Young will play in Comerica Park, but as a Tiger

The Twins have traded outfielder Delmon Young to the Detroit Tigers for Edina native Cole Nelson, a lefthander pitcher, and a player to be named later.

Young leaned of the news on the team bus headed to Comerica Park for tonight's game against the Tigers. Then Tigers manager Jim Leyland called Young to tell him he's batting third against former teammate Francisco Liriano.

Young is in left,and Magglio Ordonez is in right. Hang with 'em Austin Jackson.

Nelson was 5-11 with a 4.87 ERA for Class A Lakeland with 85 strikeouts in 1051/3 innings. Nelson graduated from Edina High School and spent time at Des Moines Area Community College and Auburn. The Tigers drafted him in the 10th round of the 2010 draft.

The Twins also will receive a player to be named later.

The Tigers placed a waiver claim on Young, leading to trade discussions between the teams. The Twins were willing to move Young before the July 31 trade deadline but were unsuccessful.

The Twins have talked about adding speed to their outfield, and this move opens the door for Ben Revere and Denard Span to pair in the outfield next year. The Twins have offered contracts to both Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel, so one of them would be in right field next year.

The Twins landed Young before the 2008 season along with Brendan Harris for Matt Garza, Jason Bartlett and Eduardo Morlan. Many felt Young would develop into a big time power hitter, but he hasn't He did have a breakout year last season, batting .298 with 21 homers and a team-high 112 RBI. But he arrived at spring training this year with turf toe, which set him back. And he landed on the DL twice this year, with ankle and oblique injuries.

He was unable to take that next step, batting .266 with 4 homers and 32 RBI before the trade. He also was below average defensively, despite having a very strong arm.

Young,who turns 26 next month, is scheduled to make $5.375 million this year. So the Twins are saving about $1 million with the move. Young was going to get a raise through arbitration during to offseason, making him expensive to keep.