Rob Neyer weighs in on the Michael Young situation, and has some cogent thoughts:

This situation has become a perfect storm of foolishness. Two years ago, the Rangers offered Young a five-year, $80 million contract covering the 2009-2013 seasons. This was foolish for a number of reasons. One, he was already under club control through 2008. Two, 2013 was (and still is) a long time away. And three, Young simply didn't project as an $80 million player. Not when considering his age and his limitations as a fielder. It was foolish when they did it and we said it was foolish and yet there it was (and still is) anyway.

 

Then came the biggest cherry on top in maybe the entire history of cherries on top: American League coaches and managers foolishly named Michael Young the best shortstop in the American League. Not an OK shortstop, nor a good shortstop. The best shortstop. This was also foolish when they did it (and we said it was foolish).

 

Add all this foolishness up and you may come to understand why Michael Young is upset.

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I don't know who's primarily responsible for his contract. If general manager Jon Daniels thought this was a good idea, one might certainly question his judgment. If the contract has (as I suspect) owner Tom Hicks' fingerprints all over it, Daniels mostly deserves a pass (though a big part of a GM's job is convincing his bosses to avoid rank foolishness).