With Twins outfield crowded, Young hopes to fit in

February 24, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — As a former No. 1 draft pick with a troubled past, Delmon Young was determined to do things his way in his first season with the Minnesota Twins.

That didn’t produce the results anyone expected, and now he finds himself in a crowded outfield needing to make a better impression the second time around.

While Matt Garza was establishing himself in Tampa Bay’s rotation and Jason Bartlett was playing steadily at shortstop for the AL champion Rays, Young was hitting .290 with 10 home runs and 69 RBIs for the Twins, who got him and infielder Brendan Harris in the six-player trade.

Young hit the ball on the ground 43.6 percent of the time in 2008, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. That wasn’t ideal for someone who was supposed to be the right-handed power hitter the team really needed.

Looking uncomfortable at the plate and in the field, Young seemed to carry a bit of a chip on his shoulder around the ballpark, too. He met the media with suspicion, and he was difficult at times for the coaches to work with.

“Sometimes you try to prove yourself and maybe he’s past that now,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He just wants to fit in and all those things. Get away from proving yourself to fitting in.”

Young hit .245 in April, .264 in May and didn’t hit his first home run until June 7 for a team that badly missed the 28 homers and 107 RBIs that Torii Hunter supplied the year before.

“It’s always tough when you’re coming over to a new organization, especially as a young player,” right fielder Michael Cuddyer said. “He had a lot of expectations on him. He was really replacing Torii. He was the bat replacing Torii.”

The trouble for Young is it could be harder to fit into the starting lineup in his second season in Minnesota.

Denard Span emerged last season as a table-setting force at the top of the lineup and a defensive dynamo, Carlos Gomez is electric and Cuddyer is healthy. That means the Twins have four outfielders vying for three spots. Jason Kubel is set as the everyday designated hitter.

“We’ve got so many stinking outfielders, it’s tough,” Gardenhire said.

The logjam had Young’s name in trade rumors over the winter. Gardenhire even omitted Young’s name from his ideal lineup when asked in December by a reporter, though the manager later downplayed that comment. At the team’s annual fan festival last month, Gardenhire pulled Young aside and delivered a straightforward message.

“You get to spring training, you guys are going to decide who is going to play. Not me,” Gardenhire said.

To be fair, Young wasn’t that bad. He hit .292 with nine homers in the second half of the season, including a .330 average in September while battling an injured ankle to help the Twins stay in the AL Central race.