Last year at this time, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was juggling outfielders Delmon Young, Denard Span, Michael Cuddyer and Carlos Gomez to get them all regular playing time in the three outfield slots.

This year, Gardenhire has stated that the left field spot belongs to Delmon Young.

Young had his share of problems both on and off the field in '09, most notably weighing on him was that his mother Bonnie Young died last May following a three-month battle with liver and pancreatic cancer.

"Last year, my mom died and baseball became a way to get away from everything. In the offseason, I went through the grieving process. You can't really do that during the season when you're expected to go out there and perform. You want to win games and make a living too.

When you're platooning, it's hard to keep a rhythm, not knowing when you're going to be in there, but it's a great situation now. We're all looking forward to playing in it."

Last year Young hit .284 with 12 home runs, 60 RBI and two stolen bases in 108 games.

"He struggled off and on," Gardenhire said of Young's performance. "You define your own role out there. If you're playing really well, you stay in the lineup for us. You know what, we had a tough situation last year, with four outfielders and trying to make sure they all got at-bats. When they did perform, they played, and they stayed in there."

Young, a veteran now just turned 24 on Dec. 14, 2009. He now enters his fourth season in the big leagues and his third full one, having played 30 games for the Rays as a rookie in 2006.

"I don't think people realize how young I am, because I've been up since '06," Young said. "It's a learning curve. They say that you go from 24 to 26 and when you get to 27 you can have a breakout year. I'm hoping I can break out at 24."

Young, listed at 6-foot-3 and 202 pounds, said he weighed as much as 239 last season. He said he recently weighed in at 207, a size that prompted Gardenhire to wonder if he had been through a "shrink machine."

"We talked about him not running the bases very well last year," Gardenhire said. "He was a little bigger. This was something that he set his own mind out to do. He set a goal to lose some weight and get back to running the bases better. He came in great shape."

It's easy to forget but in 2003 Young, was ranked as the fourth best prospect in all of baseball by Scout.com, a true five tool outfielder.  The Devil Rays took Young #1 overall in the 2003 draft, and fast tracked him, or maybe he fast tracked himself, sometimes its hard to tell.

Young has quite a bit of MLB experience now including some playoff success too. He's been through a lot in his short career and at only 24 years old is now primed for a breakout year and the beginning of the All-Star career that many thought he would have. I would suggest that you have him on your fantasy radar as you may likely be able to pick him up for next to nothing, which in my eyes would be a steal.- David Ross

David, a paraplegic since a 1986 car accident, has been providing volunteer sports coverage for his local community paper in Mission, KS for over 20 years.

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