Twins trade Garza for Delmon Young

Twins receive: Delmon Young (rh), Brendan Harris (rh), Jason Pridie (lh)
Rays receive: Matt Garza, Jason Bartlett, Eduardo Morlan (rhp)

Overall this trade does not have me doing cartwheels. I still have no idea how GM Billy Smith goes from giving up inneffectual Juan Rincon to giving up top prospect Eduardo Morlan. That was the last piece to the trade, and it was a blunder by Smith. I will not analyze the trade other than to say I agree with everything Aaron Gleeman writes on the subject.

One thing I will add is that by replacing Rincon with Morlan, the Twins acquired an extra player (in Pridie) who needs to be protected on their 40-man roster. While that may seem harmless enough, there are only so many spots the Twins have available. Morlan is not just a great prospect, but he is a year away from having to be protected. So in essence, the last part of the deal to be completed cost the Twins this:

1) a top five system prospect
2) a player to be determined who will be exposed to the Rule V draft
3) $2.5 million projected difference between Rincon's salary and his replacement's salary.
4) a couple of games in 2008, if Rincon is pitching.