Jason Bartlett

[Al from SoDak]

Jason Bartlett was born on October 30, 1979, in Mountain View, CA.

After high school he attended San Joaquin Delta College then the University of Oklahoma. He was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 13th round of the 2001 draft.

The Padres traded Bartlett to the Twins in 2002 for Brian Buchanan. The Twins had a plethora of outfielders at that time (Hunter, Jones, Mohr, Restovich, Kielty, even a young Michael Cuddyer) and they were moving a player who was expendable for a lottery ticket in A ball. That was a Terry Ryan special.

Bartlett debuted with the Twins in 2004. While in Minnesota, Bartlett filled the shortstop position admirably. After the 2007 season, Bartlett was traded to Tampa Bay in a blockbuster – Bartlett, Matt Garza, and Eddie Morlan for Delmon Young, Brendan Harris, and Jason Pridie. At the time Delmon Young was seen as a very promising young player. It didn’t work out for the Twins, but it did for Bartlett and the Rays.

In 2008, after years of losing, Tampa Bay turned it around, won their division and went to the World Series. Bartlett played great earning MVP votes that season.

Bartlett was traded to the San Diego Padres after the 2010 season. He would later come back to the Twins as a free agent for the 2014 season. The reunion did not last long as he played only three games.

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