http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/12/phillies-rumors-fowler-ichiro-michael-young.html

How much do you think the Rangers would have to pick up? Would we get anything of value in return?

Almost posted the same thing. Getting rid of him is the value. I'd say a minimum of $8 mil would have to exchange hands and probably closer to $12 would be realistic. Thank god the Phils are interested, since most WS caliber teams don't need Young's services. I could definitely see Young accepting that trade to be the everyday 3B for them.

But I'm not getting my hopes up.

Have discussed this previously, but this Young item re-raises the issue.

Philly wants out from under Cliff Lee's contract but his contract is so bloated that they're being asked to pay part of his salary in a trade. Philly doesn't want to send money to pay his contract. Could Young going to Philly in return kill 2 birds with one stone for everyone? Moving Young's salary from Texas to Philly in a Lee deal would in essence be a way for Philly to send money, without sending it.

The fact that Philly has a desire for Young adds to the value they would feel they are getting from such a deal. Young being a multi-time all-star has the potential to make the swap more desirable for the Philly fan base, and the Rangers would probably have to toss in a lower prospect or two to add the illusion of value for the Philly faithful. Can Philly get a better deal somewhere else?

I'm wondering if there's a two-team contest for the massive contracts of Greinke and Lee, where the Dodgers will get one and the Rangers will take the other. I can see LAD paying for one but not both, and leaving Texas as the only aggressive suitor for the other.

Certainly something to think about. I only do it if I can trade Cruz and his salary to some other team though. We would actually drop payroll by $1.5 mil this season if that happened before any other moves. That would leave us with a ton of flexibility this offseason until the TV contract starts next year.

Young for Lee
Cruz for Dickey
Holland-Olt for Upton
Sign Hamilton and Pierzynski.

Would the money work?

That nets out to an increase of $30-35 mil in payroll depending on Hamilton and AJP's contract. That would put us around the $140 mil mark. Assuming Dickey doesn't sign an extension, I doubt the Rangers do all of these since Hamilton, Lee and Dickey are on the downswing of their careers. That's a ton of money tied up to mid-late 30's players IMO. But we would definitely be WS favorites next year. Talk about having different looks from your rotation if we had Darvish, Lee, Dickey, Harrison, Ogando.