Michael Young has told Texas he wants out. He told the press he wants out.
One would think he has earned the right to leave with dignity after Texas told him they wouldn’t try to deal him, as they were trying to, and then told him they would deal him, after they had severed negotiations.
That being said, this isn’t the NBA. No player has ultimate power over ownership. Young will stay in Texas, and will play the season out like the consummate professional that he is.
But why does Texas need him?
Like most people, as soon as the season ended, I made my free agent predictions for the top free agents from Cliff Lee, to Aubrey Huff.
My predictions are not wild, or bold, but were based on which teams needed key players, and which teams would retain some of these players.
Throughout the 2011 Off Season, we’ve seen big free agent acquisitions from teams we would never guess would be in the running, and some teams who seemed to have been hibernating through the Winter Meetings, and beyond that.
The season hasn’t started, but the main part of free agency is pretty much over, so I decided I’d look back at my Free Agent Predictions, my justifications, and what actually happened.
Also, as a bonus, I’ll give my projection for that player, along with a grade for the acquisition.
Some top free agents are not on this list, as I couldn’t make predictions for everyone at the time.
The last time he demanded a trade he got denied. But now, I think he’s really on his way out.
After the Adrian Beltre signing, Michael Young was moved from third base over to the DH spot. Now, with the acquisition of catcher/first basemen/DH Mike Napoli, Young has been relegated to a backup infield/DH role.
The Rangers currently have insane amounts of depth, and Michael Young has requested to not be a part of it.
He’s understandably upset. Young has put 11 solid—and I mean solid—years with the Texas Rangers franchise. He has done whatever has been asked of him over the years and only recently has begun to complain.
After the Alfonso Soriano acquisition in 2004, Young graciously shifted to his right and played shortstop until the 2009 season, when high-profile prospect Elvis Andrus made his debut. He has played third base since then, and he has played it flawlessly.
Now, he’s on the move again. Unfortunately, it could be to a different club altogether.
Young is the staple of consistency. He hasn’t played in less than 135 games since 2001, when he also hit for the lowest average in his career at .249. Ever since that season, his lowest average is a respectable .262, which he hit the following season.
His best season came in 2005, when he led the league in hits with 221 and batting average with .331. He had a .331/.385/.513 slash line that season with a career-high 24 home runs. He knocked in 91 runs and hit 40 doubles and five triples, just for good measure.
Young as hit over .300 in six of his 11 seasons in the bigs and has had over 200 hits five times.
What team wouldn’t salivate over acquiring that kind of production?
Young has declared that he won’t waive his no-trade clause to the 22 teams that are on the list. In other words, the Rangers can only trade him to the eight nameless teams that are on the list.
The Rangers, at this point, are looking just to get rid of their disgruntled superstar, but he could demand a hefty return.
He can still pick it at any position in the infield, and his bat is one of the most consistent in the league.
Theoretically, he could be acquired for two mid- to high-level prospects. Realistically, we’ll see. Teams will probably look to buy low on the star considering his recent demands.
Seeing Young anywhere but Arlington is going to be difficult for baseball fans, and even more difficult for Texas fans who have grown to love their underrated superstar.
He’ll produce anywhere he goes, no doubt about it, but the Rangers will be sorry he’s gone. It’s just too difficult to replace that kind of consistency and production.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
The Boston Red Sox and their fans have had a pretty rough go of it lately.
Not only did the squad fail to qualify for the postseason in 2010, but the franchise also lost Adrian Beltre and Victor Martinez over the winter.
Beantown’s had to watch a different team hoist the World Series trophy for three consecutive years, a run that includes a crown for their revolting rivals to the south, the New York Yankees.
Now it’s down two key contributors from an underachieving ’10 roster.
Of course, you could point to the bigger picture.
You know, the one that includes the monumental World Series win in 2004, another in 2007 via sweep and the club’s status as a perennial contender. Actually, “contender” is putting it too mildly; the squad is an annual juggernaut and on the short list of favorites to win the Fall Classic every April.
The Sawks have gone to the postseason six times in the last eight years and haven’t finished lower than third in the rugged American League East since 1997 (almost a decade and a half).
So there’s that.
There is also the little matter of the 2010-11 offseason that saw the BoSox grab two of the premier players in Major League Baseball.
Adrian Gonzalez most certainly wears that title with distinction, and I’d also put Carl Crawford in there without much debate. The guy swipes an average of 54 bases while putting up a respectable slash line and just won a Gold Glove playing left field; say what you want about the merits of that award (and they are shaky), but he can clearly flash some leather.
Nevertheless, there’s something to be said for continuity in all sports, especially in baseball. So the losses of Beltre and V-Mart will be felt—the question is how much?
Furthermore, whose absence will be harder to absorb?
It seems that almost every day a new list of strongest arms in the MLB is published. The problem with almost all of these lists is that they only include outfielders.
There is definitely some logic behind this, because in general outfielders do have stronger arms than infielders, and get to show them off more.
But, believe it or not there are infielders who have great arms too, and for once they are going to get the recognition they deserve.
The problem with rating infielder arms is that there are two very different ways to look at it, accuracy or power. This list has some players that are better at one and some that are better at the other.
What makes an infielder’s arm especially special is if they can master both of these skills, strong, powerful throws on a line to the glove.
Feel free to offer your comments below on what players should or should not have been on this list.
As we near Spring Training, it’s about time to start making predictions and forming projections for each team. While there are still many free agents on the market, a sufficient amount have been signed in order to rank each team’s offense.
In ranking the league’s best offenses, there are many aspects being taken into consideration.
The ability to get on base is essential. You can only have so many Mark Reynolds or Adam Dunn’s on your team before you start to lose efficiency.
However, the second major component is the ability to drive in runs. Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner, and Juan Pierre are all great, but without some pop in the lineup, they are meaningless to an extent.
Finally, depth is a major contributor to the success an offense can achieve. If (when) Carlos Beltran gets hurt, who do the Mets have to back him up? He may play the majority of the games, but the other 30 odd games count just as much.
With that, I’ll reveal my power rankings for the all 30 Major League Baseball teams. While the batting order may be incorrect, the players on each lineup are not. I bet you can guess number 30…
We all know that third base has quickly become one of the shallowest positions in baseball. Outside of the top four options, there is a ton of risk involved.
Yes, there are players with tremendous upside, but there are significant red flags hanging over them. Let’s take a look at how I currently have the top 15 ranked (as well as top 12 for those in AL or NL-only formats, which can be found at the bottom of this post):
Thoughts:
AL/NL Only Rankings:
| AL-Only | NL-Only | |
| 1. | Evan Longoria | David Wright |
| 2. | Alex Rodriguez | Ryan Zimmerman |
| 3. | Michael Young | Pedro Alvarez |
| 4. | Jose Bautista | Martin Prado |
| 5. | Adrian Beltre | Aramis Ramirez |
| 6. | Mark Reynolds | Pablo Sandoval |
| 7. | Jhonny Peralta | Casey McGehee |
| 8. | Edwin Encarnacion | Placido Polanco |
| 9. | Danny Valencia | Juan Uribe |
| 10. | Kevin Kouzmanoff | Ian Stewart |
| 11. | Brent Morel | Scott Rolen |
| 12. | Brandon Inge | Chipper Jones |
What are your thoughts on the rankings? Whose too high? Whose too low?
**** Make sure to order your copy of the Rotoprofessor 2011 Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide, selling for just $5, by clicking here. ****
Make sure to check out our 2011 rankings:
THIS ARTICLE IS ALSO FEATURED ON WWW.ROTOPROFESSOR.COM.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
The 2010-2011 MLB off season was one for the books. Whether it was news regarding Carl Crawford’s free agency or whether or not Zach Greinke would be traded, there was never a dull moment this winter for baseball fans. Very few teams remain in the same position as they were in November.
While there are still a handful of significant free agents still on the market such as Carl Pavano and Vladimir Guerrero, it is time to reflect on the unfolding of this winter. Which deals were the most significant? Who were the winners? Who is going to regret their aggressive behavior down the road?
In this article, I will examine the 25 most significant transactions from free agent signings to trades to re-signings. These transactions are not ranked based on how good the player(s) involved were, but how much the transaction will affect the team’s outcome.
Ever since the Rangers pulled off the improbable and landed Michael Young, the team’s longest tenured player has been the subject of multiple trade rumors, as he has lost his position in the Rangers lineup.
Young is considering moving to DH or second base to help the team, but some think it is inevitable he is traded for prospects or in a salary dump.
Here is a list of ten possible trade destinations for Michael Young:
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim:
The Angels players, all personally offended by the public’s plea for outside help, will rally behind the return of Kendry Morales and Tim Salmon.
Torii Hunter, who for so long called for Carl Crawford to become a Halo, will pretend he was happy with the roster all along.
At the same time owner Arte Moreno will claim that he believed in the players within the organization enough not to spend money on big name free agents.
The players themselves, however, will only use their anger towards Moreno as motivation to not only win each game but also to slaughter their opponent in any way possible.
On May 20, Torii Hunter will hit a walk-off homerun against the Atlanta Braves, and in the ensuing celebration he will break his leg, much like Morales, only there will be player testimonies that do not add up. An investigation will follow.
Brandon Wood, relegated to executive ball-boy, sorry, executive ball-man, will find hope in his new role.
He will meet the soul of Derek Jeter (Because New York stripped it from him) who will guide him on an out-of-body experience to see how to fix his career. It may sound ridiculous, but so does his .382 OPS in 81 games last year.
In around mid-September it will slowly come out that the Angels organization is actually an elaborate 50 year-long police sting to uncover the mob’s involvement in baseball, thus explaining why Crawford and Adrian Beltre kept their distance.
Also, the organization will be disbanded when said information is leaked by Julian Assange.
The pitching staff, led by future Tim Hudson, future Mark Mulder, and future Barry Zito will rally around the assumption that if they make the playoffs a movie will be made about their triumphs.
Around July 15, with the A’s in the wild-card hunt, GM Billy Beane will convince Yankee GM Brian Cashman to trade Nick Swisher back to Oakland while eating 90% of his salary.
Then Swisher will grow his hair back to its appropriate length and use his power stroke and cowboy attitude to make the offense believe in itself for the stretch run.
Breakout star of 2011 will be 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff who finally loosens up at the plate and stops swinging at pitches buried in the dirt.
Seriously though, Kouz hits like I’d imagine Macaulay Culkin might swing a bat while he light-heartedly tries to defend his home from inept thieves.
I might be a little off-topic but whenever Kouzmanoff steps into the batter’s box my heart sinks a little inside.
It’s like the world is darker, the clouds form above and rain pours down, so yes even God wants to avoid watching his at bats. But hey his defense his above average, so there’s that.
The A’s failure to sign Adrian Beltre may seem like a bad thing, and that’s because it is.
Finally, the search for a new ballpark will end when the organization says “to hell with it” and starts playing at a local high school field. The high school team will take over the Coliseum and attendance will see a slight increase.
With Ichiro threatening to return to Japan unless the Mariners avoid last place, the Mariners will avoid last place. Infielder Chone Figgins, wanting to prove his worth to himself, will enter Spring Training having gained 20 pounds of muscle.
By July 15, he will have hit 40 home runs, bumping the team total to 43. Ichiro will be overshadowed and will then retire.
Because of their fabulous third-place finish, Felix Hernandez will not be traded as he will donate over half of each paycheck back to the organization to blow on other mediocre pitchers and washed up outfielders.
Then, making a sudden and unwarranted “game-changer” the Mariners will unsuccessfully trade for Cliff Lee.
The Phillies will turn down the offer, but using outside, somewhat legal help the Mariners will quietly acquire Lee and put him in a Vargas jersey because no one knows who that player is anyway.
Once the media catches on, the Seattle organization will cover its ears and, in unison, repeat the phrase “na na na na na na na na I can’t hear you, you words don’t affect us because we have special shields that only we can see.”
After a few weeks everyone will give up. The move, however, will not help as Lee is unmotivated and finds a way to injure his right pinky.
While searching for success, Justin Smoak will toy with the idea of adding a knuckleball to his arsenal, and oh yeah he’s going to become a starting pitcher. Smoak will fit in nicely in the No. 2 slot in the rotation.
Coming off of their terrific pennant-winning season in 2010, the Texas Rangers will struggle to replicate their success in 2011 due to Adrian Beltre’s mere presence.
Beltre will constantly walk around “making it rain” in the face of good ol’ hardworking players like Colby Lewis and C.J. Wilson.
Michael Young, like Mariners’ SP Justin Smoak, will make the transition from 1B/DH to pitcher as part of a 2011 movement that will be aptly named “Year of the Pitcher, Again.”
Around June 1, after Beltre’s move to the leadoff spot in order to really “shake things up” as stated by manager Ron Washington, the team will go on a relatively long winning streak, taking two in a row from the Cleveland Indians.
As part of that same “shake up,” Neftali Feliz will finally be removed from the closer role and put on the gear as the next great catcher.
Washington will explain the move by saying that it improves the team’s overall “WAR” and reporters will wonder if he knows what that means.
For the rest of the season fans will call for a replacement to Washington, and finally Nolan Ryan will hold a press conference only to announce his return to the mound, “but only as a closer,” he will explain.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com