Kuzul

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

Michael Young has been the one consistent face on the Rangers over the last decade, but now it seems his days in Arlington may be coming to an end.

Alex Rodriguez, Alfonso Soriano, Mark Teixeira and Hank Blalock have all come and gone, but Young has stayed.  Through the losing, through the ownership quagmire, Young has been an All-Star six times, a versatile presence on the field (starting at three different positions), and a leader in the clubhouse.

But now he feels disrespected, and who can blame him?  The Rangers signed Adrian Beltre to a massive free agent contract this offseason, displacing Young at third base.  He agreed to serve primarily as a DH, but then Texas traded for Mike Napoli, who would certainly get some at bats there as well.  Were the Rangers just trying to see how far they could push Young before he pushed back?

Well, they’ve found it.  Young, forced into a corner, has done what was previously unthinkable and asked for a trade, and the Rangers have said they’ll grant his wish. 

Here are 10 places Young might be before the end of the week.

Begin Slideshow

Michael Young of the Texas Rangers made it clear that he is not happy with his current situation in Texas, where Young’s role will be reduced to designated hitter, with the signing of Adrian Beltre.

Young has long been a good sport to the Rangers.  Young came up as a second baseman, working on the other side of second base to his natural position of shortstop, because the Rangers had Alex Rodriguez.

Then, Young moved to shortstop after Alex Rodriguez was traded to the New York Yankees to play third base there.

Then, Elvis Andrus was acquired in a trade for Mark Teixeira. Once again, Young changed positions, this time to third base.

It sounds as if enough is enough for Young, Yahoo’s Tim Brown writes.

“They will attempt to trade him in the coming days, according to a source familiar with those conversations, in part because Young has grown disillusioned with his diminished role on the team.”

While Young has been linked to the Angels and Rockies, the Phillies would make perfect sense as a landing spot for Young to fill the hole left by Jayson Werth signing with the Nationals.  

Here are the top trade scenarios to land him for the Phillies.

Begin Slideshow

The Chicago Cubs have already traded for starting pitcher Matt Garza and traded away starting pitcher Tom Gorzelanny this winter, and it seems very possible that that will be enough for GM Jim Hendry. There is relatively little else Chicago could do at this point, with the key free agents off the market and the team unlikely to leapfrog the Brewers and Reds into the top spot in a rational prognosticator’s picture of the 2011 NL Central division.

Of course, miracles happen every day (see Wells, Vernon), so perhaps the Cubs can find a diamond somewhere in the January rough and make themselves into a more legitimate contender either in 2011 or in the longer term. Read on for five deals the Cubs could try to swing to turn their fortunes for the better.

Begin Slideshow

With the recent acquisition of yet another set-up man/closer to the fold in Frank Francisco, the Blue Jays appear to have one of the deepest bullpens in all of baseball. Starting at the top with likely opening day closer Francisco, then down the line with Octavio Dotel, Jon Rauch, Shawn Camp, Jason Frasor, David Purcey, Jesse Carlson, Carlos Villanueva and likely Jo-Jo Reyes, the Jays are stacked in the pen.

With the influx of young but talented arms in the rotation, the Jays look to be trying to overload the bullpen just in case the starting rotation faces issues.

However, with the trading of Vernon Wells, Mike Napoli, Shaun Marcum and the departures of Kevin Gregg, Scott Downs and John Buck via free agency, the Jays are hoping their young farm system can help alleviate some of the losses here.

Expect JP Arencibia, Travis Snider, Kyle Drabek and possibly even Brett Lawrie to make an impact this season for the Blue Jays.

With that said, these are very raw and unproven players in the majors and the Jays may be in need of veteran players to help guide these potential stars through the major league grind.

The Jays will also be looking for bounce back seasons out of Jesse Litsch, Dustin McGowan (if healthy) and Jose Bautista—not the 54 home run-like numbers, but at least 30 is reasonable to ask.

So what else is out there Jays fans that will improve this team for the upcoming 2011 season?

Three Players That Could Potentially Be Jays

3B Michael Young

How Can He Be in a Jays Uniform?

With the Rangers’ recent signing of third baseman Adrian Beltre, it pretty much sealed the fate of Michael Young. With a pretty hefty price tag, Young right now can only be had by some of the league’s most wealthy teams.

Young’s price tag, along with age, makes him a bit of a risk for any team to take on, but his defense and bat more than make up for the somewhat sketchy contract.

At 33 years old, he may be too old for the Jays’ young team, but his veteran experience and bat would be worth the price. With all the salary traded away, the Jays could easily afford to grab Young from the Rangers, although some would argue the Jays should have included others to grab Young in the Francisco deal yesterday.

3B Eric Chavez

How Can He Be in a Jays Uniform?

Alex Anthopolous believes in second chances, he’s doing it with Dustin McGowan, Jesse Litsch and also Edwin Encarnacion, and I believe Eric Chavez may be Anthopolous’ next reclamation project.

A former all-star and perennial gold glove winner, Chavez anchored the Athletics defense for many years until injuries caught up to him. With the injury past, and a declining bat, I don’t expect Chavez to cost that much at all, and to me seems like the most realistic option going forward for the Blue Jays.

DH Vladimir Guerrero

How Can He Be in a Jays Uniform?

This may be a tough one for some to wrap their heads around, but I think Vladdy to Toronto makes a ton of sense. They lack a middle of the lineup presence, which Vladdy can help with. He is getting up there in age, but his bat proved to be alive last year in Texas.

With the big boppers of the AL already securing DH’s for the next season, I think the Jays probably can offer the native of the Dominican Republic a decent incentive-laden deal with the club.

The AL is full of DH’s right now with David Ortiz in Boston, Jorge Posada in New York, Hideki Matsui in Oakland, Bobby Abreu in Los Angeles, Jack Cust in Seattle, Mike Young in Texas, Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez in Tampa Bay, Luke Scott in Baltimore, Jim Thome in Minnesota, Magglio Ordonez in Detroit and lastly Adam Dunn in Chicago, there really aren’t any more voids at DH left in the AL.

Toronto is probably Vladdy’s last option right now to play for a contending team this season. I highly doubt the likes of Kansas City, Seattle, Cleveland or Baltimore entice Guerrero to sign there, and even more unlikely is a move to the National League.

In my opinion, if the Jays can get two of these three players, the offense will be that much better.

The Jays have the money to spend, but will they is the better question.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

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.

Begin Slideshow

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:

Begin Slideshow

The Texas Rangers made headlines recently with the signing of Adrian Beltre. The next question they have to answer is concerning their former third baseman, Michael Young.

Young is not new to big league position changes, however. He’s had time at all infield positions besides first base, although it’s been some time since he’s had to consider a switch. In 2008 he spent time at SS, and back in 2003 Michael Young was primarily a second baseman.

One major hurdle remains. Michael Young won’t be a free agent until 2014, trading him might actually be harder then keeping him sparingly, or moving him to a different position. There has been talk about using him at DH, but for a guy like Young with plenty of years left as a solid defensive player, that might be somewhat of a downgrade as far as his rhythm goes. 

In a recent ESPN article, I came across the notion of Young becoming a Lance Berkman, who was traded mid-season and became a DH for the Yankees. It was obvious that Berkman wouldn’t play first base, a position anchored by Teixeira. The idea of Berkman becoming bored came up, in which he referenced the sheer awkwardness of simply not trotting out to your normal position.

For Michael Young, it may be a good thing. A better thing would be if he could use utilize his talented defense in a city that would love to make him an everyday player. As for now, and according to the Rangers website, Michael Young is officially a DH. I guess the playoffs proved fatal in his campaign to man the hot corner, as he made a handful of crucial mistakes.

Let’s take a look at some reasons why he’d be perfect for San Francisco should his time with Texas in the DH role become unbearable.

Begin Slideshow

MLB trade rumors never go away, even when things on the baseball front quiet down around the holidays, as is usually the case.

We’ve seen some pretty big free agent signings this offseason, chief among them being Carl Crawford and Cliff Lee. There have also been some big trades, such as the Adrian Gonzalez and Zack Greinke deals.

But spring training is still many moons away and there is still plenty of time for GMs around baseball to work out some last-minute deals.

With that in mind, here are 15 players who could be dealt before spring training starts.

Begin Slideshow

The biggest topic in Major League Baseball right now is the signing of Adrian Beltre.  In true Scott Boras fashion he has sold his client well and appears to be on the verge of another monster contract for one of his clients.

What appeared to be a competition between numerous teams, mostly from the AL West, has turned into one team on the verge of a contract. 

According to numerous sources, the Rangers and Beltre have agreed to terms on a six year $96 million deal for the hard slugging third baseman. 

At first sight, this appears to me to be a signing that will make it look like the organization is doing something, which is never a good reason for a signing.  It feels like missing out on Cliff Lee may be causing the Rangers to make somewhat of a rash decision.

I will concede that Beltre is an excellent fielder and a solid bat when he wants to be, but more on that later.

This deal just really doesn’t make sense to me because I don’t see Beltre as an upgrade in anything but home runs, and even that isn’t a huge upgrade.

Beltre had one season of more than 30 home runs, and averages 21 home runs per season over his career.  Young, on the other hand, has averaged almost 16 in his 10 full seasons, which really isn’t that many less.

So what about all the other numbers? 

Young averages more of almost everything else: Runs (+20), Doubles (+4), Hits (+40), RBIs (+4), Walks (+5), Average (+.025), and OBP (+.019).  Young is also good for an extra 100 or so at bats every season.

Young does average 10 more strikeouts, but again, that is with an extra 100 at bats. 

As for the great power numbers that Beltre supposedly is much better with, Young is slugging only .014 lower than Beltre.  That’s right, 14 points and 5 home runs more per season. 

That must be worth $16 million a year.

So how about the stellar defensive numbers that make Beltre so desirable?

It is somewhat difficult to compare the two since Young only has two seasons as a third baseman, whereas Beltre has played there almost exclusively.  But lets just look at all the numbers for fun.

Young has played in about 320 fewer games than Beltre, or essentially two seasons worth.  However, he has more putouts, assists, and double plays, and not just by a little bit.  Some of that can definitely be attributed to his time playing up the middle, but what about as a fielder in general?

Young has almost 100 fewer errors having played essentially two extra full seasons.  He also has a career fielding percentage 21 points better than Beltre. 

Despite the fact that Beltre is supposedly a better fielder, he has almost twice as many errors in 320 fewer games and thus has a fielding percentage that is drastically lower.

Beltre does have one more gold glove than Young, but if Derek Jeter hadn’t won so many because of his past, Young would likely have one or two more.

The biggest reason that I am against this deal is the intangibles.

Young is the consummate team leader who has repeatedly shown the team is more important than his own desires.  He has changed positions twice for the good of the team, and has offered to do so a third time because the team has asked him too.

Beltre, on the other hand, only plays well when he is in a contract year.  His two biggest years in home runs, RBIs, and average were in contract years.  The only two seasons he hit over .300 were those years.

Career bests in hits, runs, slugging percentage, etc…all in his contract years.

Now obviously Daniels, Ryan and Greenberg know more about baseball than I do, since they own the team, but the numbers just don’t add up to me.

I prefer the team player to the selective hustler any day, and the numbers really aren’t that impressive anyway.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com