Twins Looking to Trade Delmon Young, Acquire Jarrod Washburn (WHAT?!)

Ken Rosenthal of foxsports.com is reporting that the Twins are looking to trade left fielder Delmon Young. They also have been interested in acquiring Seattle starting pitcher Jarrod Washburn.

Rosenthal said that these two players could be part of a bigger trade involving the two teams.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What? Yeah, that made me do a double-take, too.

Luckily, I was not drinking anything when I read this article, or I would be shopping for a new monitor and/or keyboard right now.

Even more good news, Rosenthal said the two organizations have not talked in over a month. Whew.

Still, this report inflamed me enough to persuade the Twins into not shopping Delmon Young.

First, exactly what reason do they have to trade him?

Because he struggled in his first year as a Twin? So did Johan Santana, and so did Carlos Gomez. The Twins never went out looking to trade them right away.

Because there is a logjam in the outfield, with five outfielders competing for three outfield and a designated hitter spot? Michael Cuddyer proved in 2008 that these guys are susceptible to long-term injury, so what's wrong with having a little depth?

Or maybe, could it be because he can't get a good offensive year together in the Metrodome, killer of knees? 2009 is the last season of the Dome, and the Twins will be moving to greener pastures. Couldn't they just platoon him around left field and designated hitter until then?

No matter what reason, unless they could acquire players light years ahead of Young, the Twins have no business to be trading Delmon Young. Young is a blossoming power hitter, with the potential to hit 30 to 40 homers in a year, according to scouts.

Coming off a poor season, the Twins will get nowhere near the amount of talent they gave up to get him in the first place.

Delmon Young is an investment. The Twins gave up former first round draft pick Matt Garza, who went 11-9 with a 3.70 ERA; as well as great defensive shortstop Jason Bartlett, who hit .286 and stole 20 bases.

Garza is very well the reason why the Tampa Bay Rays made the World Series. Without Garza stepping up to pitch that gem against Boston, we could have seen the then-defending champions go back-to-back.

And now, the Twins could possibly be looking to acquire the likes of Jarrod Washburn, for the Mariners to take Young off their hands?

Sure, Young struggled a little early on in the year, but he put it together in the second half. His second half line:

.297 Batting average, 7 home runs, 33 runs batted in, .777 OPS

Next, let's take a look at who they may be getting back.

Washburn, 35 in August, has not had a good season since 2002. Actually, that was the only good season in this 11-year veteran's career. He went to Seattle, where he has not even had a winning season in three years with the team.

How can Jarrod Washburn live up to the Twins' standards?

The Twins are in love with cheap, young, talented players. Washburn doesn't fit any of the above criteria. The past two years, Washburn, 34, has been paid $9.85 million dollars by the Mariners to get progressively worse. I don't know how he could regress any more in 2009 after these abysmal 2008 numbers:

5-14, 4.69 ERA, 87 K, 50 BB, 174 hits, 1.45 WHIP, 153 IP

What use would he possibly serve this team? The Twins' rotation is overflowing with talent. Liriano and Baker anchor the top of the rotation, followed by Slowey, and Blackburn and Perkins hold down the back end. This rotation was one of the best young rotations in baseball. Not one of those five kids lost more games than he won, and only Blackburn and Perkins, both rookies, had an ERA over 4.

As if they didn't have enough in the rotation, Phil Humber, Kevin Mulvey, and Boof Bonser should also be competing for a rotation spot in Spring Training if anyone is injured or moved into the bullpen.

Washburn isn't even comparable to anyone in the Twins' rotation, so exactly what would the point of this trade do? It would either cost a very talented kid with a bright future a job in the rotation, or give the Twins a relief pitcher making over $9 million dollars a year.

To put that into perspective, Joe Nathan, the Twins' All-Star closer, made about $6 million this past year.

As if that wasn't ludicrous enough, Jarrod Washburn would come in as the worst-performing and highest-paid player on the Twins roster.

In 2008, here were the five highest salaries on the Twins' roster:

1. 1B Justin Morneau - $8,400,000
2. C Joe Mauer - $6,250,000
3. RP Joe Nathan - $6,000,000
4. RF Michael Cuddyer - $5,916,666
5. SS Nick Punto - $2,400,000

Washburn would be coming in and making over a million dollars more than the team's best hitter. Washburn, barring a major 2009 turnaround, would be a lock as worst pitcher on the Twins' 25-man roster.

Finally, I think the Twins have enough of the Mariners' garbage around. The Twins picked up R.A. Dickey from the Mariners this winter, who in 2008, tossed 112 innings with a 5.21 ERA, striking out 58, and walking 51.

Is it really necessary for the Twins to pick up two of some of the worst Seattle pitchers in recent memory? Sure Carlos Silva was a disaster for them, but he was a decent innings-eater in Minnesota.

I rest my case. Hopefully you follow suit and rest your trade talks involving Young, Minnesota Twins.