Michael Young: Great Player! Good Riddance?

By Richie Whitt Mon., Jan. 12 2009 at 11:00 AM

Categories: Texas Rangers

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Michael Young, meet Michael Finley.

Seems like forever Finley was a good solider on bad Mavericks teams, the best player and the involuntarily spokesman absorbing and explaining years of losing while the cast of crappy teammates and coaches around him constantly changed. He played hurt. He played well.

He was an All-Star on the field; a sparkling role model in the community.

Though he led his team to a couple playoff cameos, Finley's Mavericks were never a serious championship contender. Eventually, with his personal accolades ultimately ringing hollow, Finley was gone.

Sound familar, Rangers' fans?

News broke last night - in the form of a hastily organized conference call - that the Rangers are suddenly shopping 5-time All-Star shortstop and forever face-of-the-franchise Michael Young. Manager Ron Washington recently told Young - who moved from second base to shortstop in 2004 to fill the void left by the Alex Rodriguez trade and to make room for Alfonso Soriano - he's switching from short to third to make room for 20-year-old defensive whiz Elvis Andrus.

Young, who understandibly for years has grumbled about the team's flip-flopping philosophies, isn't keen on another switch in what appears to be another rebuilding season. So he's asking to be traded.

"I'm not playing third base," Young says. "I'm pretty adamant about my stance. I told them I wanted to be traded."

Though the move makes total sense - Elvis is spectacular defensively and Young, despite a Gold Glove last season and a long-time Platinum reputation, is declining in defensive range and offensive power numbers - I don't blame Young one bit for telling the Rangers to screw off.

The Rangers and their long-awaited youth movement may someday be better off without Young. For certain Young deserves better. The parting seems inevitable.

Finley, remember, finally got his championship ring with the San Antonio Spurs.

One of the teams Young expected to be in the bidding for Young: the Boston Red Sox.

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Baseball, Elvis Andrus, Michael Young

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Great, let's trade another proven player for some more maybe-someday prospects. John Daniels (and some people who post on this board) seem to think that it's not about winning a world series, it's about who has the highest ranking farm system in Baseball America. The rankings come out soon, go John Daniels!
Grant, I would think that a shortstop with great range would have a higher number of putouts and assists since he could get to more balls, which would be reflected in the fielding percentage. I haven't seen him play either. And while I agree that baseball people most likely know way more about Andrus than me, I think it's odd that it doesn't seem to be reflected in his stats. Maybe it's reflected in his "intangibles". I was going to say that Ian Kinsler was touted as a great defensive player too although now he generally isn't considered one. However, I found <a href="http://sturminator.blogspot.com/2008/07/ask-sports-sturm-2-kinslers-glove-vs.html">an argument from Sports Sturm</a> that Kinsler's greater range actually <i>does</i> make him better because he gets to a lot more balls that other players can't get to, giving you more chances to make an out. If you go that route, then we should look at the range factors. For 2008 Young came in with a 4.59 range factor, which actually ranked 4th in all of baseball. His career SS number is 4.53. Which ain't bad. If you look at the 3 year career of Andrus, his range factor is 4.60. Nearly identical. I will say, however, that Andrus' RF has increased every year and was a 4.97 in 2008. That's still not a huge upgrade. I will concede though that Andrus may have a lot of potential for improvement due to being so young. And stats aren't everything. Jeebus, I sound like Norm with all these numbers. So if you could have a 32 year old that costs 6 million or a 21 year old that costs 250,000 and their performance is about equal (I'm not even getting into offensive stats, but let's assume they are comparable) the choice seems pretty easy. I'm just worried that the Rangers may be losing a good team leader, although Young may be overrated in that capacity. But hey, it's not like the choices that the Rangers have been making up to now have worked, so maybe they need to shake things up.
JC, From wikipedia: In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists divided by the number of total chances (putouts + assists + errors). While a high fielding percentage is regarded as a sign of defensive skill, it is also possible for a player of lesser defensive skill to have a high fielding percentage, as it does not reflect or take into account a player's defensive range; a slow-footed first baseman, for example might have a high fielding percentage simply because he rarely drops a thrown ball or makes an errant throw. Likewise, a relatively slow outfielder might have a high fielding percentage even though he doesn't reach many of the fly balls which a faster player would catch. Conversely, a highly skilled fielder might have a comparatively low fielding percentage by virtue of reaching, and potentially missing, a greater number of balls. --- Also, while I have not seen him play, when many people who follow baseball for a living (and not just ones who work for the Rangers) say he is a good/great fielder who will be a great one I tend to think they might know what they are talking about.
For all of you who want to dump the guy, stick it in your collective ear or somewhere else. Young has been the classiest Ranger in forever, always giving his best, and being a leader in the Club House. That's the one intangible that will be hardest to replace. How many games do think the rest of those dogs would have won had they not had his example of how to conduct yourself every day. Jon Daniels has shown me nothing but an idiot GM. If they trade him, I hope it is to Boston, and I hope they win a pennant and kick the Ranger's ass.
Grant, That's a good point, and it makes sense. But wouldn't that factor be covered by fielding percentage? Andrus' fielding percentage isn't very good either. It's about 94.8 over those 3 seasons, which wouldn't have cracked the MLB top 18 last season (lowest MLB SS fielding percentage in the ESPN stats is a 96.7). Maybe the guy is OK, but I think it's a stretch to consider him defensively gifted.
That's the same Young quote that was in Dallas' Only Daily. Funny, guess he said the exact same thing when you talked to him, which you did, right, because you didn't indicate otherwise?
Good to hear a little talk about Baseball again. Its a nice bridge until the NFL draft and it gets my baseball weanie to twitching.
It certainly looks like a salary dump, with the only fly in the ointment that the Rangers may have to pick up a bunch if Young leaves. If it comes to that, I hope they keep him or send him to the National League. I wouldn't want the Rangers to pay him to kick their own butts. Young has been pretty consistent here when few others have been. Andrus has not put up the numbers to qualify him to move someone like Young out. Young's not what he once was, but he's still better than most.
JC, To illustrate the point, think of the two extremes. SS A stands in place and literally does not move, only fielding balls that come right to him. He commits zero errors but the team gives up a lot of hits through the general area. SS B is fast and covers a lot of ground so he makes attempts at a lot of balls that SS A would just watch go by. He commits a lot of errors but the team allows a lot fewer hits through the general area. Say he got to 100 more balls than SS A, but committed errors on 50 of them. That is still 50 more outs than Shortstop A generated. I do not know what the relative numbers actually are, but the point is you cannot use just # of errors to judge defensive ability.
How does an average of 32 errors over the last three seasons qualify Andrus as a "defensive whiz"? That's God-awful! As to the argument that he might improve with age? If he hasn't improved over three seasons (32, 31, and 32), he most likely ain't gonna.
Taylor, I've had this discussion with several of my friends over the years. I am clearly in the minority on this topic. If it was me being offered the long term contract, I actually would take less to play for a team that is always in contention. I know it is a business and players want to get paid. I also know that I would leave millions on the table if it meant I would be playing in NY or Boston as opposed to Arlington or Kansas City. It has to take the fun out of the game when you go into spring training every year knowing that you don't stand a chance.
A little blog info from the Boston Globe: Young wouldn't come cheaply From the Globe's Tony Massarotti: Michael Young's unwillingness to move to third base has inspired him to request a trade from the Texas Rangers, but there are lots of issues to address before a move to a team like the Red Sox could become a reality. For starters, Young is set to enter the first year of a five-year, $80 million contract extension, a deal that now looks terribly overpriced given the downturn in the market and the player's recent performance. While Young remains one of the better offensive shortstops in baseball, he batted .284 with 12 home runs and 82 RBI last year, numbers that do not warrant the kind of salary he currently possesses. Further, Young's OPS has dropped in each of the last four years, down to .741 from the .898 he posted in 2005, when he batted .331 with 24 home runs, 91 RBI, 114 runs scored and 40 doubles. Young turned 32 in October, meaning he will play the final year of his current deal at age 36. If the Rangers are serious about moving him, they made need to eat a significant portion of Young's salary to make a deal work. One final thing: Though Young has requested a trade, he has no right to demand one under the terms of baseball's collective bargaining agreement.
How many errors did Andrus make last year? And he was offered the $80 million two years ago, when he was 30. Certainly not a bad investment.
Different Greg, it's not his offense thats causing the change. It's his lack of range at SS. As a third baseman he won't have to worry about moving too much and he still has the arm to man the position. Granted he won't be much of a third baseman, but he'd be a heck of a better one than a SS. Bruce - Would you seriously turn down $80 million at age 32?
If Young's offensive numbers are declining, why would you move him to third base, which is traditionally played by a power hitter. Young would go from an All-Star SS, to a middle of the pack 3B. I don't blame him for saying no. I think the Rangers were looking for a way to get him to ask for a trade. So, with this apparent build for the future philosophy, I declare the Rangers mathmatically eliminated from the 2009 playoffs. Hello 78-84.
@Name that Dude Singing Like a Rolling Stone- Perhaps Richie could set up Mr. Daniels with the Master Cleanser plan first.
Normally I would say good riddance. However, with Jon Daniels' propensity to get ass raped when trading away good talent, I say the Rangers pull a Frank Robinson a la ASoriano and tell him he's playing or else he does not get paid. Other option could be move Kinsler to LF and put Young back at 2B. Sincerely, Green Day
I was very surprised that Young signed a long term deal with the Rangers. Its bad enough to have to play for losing team, but it really sucks to be out of contention by July and still have to go out and play in 110 degree weather at home. I hope the guy gets traded. Just not the the Red Sox.
Ah, Greg - but the average employee doesn't have the options MY has. It's all about leverage. If you had leverage, you could tell your employer to eff himself, as well.
Until they prove it to me otherwise this is just another salry dump by the "thrifty" Rangers. I can't even get excited about a prospect like Andrus because I know the day will come when he leaves for another team willing to pay him (if he succeeds at the major legaue level).
Want to know what they also had in common? Both had inflated contracts, were overrated in their positions/defense and both pretended to be company first guys but in fact were me-players...wait, that last one was just Young. Sorry about that. Young should be happy he got a contract that would never have been available had he hit the market. A.C. Elvis is also one of the youngest guys in the minors playing against guys 4-5 years older and most scouts are under the impression that in time his defense will become very good.
Andrus is terrible defensively. Look at his numbers from last year.
solider-giggle. Kije Ramsey Spelling
Young deserves better and deserves to be on a winning team. Really going to hate to see him go though.
Right, because when an employer tells an employee what to do the employee has the right to tell the employer to go f himself. If Young were truly a team player he'd move to third and except his $16 million salary with a smile next season.