Michael Young Trade Opportunity

by SoCal19 on Jan 12, 2009 9:17 AM CST Comment 40 comments

In an ESPN story, http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3826455 it says that the Rangers are wanting to move Young to 3rd to make room for a rookie shortstop and he's not happy about it. Young has demanded a trade and the Rangers are entertaining the idea. I think Young would be a great fit in our lineup, not to mention he's a gold glove shortstop. Would we have enough to make a deal for him? Should Hendry pursue this? What do you guys think?

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, editor-in-chief (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.

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It's an interesting idea

But in the end, i’d got with no for a couple of reasons.

First of all it’s not likely from a realistic financial standpoint. http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2005/01/texas-rangers.html
Young is set to make $15M a year from now 2009 to 2013. If we couldn’t afford DeRosa’s contract, there’s NO way we could afford Young’s contract.

Second, from a purely baseball level, I don’t think he’s worth it either. Texas is a hitters park and his home/road splits show it: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/6613/splits;ylt=AnwMzQhb5S623vJMsJIt2qFCLcF?year=career&type=Batting

Now I know home/road splits can be deceiving because hitters have 50% of their games and tons of practice to drive the ball into holes and what not, but even still, Michael Young has a career away OPS of .728. Over the past three years his away OPS is somewhere around that number and last year it was .680. Even if Young is somewhat of an upgrade over Theriot by .050 OPS points or a big defensive upgrade, is it worth $15M extra a year? I’m going with no.

by IllinoisCubs on Jan 12, 2009 9:29 AM CST reply actions 5 recs

Rec'd

That truly sums it up.

by Damen Jackson on Jan 12, 2009 10:07 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I Agree With This Summation As Wel...

… although financially, I think we could swing the deal.

I just don’t think we’d want to.

Something else is cooking with Hendry to where he can easily add another $10M contract for 2009, and still leave a few million for in-season moves.

My 2008 Christmas wish list includes this jersey. In Hendry We Trust!

by initram on Jan 12, 2009 10:47 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

Not to mention his numbers have been declining since 2005. Still better than Theriot for the most part but for how much longer? Not worth it.

Stop looking at me, swan.

by eriod on Jan 12, 2009 10:11 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Probably about a year....

At which point that deal will be exposed for what it is; quite possibly the worst contract of this decade.

by Damen Jackson on Jan 12, 2009 10:18 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed.

This would be a pointless and expensive move.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al on Jan 12, 2009 10:50 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Not at all...

Barry Zito is number one bad signing in the last decade. Maybe he comes in second to Carl Pavano?

by phedsy on Jan 12, 2009 11:29 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

No, I don't think so...

both were starting pitchers in a booming pitcher’s market, so it made some sense to overpay. And with Pavano, it was still less for years and dollars. There was no reason to give a middle infielder an expensive extension that BEGAN in his age 32 year.

Zito looks to be about a league average starter at least for the foreseeable future. In about another season and a half, Texas will basically be paying 16 million annually for Neifi Perez.

by Damen Jackson on Jan 12, 2009 11:36 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Zito's bad...

…. but what about:

Juan Pierre, Gary Matthews Jr., Jason Schmidt, Andruw Jones?

Three of those by the same team!

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al on Jan 12, 2009 11:36 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

But you know what??

All still less years, and money than Young. And they were all legitimate free agents. Texas had little to reason to offer that extension when they did; and certainly not with the way that it was structured.

by Damen Jackson on Jan 12, 2009 11:41 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

The fact that this contract is even in the discussion

for worse contract mean the Cubs need to stay far far away.

by rlpete on Jan 12, 2009 12:02 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Young might always be better than Theriot

They are only 3 years apart in age and clearly Young does have more talent, but yeah, the main thing is $$$$.

Young is not worth a $15M upgrade over any option we have right now. That is a TERRIBLE contract and really only a reward that goes to a guy who has been with the organization for such a long time. I can’t believe they gave that to him. I mean you could find a better/equal replacement for Young on the FA market for half that. We might have well made a play for Furcal.

by IllinoisCubs on Jan 12, 2009 10:18 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Can't add anything to this

Add me to the no list.

by rlpete on Jan 12, 2009 10:42 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Yes

He’s a winning player, also we’ve got a chance, because the scouting director drafted/signed him.

by Slamdog on Jan 12, 2009 9:39 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Defining winning

and then look at his contract.

by rlpete on Jan 12, 2009 12:04 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

LMAO....

Dude, your not watching the same Rangers that I watch, WINNING…..LOL

ernie81

by ernie81 on Jan 14, 2009 3:21 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

But

could we move him to 2nd or Theriot to 2nd. Then I would be ok with it but I dont think we need to platoon at SS.

by pickupman21 on Jan 12, 2009 10:00 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

He wants a trade because they want to move him to 3B

So moving Young to 2B isn’t an option.

We just signed Aaron miles to play 2B and we have Mike Fontenot and Ronny Cedeno. Hell if we are going to spend $15M on new players, let’s see if we can move Soriano to 2B, sign Dunn to play LF and spend whatever money is left on minor league development.

by IllinoisCubs on Jan 12, 2009 10:12 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Do you not remember

how terrible Soriano was at 2B?

by KButler on Jan 12, 2009 10:22 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Seriously

If you think Soriano is a hack in LF, find an old Yankee game where he was playing second.

Let the Blaine Gabbert era begin.

by nji232 on Jan 12, 2009 10:34 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

not true

in recent reports he said he’d be ok with a move to 2nd but not to 3rd. But you can’t seriously say we’d move Young to 2nd instead of Theriot. Young, though slightly overrated at short, would instantly become the best shortstop on our roster by a margin.

by Cubinator on Jan 12, 2009 1:14 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Absolutely not

I don’t know where people go to check the players actual worth vs. his contract that is always discussed on here, but this guy makes WAY too much. Maybe if they’ll take Fukudome and Vizcaino for him.

by jbertram on Jan 12, 2009 10:20 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

To Add...

Furcal just got signed for less…and would have fit this team a lot better.

by jbertram on Jan 12, 2009 10:21 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Exactly

I they take Fukudome’s contract, we might have something. But Kosuke probably won’t waive his no trade clause.

Do we have any other bad contracts to unload?

by MrShowtime on Jan 12, 2009 10:36 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

yeah he's worth less than he is paid

though a poster above quoted 15M a season. i think it’s closer to 12.4M.

by Cubinator on Jan 12, 2009 1:16 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

While I like the idea of bringing in a new SS

For those who want Peavy, trading for Young would mean no Peavy. I would rather pay Peavy to pitch and have Theriot at SS.

Let the Blaine Gabbert era begin.

by nji232 on Jan 12, 2009 10:38 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

I think I'd rather have Peavy playing SS than Young.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al on Jan 12, 2009 10:51 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

He would have a better arm...even if he did double clutch all time.

As I've told you before, I never repeat myself.

by santoswoodenlegs on Jan 12, 2009 10:52 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Reminder to us all: please check previous posts

There was already a fanshot about this, with substantial discussion.

Fontenot (fon-te-no): Cajun for "scrappy"

by zambranofan on Jan 12, 2009 10:42 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Texas may......

Texas could eat some of that money if the deal is right………. I’d like to see the move as he is an upgrade at the position…….

by James031 on Jan 12, 2009 10:44 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Why would they eat the money?

They’d probably be delighted to dump his entire contract.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al on Jan 12, 2009 10:51 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Of course they'd be delighted to,

Just like the Cubs would have been delighted to dump all of Jason Marquis’ contract, or all of Jacque Jones’ contract a couple years ago. It’s not about what the team doing the dumping wants. If the Rangers think they have to trade him, other teams will know that, use it for leverage, and force them to eat some of the money.

by aramis on Jan 12, 2009 12:18 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

But unless the Rangers would eat half of it

it is worth it. He has a 5 year/$80 Mil contract. Give me Furcal before that.

by rlpete on Jan 12, 2009 12:26 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Furcal was never going to play anywhere but LA.

The author of this post is not a certified scout, doctor, agent, statistician, manager, or journalist, nor was he ever a very good player, though he tried very hard to be like Ryne Sandberg and was about as scrappy as it gets (in T-ball). Any opinion expressed above should in no way be confused with fact, truth, or reality and is hereby qualified in the following ways: 1) The author does not know as much about baseball as Lou Piniella. 2) The author does not know as much about baseball as Jim Hendry. 3) The author does not know as much about baseball as either Dusty or Darren Baker.

by DGU on Jan 12, 2009 1:05 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

If they eat the money

we’d have to give up prospects. If we did this trade I’d rather pay money than further deplete our system.

by Cubinator on Jan 12, 2009 1:19 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I'd love to have Michael Young, but it won't happen

Cubs have spent all the money they have to spend. The only way to make Michael Young work is if Jim Hendry can slice $12 million or so from the annual payroll. That ain’t going to happen.

I would think Michael Young is screwed if he really does want out of Texas. Despite being an exceptional ballplayer in my view there simply isn’t going to be a team out there willing to take on his contract. Having said that a place where he would make gobs of sense assuming the dollars could be worked out is the Angels. They have the young pitching that Texas would crave in a deal too.

by BLou on Jan 12, 2009 9:18 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Latest Heard On XM...

… is “speculation” of a Soriano for MY swap.

Given that this is speculation only, I’d be interested to hear other’s thoughts.

For me, I think this just swaps problems. You create a hole in left field, and then you potentially move a guy (a lefty at that) in LBR out of the lineup. I think it creates more holes than it solves, and in the end it does not improve the team.

My 2008 Christmas wish list includes this jersey. In Hendry We Trust!

by initram on Jan 13, 2009 9:11 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

In short?

I’m no interest in Michael Young under any circumstance that doesn’t involve Texas eating half that extension.

And I’ve no idea why the Cubs would trade a left fielder that they need for a shortstop that they don’t.

by Damen Jackson on Jan 13, 2009 9:29 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Soriano for Young?

Geez, that would be a pretty shocking development. Methinks that Alfonso would have to REALLY be at odds with Cubs management for Hendry to pull the trigger on a deal like that.

RIP Ron Asheton (1948-2009)

by dat cubfan daver on Jan 13, 2009 9:39 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs