Michael Young has ten years in the major leagues and five years with the Rangers. By virtue of those so-called "10/5 rights," he has the ability to veto any trade. Indications in the past have been that that veto power is something he would exercise in most cases, making it more difficult to even contemplate trading Young.

However, Evan Grant writes that two sources say the Rangers have talked to Young's camp about whether he would waive his 10/5 rights, presumably as part of a potential deal with either the Philadelphia Phillies or the New York Yankees. The Phillies need a third baseman for 2013, and the Yankees' third baseman, Alex Rodriguez, will miss at least a part of the 2013 season because of hip surgery.

The Rangers would presumably need to absorb the majority of Young's salary, and would likely get little or nothing of value in return. So why would Texas entertain such a possibility?

In fact, Michael Young's 2012 was the 4th-worst (by WAR) among players age 30 or older since 1990.

— Bill Baer (@CrashburnAlley) December 5, 2012

combined with this:

The manager said Young "spoiled everyone getting 200 hits every year and hitting .300 every year," and was just "a little off" last season.

"You take his standard of what he put together last year and put (it) on a player where the expectations aren't so high, it's not a bad year," Washington said. "By Michael Young's standards maybe you guys see it as a bad year."

And of course, this famous line from Ron Washington last August:

"I’m a big believer in Michael Young. And if the ship sinks, I’ll still be on it."

Michael Young had, by objective standards, a historically bad season in 2012. Ron Washington, however, insists it was "not a bad year," and there's no reason to believe he's not going to run Young out there for 600+ at bats in 2013, even if he repeats his disastrous 2012.

So, as Joey Matches notes, it may be in the Rangers' interest to give away a player that could have some value in 2013, simply because they can't risk the possibility that the franchise will be held hostage again this year.

The fact that Young has been approached about waiving his no-trade clause is telling, and the fact the Rangers are even making such overtures makes me think there's a pretty decent chance a deal will go down.