Major League Baseball

Keeping Young is Rangers' best move

Published Dec. 7, 2010 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Nine months ago, C.J. Wilson told me about Michael Young’s value to the Texas Rangers.

“If he was on a team like New York, people would think of him like Derek Jeter,” Wilson said one afternoon at the team’s spring home in Arizona. “That’s how he is: He’s our Jeter.”

Wilson made the comparison when Rangers fans weren’t thinking about Cliff Lee or Bengie Molina or Mitch Moreland or (realistically) the World Series. But he was right — in ways that weren’t known at the time.

This season, Young was indeed the Rangers’ Jeter. He batted .284. He had 91 RBI. He led the team to its first division title in 11 years.

In October, Young was indeed the Rangers’ Jeter. He drove in seven runs during the AL playoffs. The underdog Texans toppled Jeter’s mighty Yankees to win the pennant.

And on Tuesday, Young was indeed the Rangers’ Jeter. The day began with Jeter telling reporters that he was angered by the Yankees’ suggestion that he test the market as a free agent. It ended with the revelation that the Rangers were open to trade proposals for Young.

In the end, there will be little material change. Jeter expressed his frustration at a news conference to announce his new three-year contract with the Yankees. Meanwhile, a source close to Young told FOXSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal early Wednesday that Young had been informed that he wouldn’t be traded — mere hours after the initial story broke.

Jeter isn’t going anywhere — probably for the rest of his career. Young apparently won’t be traded anytime soon.

But the day’s events reinforced a simple-yet-inconvenient baseball reality: The phase-out of an icon is a more awkward proposition than geek-on-geek romance at the junior prom.

The Yankees and Jeter were smart enough to realize that they were better together than apart. It’s time that the Rangers acknowledge the same.

The situations aren’t exactly the same. Young, 34, isn’t a free agent. He has three years and $48 million left on his contract. He has no say-so about whether the Rangers can shop him at the winter meetings, even if his no-trade clause covers 22 teams.

We don’t know how serious the Rangers are/were about trading Young. We don’t know exactly what they told the interested clubs. But we do know this: Executives with other clubs were under the impression Tuesday night that Young was available.

The Rangers are lucky that they didn’t make a deal.

To be clear, I am fully aware that Young isn’t the player he once was. His range at third base is an issue. His OPS dipped below .800 in three of the past four seasons. The 200-hit seasons aren’t automatic anymore.

And yes, I watched Young play in the World Series. He didn’t have an extra-base hit. He didn’t score a run. He didn’t look particularly good in the field, either.

But here’s something you may not know: Every time I entered the Texas clubhouse after a loss during the postseason — and I covered every Rangers game this October — Michael Young was at his locker, prepared to face the media and set the public tone for the team.

The gesture was neither accidental nor insignificant. The Rangers’ roster included many postseason novices. Young himself hadn’t appeared in the playoffs before Game 1 of the ALDS at Tampa Bay. But he conducted himself in a way that tricked you (and probably the team) into believing that he had seen all of this before.

I found that very impressive. His teammates did, too.

On two occasions during the AL playoffs, the Rangers looked like a team in crisis — after losing two straight to Tampa Bay with a chance to clinch the ALDS at home; and when they fumbled a 5-0 lead against the Yankees in Game 1 of the ALCS. Following those defeats, Young seemed more resolute than ever.

Without him, the Rangers still would be looking for their first World Series berth in franchise history.

Without Jeter, how many world titles would the Yankees have won during the Torre Era?

And for those who discount the effect that a player can have on the others in his clubhouse, I would invite you to consider the words of Pat Gillick.

He’s the guy who was elected to the Hall of Fame on Monday.

“One thing that I think is very important is character,” Gillick said. “When I started out in this game, I thought it was 70 percent ability and 30 percent character. The longer I’ve been in it, I think it’s 60 percent character and 40 percent ability. If you’re going to be out there through spring training and 162 games, you need people with character.”

Well, Michael Young has character. He also has some ability. Lest we forget, his batting average over the past two seasons is .301 — along with a total of 43 home runs.

For his position, Young remains an above-average offensive contributor. And if the Rangers are so concerned about his defense, here’s one solution they should consider:

… Forget Cliff Lee.

… Sign Adrian Beltre to play third base, with Young shifting to first and Mitch Moreland to the outfield.

… Trade for Zack Greinke.

Easier said than done, of course. Yet it’s preferable to discarding the face of the franchise because of (a) diminished range or (b) the need to clear payroll in order to make Lee the best possible offer.

Sure, Lee’s left arm is the most sought-after-commodity in baseball right now. But Young’s integrity was the metronome of a band that has become large, complex and terrific. His effect on younger players, most notably Josh Hamilton and Ian Kinsler, has been significant.

The anecdotal evidence is there. And it’s not hard to find. Young was there to quell the five-alarm crisis of the year, when news broke in spring training that manager Ron Washington had tested positive for cocaine the season before.

“When my situation happened,” Washington said just before the World Series, “he was the first one to step up and say that he’s got my back.”

That’s Michael Young. He’s always been there. And if the Rangers are as smart as I think they are, they will keep him right where he is — hitting and speaking for the team.