:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/17635847/171089712.0.jpg)
The day has finally come, Phillies fans.
Delmon Young has been designated for assignment.
A move was expected today to make room for waiver pickup Casper Wells, who also plays the outfield. Adding Wells gave them too many men on the 25-man roster, but more notably it made Delmon Young redundant since it's a bad idea to carry a billion outfielders. I don't believe it's that hard to make Delmon Young redundant (a manatee in right field wearing a jersey and a hat could do that), but I want to thank Casper Wells for doing just that.
So now, Delmon Young is no more. He is an ex-parrot. Er, Phillie. In 291 plate appearances, he hit .261/.302/.397 with 8 home runs. His first at-bat as a Phillie, after his return from the disabled list, was a home run. If you're looking for the high water mark of "whoa, that's pretty neat" combined with "why did he do that now I have to say something good about him", that was it. On the plus side, Young didn't drunkenly shout racial slurs in front of people during his time with the Phillies. On the minus side, he made his weight incentives so I couldn't make fun of him. Well, for that specifically I couldn't make fun of him. There are tons of other things I made fun of him for, not the least of which was his terrible defense in right field (though I will grudgingly admit that he has a good arm).
You may note that Young has 291 plate appearances with the Phillies. That leaves him nine PA short of his next $150k bonus. Perhaps the Phillies could use that to buy a giveaway for a future game that says "WE'RE SORRY, PHILLIES FANS!" on it to make amends for letting Delmon Young onto the roster and into right field.
Goodbye, Delmon Young. No one will miss you.