Getting Defensive: Taking an old friend to task.

One night back in September of 2008, I finally boiled over watching Michael Young attempt and fail to defend the shortstop position.  I wrote about it for for the DMN.  The piece no longer exists in cyberspace, but there are references to it here, here and here.    

At the time, the Rangers were one of the worst defensive clubs in MLB and Young was one of the worst offenders.  He, of course, celebrated his -4.6 UZR with a Gold Glove.

Back then, and to this day, my friend Evan Grant and I have had countless arguments about my insistence that the Rangers had to get Young's glove off the field. Like most, if not all of the mainstream media guys who are in the clubhouse on a regular basis, Grant has a justifiably enormous amount of respect for Young.  I think that on some level my arguments have taken a small hold somewhere in Grant's consciousness (his somewhat frequent comparisons of Young to Paul Molitor, which started a couple of years ago make me think that Grant actually agrees with me on some level), but he and the other beats still seem to have their judgment of Young's defensive value somewhat clouded by their personal feelings for the guy.

And let me be clear about this:  Young deserves the respect.  He is a great guy, a great leader and a very good hitter. With one notable exception, he's always said the right thing.  He has always done the right  thing.  He has played through injuries, he works his ass off. He takes the bullets in the clubhouse when bullets need to be taken by someone. 

He is, as everyone says, the consummate professional.  He is more valuable to this ballclub than he would be to any other ballclub and for that reason, among others, I do not want the Rangers to trade him.  They would have to pay him anyway, it's hard to imagine they'd get anything of value for him if they didn't pay almost all of his contract, and  his departure would clearly leave a gigantic void in the clubhouse.  And here, I take issue with a contingent of the stathead crowd who often forget that baseball is a game played by people and personalities do matter when creating a team.

But that does not mean that he can field a position anymore.

Since 2008, the Rangers have climbed from one of the five worst defensive ballclubs to one of the five best.  In 2010, you might be surprised to learn, Elvis Andrus was one of the few Rangers defenders who did not rate well above average at his regular position by UZR / UZR 150.

Name	Pos	Inn	Plays	RZR	RngR	ErrR	UZR	UZR/150
Julio Borbon	CF	1095	264	0.917	12	-0.2	8.9	10.5
Nelson Cruz	RF	799	168	0.933	9	-0.9	7.7	10.6
Josh Hamilton	LF	772	126	0.875	1.9	0	6.8	13.2
Ian Kinsler	2B	905	210	0.854	4.3	-0.4	2.1	4.1
Nelson Cruz	LF	88	15	0.938	1.7	0.2	2.1	31.4
David Murphy	RF	381	54	0.871	3.5	0.6	2	7.7
Chris Davis	1B	298	24	0.727	2	-0.6	1.1	6.8
Josh Hamilton	CF	262	59	0.894	-0.7	0.4	1.1	4.5
Craig Gentry	CF	44	6	0.75	0.3	0	0.6	22.5
Craig Gentry	LF	28	4	1	-0.2	0	0.4	20.4
Elvis Andrus	SS	1291	308	0.817	1.3	0.6	0.1	0.3
Julio Borbon	LF	6	1	1	0.1	0	0.1	10.6
Craig Gentry	RF	6	0				0.1	8.8
Mitch Moreland	1B	320	27	0.818	-0.1	-0.1	-0.1	1.2
David Murphy	LF	533	85	0.859	-2.1	0.5	-2.3	-5.6
David Murphy	CF	53	11	0.786	-3	0.1	-3.5	-80.7
Michael Young	3B	1370	218	0.708	-4.6	-1	-5.4	-5.8

First of all, get a load of Craig Gentry's numbers at all three outfield positions.  Wow.

Back to the point:  Young was the worst defender on this ballclub by a sizable margin.  He was also one of the worst defensive 3B's in baseball last year

Name	Team	Pos	Inn	Plays	RngR	ErrR	UZR	UZR/150
Chase Headley	SDP	3B	1407	211	14.1	2.7	16.5	17.9
Kevin Kouzmanoff	OAK	3B	1231	212	10.9	4.1	16.1	17.5
Ryan Zimmerman	WSN	3B	1189	173	15	-0.3	13.9	17.8
Adrian Beltre	BOS	3B	1342	210	10.9	0.1	11.8	12.7
Evan Longoria	TBR	3B	1330	201	8.7	1	11.1	12.4
Scott Rolen	CIN	3B	1074	207	4.1	7	10.6	12.1
Placido Polanco	PHI	3B	1075	212	-0.7	8.4	10	11.3
Jose Lopez	SEA	3B	1252	252	8	-0.3	8.1	7.5
Casey Blake	LAD	3B	1204	199	7.3	1.1	6.8	7.7
Alberto Callaspo	- - -	3B	1134	192	1.1	4.2	5.3	6.3
Brandon Inge	DET	3B	1226	222	-3.8	6.2	3.1	3.5
Mark Reynolds	ARI	3B	1214	195	2.5	-0.1	2.2	2.5
Pablo Sandoval	SFG	3B	1224	176	-0.3	1.8	1.2	1.5
Edwin Encarnacion	TOR	3B	841	142	4.1	-5.4	-1.5	-2.3
Alex Rodriguez	NYY	3B	1046	185	-8	5.4	-1.8	-2.3
Ian Stewart	COL	3B	925	167	-4.9	3	-2.5	-3.3
Pedro Feliz	- - -	3B	804	133	-4.3	0.8	-3.1	-4.9
Jhonny Peralta	- - -	3B	840	163	-9.9	5.3	-4.1	-6.1
Casey McGehee	MIL	3B	1326	227	-6.2	2.2	-4.2	-4
Michael Young	TEX	3B	1370	218	-4.6	-1	-5.4	-5.8
Pedro Alvarez	PIT	3B	814	155	-4.2	-2.4	-6.2	-8.6
Aramis Ramirez	CHC	3B	1003	148	-4.7	-1	-6.5	-9.1
Miguel Tejada	- - -	3B	823	154	-4.4	-2.3	-6.9	-9.9
David Wright	NYM	3B	1373	251	-10.8	0.9	-10.6	-9.5

First of all, you have to get excited about replacing that -5.8 with a +12.7 at third base.  But you also look at that and ask yourself how can Grant write this sentence in his DMN story on this Young's "sacrifice" published yesterday?  

"At 34, Young can still play the field, and this move will actually force his repertoire to grow, not shrink."

Grant, of course, is not alone among his peers in holding this opinion.  The mainstreamers all seem to believe this.  It's part of the traditional pressbox narrative of this thing to perpetuate the notion that Michael Young is a man without flaws.  And he is, almost.  He just can't field anymore and once we strip away the narrative and look at the facts, we see that Young is simply too big of a liability in that department to be tolerated by a ballclub in hot pursuit of excellence.

It would be one thing if the eyeball test said something different about Young than these numbers do (see, e.g. Elvis), but did anyone seriously watch Young at the hot corner last year and "see" anything that said "he can still play the field"?  I actually found myself feeling bad for him on a fairly frequent basis.  I mean, you know he cares. You know he does the work. You know that he knew that he wasn't great (or probably even average), and you know it bothered him because he clearly cares so much.

The 2011 Rangers could be -- should be -- one of the best defensive clubs in baseball and will almost certainly be the best defensive ballclub this organization has ever sent home from spring training.  The rotation should be emboldened by this defensive unit, giving them no reason not to pound away at the strike zone and get through innings quickly.  The bullpen figures to be outstanding with two wise old lefties, a gimmick arm that MLB hitters still haven't figured out and an armada of RH power arms.  The club will hit plenty once again, and DH Michael Young will be an important part of that.

This club is also exceptionally strong in the clubhouse. You can laugh that off if you want, but it matters to the guys in the room.  Don't think for a minute that it doesn't.  They like going to work every day. They like their boss. They react to adversity exceedingly well.  And the credit for that goes in large part to Mr. Young. 

I don't want him at first base. Based on my eyeball test, I don't see him being very good at picking the ball.   I don't want to suffer through two weeks of seeing him struggle at short or second if Elvis or Ian hit the DL.  I just want to watch him hit. And lead. He's good at both of those things and I'm willing to bet that he'll continue to be good at both of those things for years to come.

Comments

[TD]

Well put. MY is an important part of this team, but that importance also includes not playing defense. I can see him backing up at third and first but I hope with all I have that Blanco or similar will be our first option at second and short. MY's hitting might even move up a notch without so much of his focus being on catching the ball.

[Texas Summer Heat]

I too have seen regression in his defensive game, but numbers, like you say are not everything. You and other stat-minded fans just tend to lean more toward their conclusion. Plus, putting a team together is a much more complicated task than most realize. Just focusing on the defensive rankings and an eye test is not all that must be considered. Historically and in reality, GMs have always had less than perfect individuals on their major league rosters as starters. Most teams cannot afford, nor can they find or persuade players that are the best at their position to become part of their team (for any number of reasons). Therefore, they factor in other qualities a player might have and they put the best team possible on the field. So, many guys that are at the bottom of statistical lists (Miguel Tejada, David Wright, Manny Ramirez, Michael Young) remain starters because their other qualities (hitting, presence, leadership, RBI, runs scored, HR, etc) outweigh the deficit in any other area, like defense. With that in mind, MY is the best super utility player in all of baseball. Overall, he will be by far better at all four infield positions defensively and all other intangibles than anyone else available. This makes this team much better than last. Also, many players with MY's pride have in the past finally realized that age really is catching up to them, and thus rededicated themselves to preparing better in the off-season to improve. My said recently, he had planned to "take off" at 3rd this year. A reference to to working harder in the off season to improve his skills at 3rd? I think so. Will he be the best at third and win a gold glove? Maybe not, but not impossible with someone like him. He will be a very good option at all the infield positions this year because of his hitting, leadership, trust the other players have in him, and because his manager is comfortable with him doing it. If he becomes the full-time 1st baseman (I wouldn't be surprised), he will be very adequate at it. The numbers cannot be the end all for management when making out a roster. The team has made a decision that will help them be better defensively this year, and I commend them for that. But this team needs a Paul Molitor type to build tradition (a player that plays here his whole career and wanted to). That, in the long run will be invaluable to this franchise. Michael Young is that guy hands down. Give him a break.

[David (Texan in Wisconsin)]

Gentry's numbers are great, BUT he ONLY had TEN total plays compared with Borbon's CF play count at 264!!! Gentry needs a chance to play somewhere else and Murphy's gone after this year because his salary just shot up.
You could go with Cruz in LF, Borbon in CF and Murphy in RF with Hamilton at DH but Josh is a too good at defense to not play in the field right now and Young is DH for the next three years.

[WillyMo]

I like Evan but he loses credibility every time he trots out those kind of statements. Two things become increasingly clear to me 1) video doesn't lie, especially over several seasons and hundreds of plays
2) it's all opinions anyway and nobody knows what's going to happen. That's why we watch the games. Sorry Evan, you have good contacts and sources for information but you aren't a baseball guy in my opinion. Hindman tells the truth regardless of how much he likes MY.

3b requires a different skill set than SS or 2b and if you don't have quick feet, quick hands, and the ability to read a swing, you can't play 3b. That's my worthless opinion...

[David (Texan in Wisconsin)]

@Texas
You've been in the Summer Heat too long........
Young would whiff at balls playing 1B the same way he does on smashes hit to 3B.
He is not tall enough for high throws and would never get proficient at one hoppers or be flexible enough to stretch. He would need to get really good at pickoffs, the toss to a pitcher and a really hard double play. Just ain't gonna happen.
The great and even very good first basemen have been playing it forever. We don't need some crazy experiment at a critical defensive position. Any play at 1B for MY totally negates the improvement gained by Beltre at 3B.
Nice passion for Face but I think I just sunk your battleship.

[Jon]

Excellent analysis Mike. Been saying the same thing myself for years.

However, I like Wash, but his problem with "veternicity" will casue him to play The Face all over the IF a la poor Vlad @ SF in RF. Hopefully JD, who does understand UZR and stats will reign Wash in a bit.

I seriously wish the bench coach would retire/move on because that would be the best place for The Face while the team is on the field. It leaves The Face in his role as a leader and grooms him for someday replacing Wash when he retires.

Looking at the numbers one can see why JD wants Borbon out there on the field. It also looks like Gentry might push my favorite player Murphy for playing time. Good to have some quality depth.

[Ron]

@ David

You are mistaken, Many great first basemen learn the role late in life. remeber Tex? He was a 3rd basemen. Do you remember Raffy? Outfielder when he came over here.

[Da Blade]

I agree that it would take a miracle for Young to overcome his defensive deficiencies, but I'm of the mind that spot infield duty won't hurt the overall cause too much. Unless they get Thome as a big bench bat, I envision Young getting most of his work at DH. And won't Blanco still be on the roster? Wouldn't he need some work, too?

Call me delusional, but I just see the starting infielders all being healthy enough to play in about 90 percent of the games. The Rangers are due for a season like that. If you split the remaining 10 percent between Young and Blanco, I can't see that having much of a negative impact.

[techgolf44]

To me real coming home of all this for MY was in the World Series and I watched the SF 3rd baseman(I forgot his name) make 4 or 5 plays that other AL 3rd baseman would not have made. MY would have had no chance...I love MY and he is still incrediably valuable to this Club! Go Rangers

[David (Texan in Wisconsin)]

@Ron

Your use of the word MANY isn't appropriate. A VERY good fielder may make a decent or good first basemen but Young is NOT even a good fielder to begin with and he's not as young as those guys were when they made the switch.

[Ron]

I agree, but he could do it. I am not saying he should, however.

There are a lot of guys that have done it later in life. Like Young, they were good fielders, but simply lacked range in the later years.

[Lfloyd]

While I agree MY is a problem on the field, his new role will really improve this team IMO. Young learning first is important, but I've seen lesser players play 1st (Adam Dunn, Mark McGwire.) The arguement that MY is too short has almost no merit. He is 6'2. Daric Barton is listed at 6' and he is one of the best defensive 1B in the league. First is a place where weak D can be hidden to some degree. Will MY ever win a gold glove? No, but it isn't hard for me to believe he will at least be adequate. As far as up the middle utility play, MY taking over at 2nd for 2 weeks is something I could live with if/when Ian goes on the DL. If Elvis lands on the DL I can say I wouldn't want MY to be the everyday SS for more than 2 games in a row. By MY doing this, the entire team will be able to get more rest and we have a solid backup at every position. I was totally against the Beltre signing at first but the more I think about it, the better it feels. We didn't improve our starting rotation 1 out of every 5 starts, we improved our entire rotation by signing Beltre.

[Bats and Balls]

The same lack of skill that makes Young a liability at 3B would also make him a liability at 1B. Teixeira and Palmeiro were exceptional fielders before making the move. Skills are skills...and MY either never had them...or lost them.

For that same reason, you wouldn't want him playing a lot at a UIF. This team can no longer afford to say, "Well, we can sacrifice some defense because he's so good offensively." 60 games in the field for Young is still enough to weaken this defense substantially.

@MJH - Exceptional blog post. Some of your best work. SSS on Gentry, but I suspect the numbers would hold for him with more opportunity.

[jd21]

@Lfloyd: Although Young is listed as 6' 1", I've seen him close up, and I can't believe he's more than about 5' 10".

[Me]

Amen Mike.

Beat guys like Evan Grant are afraid to be critical because they fear pissing off a player like Young and losing their welcome in the clubhouse. Web-based guys whowatch the games and call it like they see it... they don't have to soft-step around the issues because they are not waiting like a lap-dog after the game for an interview.

[LFloyd]

jd21, I'll agree that player's height is often exaggerated, but that applies to everyone. My point is there are shorter first basemen than MY currently playing. And I've also seen him up close and 6' seems accurate. (not that 2 in. difference is a huge amount.)

[Pabloesque]

I need to better understand where Jim Thome would fit with this team. If MY isn't traded, and is going to get the majority of ABs at DH, when would Thome play?
I really don't see him accepting a role for anything less than full time DH as there are many AL teams lacking a solid bat for this role.
If he did sign with Texas, I only see him getting a significant number of ABs if Moreland falls on his face and MY get's most of the PT at 1B (or I suppose you could play Thome at 1B but he's a mess there). Again, this assumes MY is not traded.

I'm going to go nuts for the next 40 days if we don't throw around hypothetical trade scenarios.

[Drew]

Good analysis both statistically and empirically. I like Young as a DH and as a super-sub. Beltre and Andrus have been dubbed the best left side in baseball already. With a decent right side that should improve over time, I can see the Rangers building the best defense in the majors. Hamilton in left, Borbon in center and Cruz in right is merely a fantasy for most clubs. What a ball club!

[Babe]

Well stated. I watched Young from the left field stands last season. His playoffs and WS were AWFUL. I didn't need stats to see the balls that he didn't get to.

[P1 Stefen]

I remember in one of those Yankee games I saw MY do his typical 'Ole' move for a ball and he completely missed it...then a few innings later you see A-Rod put his body in front of the ball to block it from getting past him. MY sucks at 3rd when he can't even do the fundamental "put your body in front of the ball" mantra you learn in little league that superstars seem to figure out. Glad to see we have one of/ if not the best defensive 3B in the game now. It was painful watching MY's pathetic attempts to snag a hard liner.

[Adam]

Great post MH. It's funny to me how many Ranger fans just love MY so unconditionaly and can't accept the fact that he is not a good defender. I have several friends who are hardcore Rangers fans and watch most of the games and they still take offense to my beratement of his defense. During the playoffs, it was almost as if there was a spotlight on him showing clear as day his range shortcomings. So many balls got by him that he should have gotten to and more often than not those led to big innings. That said, I completely agree with your statements about all of Young's great qualities and think this move will ultimately give us the flexibility to be a great defensive team and also a healthier team with the ability to rotate the DH role as needed.

[LBC Ranger]

Mike...you don't post enough.

[FlopShooter]

@ Da Blade

the season is 162 games. 10% of those games would be 16. lets says that MY playing defense caused the team to lose 2 of those 16 games. final season standings:

Oakland 90-72
Texas 89-73

the point is, EVERY GAME counts.

just sayin....

[dude in UK]

The Rangers have the most versatile DH in baseball now...good for them, I guess. I've been up and down on MY for several yrs. I think I was most unhappy when he made such a big stink about losing his job to Elvis. I really don't think he's going to be among the top half of DHs in the league, but maybe he has a little more time now to study pitchers, to listen to Maddux and the staff discuss pitching strategies in the dugout, to gain just a few more edges here and there through the added focus on hitting that lets him become a 2.0 to 2.5 WAR DH. If he can do that, and not be horrendous on most occasions he plays the field, I will be happy to support him remaining on this team. But if he can't hit well enough to man that roster slot, I'm for letting him go elsewhere. A man who is guaranteed to walk away from the game some day having made no less than $90M in his career deserves no sympathy from anyone.

[TheNatural]

In case of injury to Kinsler or Elvis, it has got to be Blanco that fils in for any "extended" periods.

That's a guy that can play several positions, and hit the ball pretty well at the same time. He was borderline incredible there for a good while last season.

Yeah Young can be the fill-in for days off and yadayada, mainly because it gives us a viable offense while letting Josh or Nelly DH a time or two. Remember, those two are our most important offensive pieces. They are going to need their share of time off.

Of course, with Beltre and the King playing, Josh could probably just go ahead and roll out a cot and take a nap every half inning.

[Tom B]

I will be shocked if MY finishes the season as a Ranger. I will be surprised if he starts the season as a Ranger. His naturally best place to be is a Dodger but that team ownership and management is so screwed up they can't figure anything out. Well, that and they still owe Andruw Jones and Manny Ram. about $3 million each this year and maybe forever. If they get the LA Legal troubles settled and Steve Garvey buys the Dodgers then I see MY there. They need the bat and even his glove would be an upgrade. I Like Mike but I see him in Dodger blue.
Some hard workers can not accept part time employment. They suck at filling in when they have been the Big Dog. If you can't catch up to the ball at 3rd then it doesn't get any better at first. I hope I'm wrong but these eyes rarely deceive. I don't think utility men make $16 mil/year. Give up $4 mil and a left handed bat plus MY for an Arm and you got a deal if anybody can collect the money from 3+ million screaming fans in LA. Actually, the Angels need MY more than anyone else but they, too, have been bitten by the effete bug of derision.

[Kreg in San Diego]

Michael Young is a smart player and all your ratings do nothing to determine that. Is his head in the game, does he consistently make the right choice on his throws, is he where he should be backing up, does he know what the runners are doing? I am just saying stats don't tell all the story, especially when it comes to fielding and running. I mean if Pete Incaviglia had good stats he would still be a lousy outfielder because he never hit his cutoff man and consistently made bad choices on his throws.

I don't think he is likely to fill in at short, the insistence of having Blanco on the team last year supports that, but I have no problem with him learning and playing 1B, or giving Kinsler rest. If your numbers say that Elvis is not a very good SS then I know these numbers are out of whack. Elvis is the best SS in MLB. And Pablo Sandoval is better than ARod, Pedro Feliz and David Wright? Are you frickin kidding me?

[dirkfan41]

@FlopShooter

In order for Young's 1B defense to cause 2 losses in 16 games he would have to be unimaginably atrocious.

2 losses = 20 runs
UZR in 16 games = -20
UZR/150 = -188

Let’s say in the small sample size, Young defense is equivalent to Konerko, the worst defensive 1B last year.

Konerko had a UZR/150 of -14.7
In 16 games that would be a UZR of -0.16

Which would on average cause 0.016 losses over an average defender.

I am happy if Young spells someone at 1B or another position, as long as it isn’t for a large portion of the season.

[Pigskinnie]

MY = Roger Dorn. Let Blanco play if someone gets hurt or needs time off. I think it would be great to have the flexibility to put MY at an infield position in a late-game situation where we need to pinch hit for Blanco (even though we would lose the DH), but otherwise MY shouldn't have a glove.

[dirkfan41]

Whoops. 1 too many zeros in my last post. Should be a UZR of -1.6 and 0.16 losses in 16 games

[Pabloesque]

I don't get you guys... and I'm no MY apologist but c'mon, this guy just did the most unselfish thing (seemingly willingly I might add) by accepting a role for something other than what he's done HIS WHOLE LIFE... yet you continue to bash him.
I'm all for bashing players... but I think it's time we move on.

BTW - with Derreck Lee getting nearly $10M (through very attainable goals) Vlad will find some power straved team and get $7M or $8M, don't you think?

Nobody answered my earlier post on how you would get Thome ABs. I'm genuinely curious to hear your thoughts... because I cannot come up with any logical scenario, outside of an MY injury/Moreland slump, where Thome would get any more than 200 ABs. .. and would he really want to sign here to play roughly 55 or 60 games?
I could see him DHing when Young's used to spell the other infielders... but if healthy, Kinsler, Beltre and Elvis will sit out maybe 15-20 games each, tops. There's 45-60 games right there... but is Murphy going to get ABs if Thome eats up the leftover DH ABs? And is MY really going to play 60+ games as a utility guy... I guess he could but that seems counter-productive.
If Thome gets 350 ABs, then he makes some sense... but is he really going to want to come here to play 1/3 of the time? I doubt it...
Again, I may be missing something so I would like to hear from the "pro-Thome" group.

[WillyMo]

I heard Larry Bowa on MLB yesterday say that Young gets no respect. Excuse me, he has the PRIVILEGE of playing major league baseball and gets paid $16 million a year to do it.

I can't believe I have to listen to that crap, especially from what should be an old school guy.

Most of us are thankful to have a good job and have only dreamed of playing in the big leagues. I think I am beginning to hear some jealousy of the Rangers because they are making things happen and the east coast elite don't like it.

Get used to it Larry Boy.

[Tre]

This blog post is exactly how I feel about Michael Young. I love him, but glad to see someone pointed out he has so many goods and one major con. Hearing people whine ad nauseum on his defense while ignoring his good was getting old until this post.

[Mike Gray]

I would really like the Rangers to sign Thome. MY would DH against lefthanders, and would give Kinsler, Andrus, and Beltre each a rest about once a week. He might even play a little first, but I would rather see Thome spelling Moreland (or Davis). Someone's likely to get hurt, so Young will sub for the injured. I don't see a problem getting Young his at-bats, and also letting Thome DH against righthanders. Look, I know MY isn't the fielder he once was, but I think he's a bit underrated. I don't think the Rangers will suffer too much with him, and then they don't need Blanco.

I'm a big Thome fan, because I think he can hit good pitching. I would like to see hime here.

[lg]

This far out scenario has nothing to do with MY, who will be a very solid utility infielder though Blanco was an excellent U in 2010. The scenario: since there is a reluctance to move Neftali to starter then sign Soriano and do a NBA like sign-and-trade to ChiSox with Feldman and cash for Edwin Jackson. The WhiteSox want Soriano but can not afford without moving a contract to cover and do not want to lose a #1 draft choice for a reliever. Boston may scream, but Texas would lose in addition only a #2. Texas will still have a#1 and #1A for the loss of Lee. Feldman would be a nice addition for both sides; for Tezas it clears roster space, and CHicago has another X-Ranger. SP for later in the season- remember John Danks anyone.

[Scooby Dude]

@ lg: I believe that when you sign a FA to a multi-year contract you are prohibited from immediately trading him.

@ Pabloesque: look @ Thome's #s. If you sign him (and the Rangers should if they can), he starts ~100 games at DH vsRHP. He's that much better of a hitter (vsRHP) than either Young or Moreland. Then you struggle to figure out where Moreland and Young get their ABs from. This is why what is best for the Rangers and probably ofr Young is to be traded somewhere where he can move to COF- somewhere where his glove will allow him to not have to compete for ABs with much better true-DH hitters like Thome.

[jackman47]

One thing to be said about all of you who write about the Rangers, and all of us who read about the Rangers....we are fans of the Rangers. I read you all, Mike, Joey, TR, Evan, Anthony....but it is so refreshing to read a piece that is written from someones head and not their heart. We are all fans of the team but I sometimes feel sick after reading the love affair articles that get written about some of these guys. Michael Young may be a great teammate, but he did demand a trade a mere 24 months ago. And his defense has been terrible since he was a second baseman...an average second baseman. Sure he won a gold glove...so did Rafael Palmeiro in 1999...even though he only played 28 games in the field! It is okay to want Michael Young around...as a DH...or even just a team ambassador. The only person I ever wanted to see banned from Arlington was Tom Hicks.

Thanks for keeping your brethren in check!

[lg]

Scooby Dude what defines immediate. A Rod was not even close to half through his when he was traded. Many contracts signed have limited or no trade contracts in the big names. Unless the Angels jump in, Soriano is headed back to TB on a one year. The original point is that Edwin Jackson has a Garza/Grienke potential who the ChiSox wants to move to get Soriano. Of course, they could just sign Soriano and trade Jackson. The benefit is no lost draft choice. Then again -- if the Second coming of Pedro is realized for 2011 then a trade is mote and you have Soriano as closer. And all Spring Training to decide which solves that immediate issue.

[erudy]

"With one notable exception, he's always said the right thing. He has always done the right thing."

This is the notable exception, right?

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/texas-rangers/post/_/id/4856340/michael-young-not-losing-sleep-over-a-rod-hit

MJH, I think you should link the words "one notable exception" to this article. Just my two cents.

[Scooby Dude]

@lg:

I'm not 100% sure, but I think it's the All-Star break of their 1st season.

[Pull T]

@erudy - I think the initial balking about moving to third in Spring of 09 is the notable exception

[arp]

Borbon CAN'T throw!!!!!!!!! How can he be a top defender if he needs a cutoff man to get the ball to second base? I really like him as an offensive threat especially on the bases (although he was a horrible base stealer last year) but I am begining to think that an outfield of Murphy, Hamilton and Cruz would be preferrable or perhaps Hamilton, Gentry, and Cruz with Murphy rotating at DH with Young.

[arp]

Kreg is exactly right. In no universe is Pablo Sandoval in the top thirty of defensive third baseman much less better than any of the players Kreg listed.

Which brings us to the real problem I have with UZR and WAR ratings. For all the data that is available in baseball there is simply not an absolute way to determine what plays should have been made by every player in baseball over the course of the season. In order to determine that you would have to have amongst other things exact pre-play positioning for every player on the field for every play, speed of the ball off the bat for every play, height of the ball and relative distance from the players core as it arrives at the fielder, and the distance the fielder covered in relation to the speed and trajectory of the ball as it travels through the field of play. On top of that data it would also be wise to include pre-play pitch count, type of pitch thrown and the statistical probability (given the pitch count and type of pitch) that the batter would hit the ball to the specific point on the field in which the play was made. The current defensive ratings don’t use these evaluations because there is no data available so we use the eyeball test to determine if player A could have made the same play player B made regardless of these underlying situations. The new metrics are certainly better and far more advanced than just using the number of errors a player makes but they should not be the primary method in which we evaluate the value of an individual.

As for Jim Thome I don’t see a need for him. I would rather see a combination of Young and Murphy at DH in which Young plays against lefties and Murphy righties. Then Young can rotate through the infield when Murphy is DH and Murphy can rotate through the outfield when Young is DH. Thome is a better hitter I understand but this is a Ron Washington team and I don’t see how Thome clogging the bases fits with how this team is currently built. There is not a player on this roster as it is currently constructed who can’t go from 1st to 3rd on a ball hit to right or score from second on a base hit. They can already mash with the best teams in the majors but they are also better suited for scratching out runs late in the game than they were last year.

[johnsamo]

What about left field? He's lost his quick first step, but that's less important there. Granted he wouldn't be a great LF, but his deficits would be less obvious there.

I've played first base, and it's not easy to play it well. It's about as hot a corner as 3b as far as grounders, and you're constantly getting very hard and often very badly thrown balls coming right at your feet or ten feet high. If the IF doesn't trust MY to dig out or jump and get their bad throws, they'll start aiming it, and thus make more bad throws... It'll be as bad as MY being at 3rd, if not worst.