’t a huge investment for the Phillies. If Delmon gets hot in Spring Training he could reasonable expect 300-350 at bats. And if he can’t field more than a 10-foot radius then the Phillies can simply give him his walking papers. Don’t sweat this one too much Phillies fans, this move won’t make or break the 2013 season.