Detroit Tigers: How Big of an Impact Will Delmon Young Have?

The Tigers traded for Delmon Young on Monday in a very surprising deal.  This shows that the Tigers are doing whatever it takes to win the AL Central and that the Twins realize they're out of the playoff race.

Will Young be enough to finally get Detroit over the hump, though?  Here's a look at the impact he'll likely have.

Defensive Improvement

Delmon Young will cause Detroit's outfield to be better defensively.  Young will play left field, while Brennan Boesch will be moved over to right.

This means that we won't see much of Magglio Ordonez in the outfield anymore.  This is a good thing, though, as his defense was simply not very good.  He was extremely slow and couldn't exactly run down balls anymore.  Balls hit in the gap near him were sure doubles or triples.

The Tigers' outfield looks to be solid defensively now.  It is also very young, as Boesch, Austin Jackson and Young have all only been in the Majors for a few years.  In fact, there's a good chance that this could be the look of Detroit's outfield for years to come.

Less Magglio Ordonez

As sad as it is to see, it finally looks like Magglio Ordonez's time in Detroit could be coming to an end.  He will be remembered by Tiger fans forever though, as he supplied fans with some great memories.  Perhaps the greatest memory of all for some people is his walk-off home run in the ALCS that sent the Tigers to the 2006 World Series.

He is just simply getting too old and does not hit well anymore.  He has not hit for power in a few years and unfortunately, he's not even hitting for average anymore.

He's been a huge part of Detroit for a long time and it will be sad to see him go.

Offensive Improvement

Delmon Young's offensive presence has already been felt, as he hit a homerun in his first at-bat as a Tiger.

It looks like Young will occupy the three spot in the lineup, taking the place of Magglio Ordonez.  He just wasn't doing anything offensively in that spot, and Young should be a big improvement.

Last year, Delmon had by far the best year of his career as he hit .298 with 21 homers and 112 RBI.  However, this year he has been slowed by injuries.

He is currently hitting .269, which isn't bad, but only has five homeruns.  It will be interesting to see if he can rebound and hit like he did last year, or if he'll continue to have the mediocre season that he is currently having.

If he can do what he did last year, the Tigers would likely make the playoffs.  Their offense is already the strong point on the team, and Young has the potential to make it a lot better.

Even though the Tigers needed pitching help more, they decided to go out and get a hitter, and hopefully it will pay off.  Even though he just joined the team, Delmon Young could potentially be a big factor in whether or not the Tigers make the playoffs.