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BP Annual Player Comments

Year		Comment
2014		Young takes a lot of flak for playing past his expiration date, but he remains a line-drive machine whose consistent contact keeps his batting average floor high enough to be useful. He can still hit the fastball, and his tendency to inside-out pitches to the opposite field allows him to cover for the expected drop in bat speed. Meanwhile, his positional flexibility increases his utility, even if his inability to play any position well crushes his value stats. Young spent his entire career in a Rangers uniform before last year, but he is at a stage of his career in which loyalty goes out the window in pursuit of playing time or a ring.
2013		Often dubbed “Mr. Ranger” by fans and media alike, Young heads to Philadelphia after 13 seasons in Texas. Although Young and the Rangers produced their share of offseason drama in recent years, the infielder departs Texas as the franchise’s all-time hits leader. Sentimental value aside, the trade should give Young an opportunity to continue seeing everyday at-bats. It’s no secret that Young is no longer the offensive force he was in his prime. However, on the heels of a resurgent 2011, few could have predicted last season’s collapse. There’s no doubt the veteran has lost some of the bat speed that made him so comfortable in the box as a perennial batting-title contender. But even with Young at 36, coming off a dreadful season, it wouldn’t be wise to write him off at the plate.
2012		Michael Young is 35 years old? When did he get that old? Anyway, after yet another positional demotion (or reassignment) and its subsequent backlash, Young made the most of what appeared to be a very tumultuous situation by bringing his bat back to life, hitting a career high .338 in 2011. While predominantly a designated hitter, Young did make over 90 appearances at various infield positions, playing like a man who is predominantly a designated hitter. Defensive value aside, Young’s offensive contribution was a needed boost to the offense, and with two more years remaining on his present contract, one that will pay him $16M per, the bat will continue to bear the brunt of those 32 million remaining expectations.
2011		No longer the face of a losing franchise, Young finally got a taste of playoff baseball, but he's not quite the force that he was for the inferior Rangers teams of yore. After a slow start to the season, Young found his bat, hitting for average and power and carrying a .500 slugging percentage into July. Unfortunately, he wilted in the summer, watching his offensive production decline every month until it bottomed out over his final 28 games, during which the six-time All-Star produced a 615 OPS. With $16 million headed his way over each of the next three seasons and a simultaneous decline at the plate and third base, which may soon force him to vacate the position in favor of DH duty, Young's leadership may be the only non-replacement-level skill he offers by the time his contract runs its course.
2010		In a lineup loaded with hitters who struggle to make consistent contact, Young is an outstanding complementary player, a hitter with excellent bat-control skills and outstanding line-drive power on contact; he's someone who almost never gets cheated in an at-bat, rarely popping up. That said, last year's offensive spike owed a lot to more than doubling his rate of homers per fly ball, and that's going to come back down. While Young has repeatedly shown a willingness to play through assorted nicks, his EqBRR drop-off is a symptom of what happens when you do. He had problems with an ankle early and a hamstring late; he wasn't making mistakes, he was running conservatively. The comparisons to Bell and Wallach seem spot-on, and it's easy to anticipate he'll become a better third baseman; he started 29 double-plays and wasn't error-prone, and a year under his belt and playing alongside Andrus should bring improvement.
2009		You can relate to Young's frustration with the team's request that he agree to a move to third to make room for Andrus at short—he's worked hard to be a good middle infielder, and he's already had to agree to move off of second for Alfonso Soriano's brand of butchery around the bag. With his bat already come down from his days as a perpetual XBH machine now that he's out of his peak years, he isn't really an asset anywhere but up the middle.
2008		Young needed a .349/.399/.457 second half and a .362 average in September to get his fifth-straight 200-hit season, but that streak has made him considerably overrated, especially if he's not going to hit 20 home runs a year anymore. He's still a very good player, but when the face of the franchise is a guy who's merely one of the top five players in the league at his position but is still going to be paid $16 million a year into the latter portion of his 30s, it underscores the dysfunction inherent in the franchise.
2007		Our Davenport Translations reversed field on Young after years of deploring his work with the glove, a change which is reflected, at least to some degree, in other fielding metrics as well. The sad truth is that until baseball has some kind of GPS chip implanted on every fielder, we`re not really going to know precisely just how far each player travels from point A to B in pursuit of the ball. Young`s bat took a little step back last year after three seasons of rising production, but was still plenty good when combined with his improved glove. Texas has a 2008 option on Young for $4 Million. That`s less than Kenny Lofton will make this year.
2006		Young's AVG and OBP have gone up every year he's been in the majors, and aside from a sophomore slump in the power department, those numbers have improved steadily as well. PECOTA pegged him for a big decline in 2005, a forecast that for all we know he read and used for motivation last year. That's really why we do what we do here at BP; we want to motivate guys like Young, make them reach their full potential (third in the AL in VORP), and see them justify the four-year contracts they just signed. We do like to help. Young may move off of shortstop sometime down the road, but after the Soriano trade Kinsler's ticketed for second base, so that day is still a way off. If he keeps hitting like this, he'll make the Rangers' decision on picking up the fifth year option on his contract extremely easy.
2005		Young embodied the Rangers' season. Started off unbelievably hot, made a number of sportscasters derisively laugh off the loss of A-Rod, but hit 100 OPS points after the All-Star Break. The drop-off was partly due to the back injury he suffered in August; the question is whether or not that's necessarily a good thing for the future. Young's locked up on a four-year deal through 2007, with a club option for 2008. If he can hang onto some of his newfound power, play good defense, and rack up 200 hits a year, he's a big plus. But it's not a lock.
2004		In a year when Young's offensive production took a huge step forward, his fielding took a step backward, raising questions about his reputation in some circles as a world-beating second baseman. Young's offensive spike came almost entirely from an uptick in singles—his isolated power rose only slightly, and his walk rate actually dropped—so there's a good chance he'll give some of it back this year.
2003		Young led all major league second basemen in Zone Rating last year, after putting up an above-average rating the year before. While that kind of defense might make his .700 OPS a little more palatable, it doesn’t solve the mystery of how he managed to get 373 plate appearances in the first two spots of the lineup. Young is not the kind of player a team should be comfortable playing every day.
2002		When stopgap Randy Velarde pulled a hamstring in late-May, Young was retrieved from Oklahoma sooner than expected. There was some initial anxiety about his ability to handle the right side of second base, but his steady play at the keystone quickly dispelled those concerns. Young is cut from Robby Thompson cloth, and he’s beginning what should be a sturdy ten-year career. Most importantly, he’ll do his job for just $500 a plate appearance over the next two seasons, freeing up money to be spent elsewhere.
2001		Mike Young would be the top prospect in some organizations. He plays a reasonable shortstop or second base and has already demonstrated every ability you look for in an offensive player. As good as Mench and Jovanny Cedeno are, I think this guy has the best chance of being a productive major leaguer in the near future. He could have a Randy Velarde-type career, hopefully without the nagging injuries that impeded Velarde’s development. Most organizations would kill to have even one middle-infield prospect as good as Young or Romano.
2000		He’s moved through the organization with Cesar Izturis, but this may be the end of their pairing. Young isn’t the shortstop Izturis is, and he’s a year younger than Brent Abernathy while being about the same player. Young is a B or B- prospect in his own right; he’s just stuck behind a B+ one. He could move to the major leagues quickly in a different organization.

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