Delmon Young Traded to Detroit

As Delmon Young takes the field tonight, it will be against the Twins rather than for them. In a trade announced Monday afternoon, the Minnesota Twins have traded Delmon Young for minor league left-handed pitcher Cole Nelson and a player to be named later.

Young, who has been with the Twins since 2008, has been big part of the Twins in his time with the team - but 2011 has proven to be a struggle to produce. The Tigers hope the change of scenery will boost his performance and shore up the Detroit offense as they try to hold on to their lead in the AL Central.

The Twins, who are 11.5 games behind Detroit, hope to improve their pitching staff with the trade for Cole Nelson. Nelson is an Edina, MN native who earned the title of all-conference pitcher during his high school career. He was drafted in the 10th round of last year's First-Year Player Draft out of Auburn.

The Twins and Detroit start a three-game series tonight in Detroit as Minnesota hopes to steal a couple games from the division-leading Tigers. The series opens with Francisco Liriano facing off against Rick Porcello on the mound.

Source: Minnesota Twins