Remember when Michael Young pitched a public fit after being moved on the diamond for the third time in his career? Well, Ian Kinsler didn't do that after there was talk of moving the career-second baseman to first base to accommodate the rise of super-prospect Jurickson Profar.
Granted, Young had rightfully grown tired of the position movement, but the Rangers were a better team because of each of those moves, and Kinsler seems to want to do what's best to make the Rangers the best team they can be.
But he did change his mind about his openess to move to first when he had a meeting with club officials last month, in which he expressed his desire to stay at second base. Then, last week, Rangers GM Jon Daniels announced Profar would start the 2013 season in Triple-A Round Rock while Kinsler will stay at second base and Mitch Moreland will get another shot at first base.
He thinks he can better help the team at second base, than at first and said he hopes to bounce back from a career-worst season in 2012 when he had a career-low on-base percentage as the team's leadoff hitter.
"Last year was a bad year, but I don't think I'm on a decline," Kinsler told ESPN Dallas. "You have a bad year and all of a sudden you're a terrible baseball player? I think over seven years I've been pretty successful. I want to bounce back. It's motivating. You don't want to have a bad year to motivate yourself, but when it happens, you're motivated."
But don't get it twisted, folks. Kinsler isn't becoming a distraction or a problem at all, he just wants what's best for the team and will likely take over as the leader of this team from Young, who is now in Philadelphia.
"Initially, it's I don't want to be this resistance to maybe something that is bigger than me or someone sees something from the outside that I don't see," Kinsler said. "I didn't want to be that resistance at all.
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"Second base is where I want to play, and I still feel I have a lot to give this team in that position. It's nice that I'm at a position where I think I'll help us win."
