Michael Young wants out of Texas.
The Texas Rangers acquired 3B Adrian Beltre this offseason, and Young no longer has spot in Texas’ infield. The Rangers had planned on Young being their designated hitter and a utility player. It’s apparent that he does not want to play that role.
Young has a no trade clause, and he put the Angels, Astros, Cardinals, Dodgers, Padres, Rockies, Twins and Yankees on a short list of teams that he’d play for. He currently he has three years on his current deal and is due $48 million over that span.
There have been reports that the Phillies spoke with the Rangers about the possibility of acquiring Young, but the talks didn’t go very far. Philadelphia already has Placido Polanco at third base, and they’d probably have to give up a guy like Joe Blanton to get Young. So Young going to the Phillies doesn’t make a lot of sense.
The Yankees have already stated that they are not interested in Young.
The Angels don’t have the pieces to trade for him.
The Card’s could use him at third, but their number one priority is signing Pujols, and Young’s contract is to fat.
Young would be a great addition for the Dodgers, but general manager Ned Colletti has already stated that Young is too expensive.
That leaves us with the Astros, Padres, Rockies and Twins as potential landing spots.
The Astros could swap Carlos Lee for Young. Their contracts are very similar. Lee is due $18.5 million ($37 million over the next two years) next year, and Young is due $16 million ($48 million over the next three years).
The Padres have one of baseball’s lowest payroll’s and had to trade Adrian Gonzalez because they couldn’t afford him.
Minnesota just signed Tsuyoshi Nishioka from Japan to play second base for them, and they aren’t looking to make anymore major acquisitions this offseason.
The Rockies have expressed the most interest in Young, but they have made it clear that they would want Texas to take on a portion of his contract.
At this point there aren’t any suitors for the six-time All-Star and former batting champion. If Young wants to get out of Texas then he’s probably going to have to make himself more available to other teams.
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