"Delmon is not just a Devil Rays prospect; he's also a Durham Bull," said Mike Birling, the Bulls' general manager. "We hold our team to a high standard of conduct and this was just unacceptable. I'm confident the International League and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays will deal with Delmon appropriately."
ESPN.com has a statement from Young, released through his agent.
"I sincerely regret my actions in the game yesterday," Young said in a statement released by the office of his agent, Arn Tellem. "Regrettably, in the heat of the competition my emotions got the better of me.
"My behavior was completely unacceptable. I want everyone to know that I recognize that it is never right to throw a bat and I certainly never intended for the bat to make contact with the umpire. Nevertheless, I owe an apology to my team, the fans and most importantly to the umpire, for the incident. I am sorry."
Over at Baseball America, where Young is rated as the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball, has a story for subscribers only titled, Young Still Needs Work on Maturity. An excerpt:
"Delmon is an amazing talent as a baseball player," one Devil Rays official said. "But he just doesn't know how to deal with people very well. He's young, yes, but he's very arrogant and tends to really come across the wrong way in conversations sometimes."
So the last thing Young needs to get ready for the big leagues probably is not a physical skill, but rather maturity. After his Minor League Player of the Year performance last year, for example, Young focused not on the success of his season but on the Devil Rays' decision not to give him a September callup, calling the organization cheap.
"I don't think anybody in this locker room is feeling sorry for him," Devil Rays outfielder Aubrey Huff said at the time. "A lot of guys worked hard to get here. He rubbed a lot of people in here the wrong way. It was the wrong thing to say. He showed a little immaturity and that's why he's not here. It takes a lot of nerve to say the organization is cheap when you got $5.8 million (to sign)."
And there were plenty of Delmon Young questions on today's chat with Chris Kline.
Including this one right out of the box:
Q: Scott from Henderson, NV asks: Is it conceivable that the DRays could call Delmon Young up thereby foregoing his International League Suspension?
A:...Chris Kline: Scott, that was the initial question I received yesterday, but Rays' GM Andrew Friedman seems to agree with whatever the suspension ends up being in the IL, they'll honor that. And after seeing that "flip," by Delmon, he deserves whatever he gets. When you think of minor league suspensions in the past, regardless of the offense, you think '10 games.' But Delmon might fall victim of more time, simply because the league wants to send a message--not because of the offense, but because of the situation with minor league umpires. What is the severity of his offense? Is it worse than last season, when Esix Snead, then with Richmond, jumped David Bush (Syracuse) on the mound, beating him with his batting helmet? I guess that's something only IL president Randy Mobley can decide. But I think it'll be more than 10 games (which is what Snead ended up getting last season), simply based on the fact that replacement umpires were officiating the game and the league doesn't want to acknowledge that wasn't a factor in what Delmon did. It certainly was, but at the same time, he needs to learn to respect the game . . . and he'll have a long time to think about that, and those thoughts will come in Triple-A, not the big leagues.
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