Young at heart

No country for old men

Fox's Ken Rosenthal published an article the other day bringing up the Michael Young issue, something that was mentioned last year.

The problem: Michael Young started his career as a second baseman and when the Rangers traded for Alfonso Soriano, Young volunteered to move to shortstop after Soriano bitched about playing the outfield (which he was forced to do as a National under Frank Robinson years later).

Well, Soriano's gone, and Young's still at shortstop, where his ability to field the position is worsening.

Furthermore, Elvis Andrus, currently in Frisco, needs to be up with the big-league team either late this year and certainly next year. He's too talented and too good to be languishing with inferior opponents in the minors. He's a shortstop.

There are three options:

Trade Young
Dude just signed a five-year, $80 million, which doesn't start until next year. That alone would scare off 98 percent of the teams looking for a hitting infielder. Then you look at the stats. He's 31 and his power numbers are dropping, although still solid. No team but the Yankees, Red Sox or Dodgers would be willing to take that on.

Move Young to Second
This means displacing Ian Kinsler, who you just extended for five years and $22 million. You could put Kinsler at second base or left field. But why clog up the outfield any more than it is? Where would you put Brandon Boggs? Or how about when Julio Borbon is ready (sooner, than later)? Currently, Boggs, Borbon, Steven Murphy, David Murphy and Josh Hamilton have tons more value than Young in the long term. Why sacrifice them for him?

Moving Kinsler to third seems more likely. Assuming he can field the position.

Move Young to Third
In theory, the Rangers upcoming third base prospects are John Whittleman, who's turning it around in Bakersfield High-A ball, and Renny Osuna, who's hitting well in Low-A Clinton. Neither will be Major League ready for years, if ever. So that leaves us, currently, with Hank Blalock and Travis Metcalf. Blalock, more than likely, if healthy, will be traded this summer. He's on the back end of a reasonable contract and he's shown he can still hit. Metcalf is probably not an everyday third baseman. Although, I could be wrong.

What about moving Young to third, trading Blalock and keeping Metcalf as your defensive back-up? It's not that anyone's anti-Young because of his power numbers dropping. It's more that we're pro-Andrus. Whether Young was one of the best defensive shortstops in the league or not, Andrus was going to have come up and Young would need to move.

Next year's infield should look like this:

Chris Davis - 1B
Ian Kinsler - 2B
Elvis Andrus - SS
Michael Young - 3B

German Duran - utility
Travis Metcalf - 3B
Ramon Vasquez - utility