Melbourne Aces sign Delmon Young

Former MLB player Delmon Young has signed a deal with the Melbourne Aces for the upcoming 2017/2018 season.

Last season the Aces caught a big fish when they signed Jeremy Guthry, who eventually pitched only a few games due to MLB contract issues. But apparently, the Aces liked to have an MLB player in their ranks as they signed Young to a contract.

Young doesn’t really have a clean slate as he had several issues with umpires. During his stint with the Montgomery Biscuits (AA affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays), Young bumped an umpire once. At AAA Durham it got even worse as he flung a bat to the home plate umpire. In 2012, Young was arrested for shouting anti-Semitic slurs while being intoxicated. Early 2016 he was arrested for battery, choking a valet of a hotel.

If we put these temper issues aside and look at his career, he had a nice 10-year career in the majors. He broke into the bigs in 2006 with the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays. In that season he played thirty games with a batting average of .317. After the 2007 season, the Devil Rays traded Young to the Minnesota Twins as part of the deal that brought Matt Garza to St. Petersburg. Young played the with the Twins for the biggest chunk of his career. Other MLB clubs he played for are the Detroit Tigers (2011-2012), Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays (both 2013) and the Baltimore Orioles (2014 and 2015).
Young posted a .283 lifetime batting average with 109 home runs, 11 triples and 218 double. 

The Melbourne Aces were founded in 2009. The team played its inaugural season in the Australian Baseball League in 2010/2011. In that first season, the Aces reached the playoffs where they were ousted by the Adelaide Bite in the semifinals. Twice the Aces managed to reach the finals but in both cases, they lost. In the 2011/2012 season they fell to the Perth Heat and in the 2016/2017 season they lost to the Brisbane Bandits.