Michael Young willing to leave Texas Rangers – MLB News
It looks like Michael Young is unhappy and is requesting to be traded from the Texas Rangers over several issues involving his role in the team. Although many experts feel that his decision to wanting to leave the Rangers is most likely due to the fact that
he was not happy becoming the designated hitter.
However, it seems that there may be more to this than what is being disclosed in the media. After the apparent signing of Adrian Beltre, who was due to take his position and bump Young to the designated hitter spot, things just started to break down between
the player and the organisation.
Rangers’ president Nolan Ryan and general manager Jon Daniels are caught in the firestorm as Young is demanding to be traded. Ryan said, "He doesn't view himself as a designated hitter at this point in his career. At this point, he still views himself as
an everyday player. I understand the way he feels. I expressed to Michael my feelings about our ballclub, the role he would play on it and the number of at-bats he would get.”
Getting traded is not going to be an easy task, as he Young recently signed a contract with the Rangers and there is a no-trade clause in it. Also, the fact that the Rangers seem reluctant to want to trade him will definitely make things difficult for him.
“I want to be traded because I have been manipulated and misled in this process,” Young said. “I don’t want to take it anymore. I would have preferred this to stay behind closed doors.”
As each day passes, this issue is continuing to grow and may get out of hand as the team is looking to get ready for the spring workout session and Spring Training scheduled to start in just a few days time. The fact that Young is basically the team leader,
the Rangers could face back-lash from the other players and find a serious dip in performance from the rest of the team.
In all likelihood, the Rangers will be looking to work things out with Young and try to further smooth out relations as quickly as possible. At this crucial stage, it will almost be impossible for Young to be traded even though many teams will be hopeful
that he makes his way to their line-up. The Rangers are not looking to get bullied and a contract is a contract.
How much Young is willing to lose to break his contract is anyone’s guess as he seems more adamant to just get out from the Rangers and go elsewhere. It will be interesting to see how the Rangers and Young work this issue out before Spring Training starts.
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