Michael Young & the Damage Done

Make no mistake about it, despite Nolan Ryan's legendary status, despite Pudge Rodriguez's string of Gold Glove seasons, Michael Young is Mr. Ranger. I acknowledge it, applaud it, and yet still must ask the question: Who's playing 3rd base next season? If your answer is Michael Young, God help us all.

As a pure hitter, Michael Young retains much of what he was at his peak. Sure, his 2010 line of .284/.330/.444 is arguably his worst since 2002 and yes, he also set a career high in strikeouts. He also managed 20+ home run, 90+ rbi during the most magical season in Texas Rangers history. For that reason, I submit that Michael Young should go into next year as the new full-time Designated Hitter for the Texas Rangers.

Yesterday, Vladamir Guerrero's $9 million mutual option was declined by the Rangers, presumably in an effort to work out a cheaper deal with the slugger down the line, but if you look at how Vlad declined over the second half of the season, one could speculate the Rangers might be going in a different direction. Vlady played in 69 games after the All-Star break, compiling a line of .278/.322/.476 with 9 home runs and 40 rbi. Prior to the break, Vlad played in 83 games, with a line of .319/.364/.554, clubbing 20 home runs and driving in 75. You must also take into account the fact that he cannot and should not ever see the outfield grass again. He's a hitter, nothing more, nothing less, and playing him in the outfield at this stage of his career does nothing more than expose his deficiencies. Were Vlad willing to take another deal similar to what he received this past season (1 year - $5.5 million with a buyout), I think the team would welcome him back with open arms and pray for one more injury free year out of the slugger. I don't know that Vlad's pride will allow him to accept another 1 year contract, not after (at least statistically) being the fifth best run producer in Major League Baseball. I believe this is where the case can be made for Michael Young stepping in as the teams DH for 2011.


Young's trade value is nonexistent. This much was proven two seasons ago when, after Young requested a trade, Texas found no takers or, at least, no one willing to part with anything of great quality to obtain his services. With this in our back pocket, one has to assume that the team is stuck with Young and his $16 million salary for the next three seasons. If this is the case, the team must use him where he can help the most and that is most certainly not in the infield. Over the last few seasons, Young's range has gone to nothing and his inability (or lack of desire) to get in front of hard grounders makes him a massive liability at 3rd base. Since taking over the position in 2009, Baseball Info Solutions (BIS) theorizes that Young has cost the team 31 runs due to either poor defensive play or lack of range at the position. Over the same two years, BIS shows former Seattle/Boston third baseman, Adrian Beltre, actually saved his team 31 runs in the field. When you consider the number of 1-run games that occur over the course of a 162-game season, a +31 run differential is astounding.

A move to DH might also breathe a little more life into Young's bat, allowing him time to rest between at-bats, rather than having to concern himself with fielding nine innings every night. Though an admittedly small sample size, it should be noted that for his career, Michael Young is a .388 hitter as a DH over 25 games played.

So, will the Rangers make a move to get Young away from the third base bag? Well, I assume it primarily depends on who they can find to cover the position. The aforementioned Adrian Beltre just recently declined his $10 million option with Boston and will become a free agent. He is certainly looking for a multi-year deal, probably in the neighborhood of 5 years for 65 million. I don't know that Texas would even think about such an investment (especially if they do get Cliff Lee re-signed) but I also have my doubts that Beltre will get anything even close to a 5-year deal, despite retaining the services of super-agent (and Baseball Antichrist) Scott Boras. If Beltre were to hold firm with his demands that would leave a who's who of castoffs in the free agent market, most notably Jhonny Peralta and super-subs Ty Wiggington, Bill Hall and Juan Uribe (who was last seem assisting San Francisco plunge a dagger in the heart of the Rangers). Both Peralta and Uribe would be big upgrades defensively over Young, while Hall and Wiggington each have the ability to play virtually anywhere on the field.

Pure speculation at this stage of the game but numbers don't lie. Michael Young, though still a quality hitter and positive clubhouse presence, is a proven liability in the field. With Texas placing more and more emphasis on pitching and defense, one can only assume that Young's days at the hot corner are numbered.

Farewell to a baseball legend

Former Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers manager, Sparky Anderson, passed away today due to complications brought on by dementia. The Hall of Famer managed 26 seasons in Major League Baseball, his teams winning 2194 games, 5 pennants and 3 World Series Championships.

I met Sparky Anderson once back in August of the 1989 season. During the years of 1987 to 1991, I was an autograph hound and looked for every opportunity to get the signatures of all the team's players that came to town. Back during the old Arlington Stadium days, the visiting players and coaches stayed in the hotel right across the way, walking distance from a side entrance into the ballpark. Some of the bigger names of that era (staring hard in your direction, Mr. Canseco), would do everything in their power to avoid dealing with a kid looking for a signature, even going so far as to get a ride from the front entrance of the hotel to the previously mentioned stadium side entrance, no more than 100 feet away. Sparky Anderson, though a legendary manager of three World Championship teams, was anything but unapproachable.


By 1989, Detroit had fallen on hard times, no longer the powerhouse it had been for a lengthy stretch of the mid-eighties. While many All-star caliber players such as Alan Trammell, Matt Nokes and Jack Morris were stuck in the middle of awful seasons, Sparky Anderson remained a constant steadying force for the lowly Tigers. Despite his rather gruff exterior, Anderson was in actuality a kindhearted baseball lifer, a man with great respect for the game. As I was getting the autograph of Gary Ward, a former Ranger and one of my favorite players as a kid, I noticed Sparky and a few of his coaches walking towards me. After thanking Ward for his autograph, I walked up next to Sparky and asked if I could trouble him for his autograph. He stopped, handed some papers he had in his hands to one of his coaches, and signed a baseball card I had pulled from a folder I kept. After handing the card back to me, I thanked him and prepared to walk away but before I could do so, he stopped me, asking what other autographs I had in the folder. Milwaukee had been in town as part of the previous home stand so I opened the pages and showed him the signatures of such Brewer greats as B.J. Surhoff, Paul Molitor and Dan Plesac. He looked at the Molitor card and said, "He can really hit the ball, can't he?" I agreed, saying he was my second favorite Brewers player. Sparky then asked who my favorite was, answering his own question with, "Yount?" "No," I answered, "Teddy Higuera." He laughed, saying Teddy had made his teams look bad several times over the previous seasons. I told him he'd done the same against my Rangers. He laughed and said, "Well then, I guess we just need to get together and figure out a way to hit that guy." With that, he told me to enjoy the game and set off for the stadium.

That night, I watched Nolan Ryan dominate the Tigers, striking out 13 while notching his 13th win of the season. And though I was thrilled to see the great Ryan Express pitch a gem, I couldn't help but think about Sparky Anderson and the kindness he'd shown me earlier in the day. While I have never been a fan of the Detroit Tigers and undoubtedly never will be, meeting George Lee "Sparky" Anderson will forever remain as one of my most cherished baseball moments.

There is no off season in baseball

Having just enjoyed the best season of baseball I've ever witnessed over my 24 years as fan, it's difficult for me to say goodbye to this year and begin preparations for the next. Sadly, it must be done as baseball no longer has an off season. Okay, sure there won't be any MLB games going on for several months but between Winter & Caribbean Leagues, free agency and Hot Stove action, a baseball fan as unnecessarily hung up on the sport as I happen to be understands that the commitment to sport and team is a year round prospect.

Hell, if I'm not pouring over Texas League scouting reports, looking for that next bright and shining star over in Japan, or hitting up every available resource for info on that one college kid out of Florida with the shotgun arm, then who exactly can be counted on to do so? I know, silly, right? But that's what makes baseball so much fun for me. The wealth of information is overwhelming, especially for a stats junkie like myself and let's be honest here, who hasn't wasted a Saturday putting together a trade that you just know in your heart could get your favorite team Albert Pujols?

For me, the beauty of baseball is in its accessibility and the conversations it can start. Baseball is a talking sport, plain and simple. There's a level of romance to it that simply does not exist (for me, at least) in other professional sports. I like football and hockey. I love baseball.

So, with the final game of the season in the books, everyone is back to square one. No one is in first place, no one is is in last, and everyone is back in the mix. For many fans, the off season is the only time their team actually has a chance at winning and, as a long-suffering Texas Rangers fan, I could write a book on off season glory turning to regular season failure.

But let's not get bogged down in minutia. The 2010 season is over, the San Francisco Giants just had themselves a parade and now it's time to switch gears from playoff baseball to off season wheelin' & dealin'. Go Rangers.