Michael Young is coming off his sixth straight All-Star Game, and he’s starting at another position (third base) after winning the Gold Glove at shortstop last year. It wouldn’t surprise me if he ends up as an All-Star first baseman before he’s finished. For a guy to have such success at one position and agree to move shows you how much of a team player he is. He has done that not once, but twice.

Lets try that again:

For a guy to have such success be such a shitty defender at one position and agree to move throw a hissy fit and demand to be traded shows you how much of a team player an overrated and egocentric bitch he is.

My first thought was that you’re being ironic, but my second was that thought #1 was too generous.

The article, while nothing I’d call enlightening, isn’t some moron piece—just standard fluff.

This quote you picked…

“He(Elvis) has tremendous defensive talent and charisma, and he has learned how to handle himself in the big leagues from manager Ron Washington.”

…you seem to have completely misunderstood. The article clearly says that he’s learned how to handle himself in the big leagues due to Washington, not learn how to play defense. Now, you could ask, “what the hell does learning how to handle oneself mean?” and it’d be a legitimate question, but you’ve pretty much totally mischaracterized it.

And it wouldn’t be shocking if Feliz is called up in the near future.

To start a fanpost with this limpdick stuff is really pathetic. And if you were being ironic, well, you suckered this guy.

In the past, the Rangers would try to overcome errors by waiting around for a home run, but they don’t play that way anymore. They turn double plays as well as anyone, and they don’t rely on the long ball as much. They do have a few guys who can still provide power. Even though Hamilton has struggled, he remains a threat; plus Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler have kept the homers coming.

Because we all know home runs and defense are mutually exclusive. I’m pretty sure having good defense is a smart baseball move if you hit 240 homers a year or 70. “don’t rely on the long ball as much” would imply they do something else clever when they are trying to score runs, like gasp taking a freakin’ walk or trying to string together some hit.

Nope, the Rangers “rely on the long ball” as much as they ever have – probably even more. The improvement in defense only hides the fact that this offense embarrassingly and pathetically one-dimensional.

This is the standard treatment anytime the Rangers have the fleeting attention of the MSM. ESPN and the like either give us a fluff piece with inadequately researched/flat out wrong points or nothing at all. It is their feeble attempt to stay relevant in markets they aren’t overly concerned with (any baseball market not on the east coast or in LA.)

Mildly annoying, but this isn’t the first or the last.

that stemmed from Ed’s post

new fanpost or post it in here?

they guy is a 6 time all star, gets 200 hits a year almost every year (other than when PLAYING with 2 broken fingers) changes positions for the good of the Team (Twice) does good things for the community and still gets treated like dirt, this makes no sense at all to me, other cities would give him nothing but respect, and you know what, most all Ranger fans do like Mike, it just seems to be a few wimps on this site that likely never even played Baseball at any level who gripe and complain about him. when he is gone you haters will then realize how valuable he really is.

michael young dollar value:
last 5 years:
05: 13
06: 12.6
07: 8.8
08: 10.1
09: 7.4

WAR last 5 years:
05: 3.8
06: 3.4
07: 2.2
08: 2.3
09: 1.6

OPS+ the last 5 years:
05: 131
06: 108
07: 107
08: 96
09: 124
(career OPS: 104)
 
So we are going to be paying a guy 16 million/year (which is as much as he earned 2002-2007 total) and has never been worth over 13mm dollars (high point) nor less than 2.4 mm. throw out the high and the low #s and he has been worth an average of 8.64mm dollars/year.

equally he has been worth an average of 2.38 WAR

he has not had positive value in the field other than 2002 (in fact he has been worth an average of -11.58 Fielding Runs Above Average based on UZR)

from looking at this, JD’s biggest mistake may not have been the early AGON trade, but may have been signing FOTF to this albatross of a contract in March of 07.

Well a few. But not for tender ears …heh! Let’s suppose you have a job. Your Senior VP comes in one day and says, "Jon, you are a real asset. We are moving you to a lower titled position, but with the same pay, in an area where you’ll help the company. Oh, and it’s similar to your career field, but not aligned with your major or your present position." You immediately go "WTF" and somebody hears you. And reports it.

A year later, you are not any different, but your opportunities now look better where you are sent, more retainable than in your old job. Mangement gives you kudos, you keep your check (now a big check compared to the hotshot that has your old job and is being fast tracked for promotion. You no longer go "wTF", instead promote the company policy and line and realize you actually have it made. In fact your non-project work (hitting) has again started drawing praise.

So unless you have something against praise, or shock and envy of a ballplayer leading a life and career way beyond ordinary reach, come off the "hissy fit" pejorative. It’s neatly tucked away and buried, and no more reflects Micheal Young and his role on the Rangers than your imaginary "WTF" in the simulation of a job change for you. Real world.

lets say you go “WTF” to your senior VP. you are already one ofthe highest paid people in the company, and in the industry as well. however the company decides to move you to another position, at the same top 5 salary from your previous position (in fact one of the 20 highest contracts by yearly value in the history of the industry), at a position where they think that you are still valuable to the company and will help the company the company more than likely will do one thing: show you the door.

when you are being paid twice as much as your worth, and are not one of the top 100 people in the industry, and you say “WTF” your going to be gone.

Value/WAR on team:
05: 2nd in each to Teix, however far behind him and not that far ahead of GMJ
06: 2nd on team to GMJ in dollar value and in WAR, only .5 ahead of the rising star that was Mark DeRosa
07: 3rd on team, behind lofton and byrd in dollar value (and it wasnt close), 3rd in WAR .5 behind lofton
08: 5th (behind bradley, kinsler, hamilton, byrd – 5 mil in value behind byrd, almost 1 full win below him)
09 (so far): 3rd on team in dollars (cruz has been worth almost 2x as many), 3rd in WAR, cruz has been worth almost 2x as many wins more than him. slightly ahead of andrus in WAR (.3)

overall (by dollars)
2006: tied at #70 in MLB (with mike lowell, dave roberts). slightly ahead of omar vizquel, paul loduca, kenji jijma, frank thomas. slightly behind eric chavez, jason giambi, rocco baldelli, josh bard. (160 players eligible)
2007: not in top 100 players in MLB, slightly above brendan harris, michael cuddyer, casey blake. slighty behind mark teahen, jhonny peralta and mike cameron (162 players eligible)
2008: once again outside top 100 players in MLB. slightly ahead of jim thome, mark reynolds, clint barmes, kelly johnson, slightly behind jason giambi, torii hunter, chris young, carlos gomez, skip shumaker and yadier molina (only 147 players eligible)
2009: #99 in baseball. tied with juan pierre. slightly ahead of russell martin, nate mcclouth, michael cuddyer. slighty behind clint barmes, seth smith, alexi ramirez, gabe gross

this is a guy who is the second highest paid SS in baseball (if he was still a SS). the second highest paid 3b in baseball. is paid the 4th most of any player with 5+ years of ML service (behind jeter, vernon wells, jake peavy). who is paid the highest % of the teams payroll (20.98% per cot’s).

this is a player, who has an above average BA, a slightly above avg OBP, a below avg BB%, a slightly above avg SLG, below average K, about average bb/k, below avg ISO, above average BABIP, slightly above avg wOBA, and who hits

lets compare FOTF to someone like mark reynolds over the last 3 years:
(graphs on the link)
BA: young has much better BA, reynolds is about average
OBP: young has better OBP, but only slightly
slg: reynolds has a higher SLG
BB%: reynolds has above average BB%, FOTF has below average BB%
K%: FOTF K’s less than league average, reynolds K’s well above league average
BB/K: FOTF is about league average, reynolds is borderline “poor” per fangraphs
ISO: young has been well below avg 2 of the last 3 years, reynolds has been well above average all 3 years
BABIP: reynolds and young have been almost exactly the same 2 of the last 3 years, reynolds was slightly higher his first year
wOBA: reynolds bas been a tick higher than young every year

Mark Reynolds value the last 3 years:
dollar value:
07: 8.3
08: 9.7
09: 10.2

WAR:
07: 2.0
08: 2.2
09: 2.3

OPS+
07: 110
08: 96
09: 130

Michael Young value the last 3 years:
dollar value:
07: 8.8
08: 10.1
09: 7.4

WAR:
07: 2.2
08: 2.3
09: 1.6

OPS+:
07: 107
08: 96
09: 124

Mark Reynolds @ 3B:
07: -2.0 UZR, -3.7 UZR/150
08: -3.0 UZR, -3.2 UZR/150
09: -3.5 UZR, -7.0 UZR/150
overall at 3B: -8.5 UZR, -4.4 UZR/150

Michael Young at 3B:
09: -11.4 UZR, -17.6 UZR/150

Young: 5th worst player by UZR in baseball (highest ranked IF) – behind Wells, Ethier and Hawpe

Young: 5th worst player by UZR/150 (behind the same guys + chipper jones)

Mark Reynolds was known to be a butcher at 3B. Mark Reynolds was known to have a lot of power, but also have a lot of K’s.

Mark Reynolds was also moved to play some 1B this year, in fact he has played 22 games at 1B. there was talk in the offseason that he would be moved to 2B. was there talk about him demanding a trade? no. was there whispers? no.

sarcasm
…but then again he didnt have a GG to his credit, did he?
/sarcasm

overall, thre really isnt much of a difference between reynolds and young except that young is making 16 million a year and is a worse defenseive 3b (but were coming up on the “magic” 100 game mark so we shall see if it gets significantly better from game 101-end of the year)