The combination of the D-Rays' talent grind, and Young's soft-spoken personality cause us to edge back just slightly on this promising star's ranking.

In the purer light of the farm, though, Delmon, still only 19, has proven himself one of the bright talents in the D-Rays farm system. He has often been compared to Albert Belle, albeit minus the attitude, for the way he attacks the ball at the plate.

With the Montgomery Biscuits he turned in a very solid 20 home runs, 71 RBIs  in 330 at-bats for a .336 average and a .582 slugging percentage from April to the middle of July.

On July 15, 2005, Young was promoted to Triple-A Durham. His average to date runs at .277, and his number of dingers has dropped 72% to 2, suggesting that he's getting adjusted to the higher level of competition.  We expect him to draw closer to a .300 season in Durham as he adjusts to the International League's pitching.

Making his home just North of Los Angeles, in the farming and military town of Camarillo, California, he hit .542 with 17 homers and 56 RBI as a junior at Adolfo Camarillo High, becoming the first junior to earn California Player of the Year honors since Oakland A’s third baseman Eric Chavez in 1995. He followed that up with a super senior season and was selected by Tampa Bay with the overall first pick in the 2003 draft.

The number one draft pick overall in the 2003 draft, his contract negotiations, which landed him a whopping $5.8 million guarantee, delayed his ability to play that season.

He made up for it in 2004, hitting .322-25-116 in 131 games for Class A Charleston. He also stole 21 bases and was the only minor-league player to reach the 20-20 mark.

Delmon is the younger brother of Detroit Tigers first baseman Dmitri Young, who was the fourth overall selection by St. Louis in the 1991 draft. He grew up idolizing his brother and superstars Vladimir Guerrero and Manny Ramirez.

 “My brother and I still talk 2-3 times a week,’’ he says.

Young has a lot of things going for him. His draft rank, talent, and substantial salary guarantee virtually assure him a place at the Devil Rays' dugout. He'll earn it though, with a lighting arm on the D-side, and a quick and powerful bat at the plate.

Older scouting reports show a modest weakness to the inside fastball. It was what slowed him down a bit in the SAL, although he adjusted to the strategy and has since shown little sign of repeating that exposure problem by making some minor adjustments in stance and swing.  Current word on the grapevine is that weight and age may be the only things that present a liablity for Mr. Young, as scouts comment on his older brother Dmitri's issues.

We expect his full promotion will probably be some time in the early part of the 2006 season.  Last year he was too green to rank at this level. This year we think that he's just passed BJ Upton as the best minor leaguer in the D-Rays system, and he may, by the end of 2006 or 2007, outshine other recent graduates to the major leagues in the D-Rays organization like Rocco Baldelli and Joey Gathright.

Barring disaster, the brass ring of the big leagues is a when, not an if, for this very talented athlete.

See Also: MLN FAB50™ 2004; Tampa Devil Rays Team Notes