It's been almost a certainty for the past week or two that the Philadelphia Phillies would deal third baseman Michael Young at the trade deadline, just months after acquiring him from the Texas Rangers for pitcher Josh Lindblom, who is currently pitching for Triple-A Round Rock after some less-than-impressive shots in Arlington.
While it's no surprise to hear the Phillies are in on the idea of trading Young, who's hitting a respectable .277 with a .342 on-base percentage and .402 slugging percentage. He has seven homers and 32 RBIs in 98 games with the Phillies, primarily as a third baseman with two games at first base.
He's a right-handed hitter, which the Rangers curently covet to try to fix their ailing offense and there's no question he would be a popular acquisition in the clubhouse, full of guys who love the longtime Ranger who had grown to be the face of the franchise as a second baseman, shortstop, third baseman and later just DH and super utility man.
The Phillies had reportedly been told that Young would waive his no-trade clause to go to Texas, Boston or to the New York Yankees, but on Tuesday, FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reported that Young would only waive his no-trade for a deal to Texas — nowhere else.
All reports have said the Rangers aren't too interested in re-acquiring the veteran, which takes away any leverage the Phillies had in the trade market as they seem prepared to call up prospect Cody Asche as their third baseman of the future.
But it all comes back to what the Rangers need, and what they need is an outfielder. Acquiring Young would give the Rangers a solid DH option, but that would still have David Murphy as an everyday outfielder, which is killing the offense on a nightly basis this year. If they're going to acquire a bat, it needs to be someone who can become an everyday starter in left field, and while Young is a versatile defender, he's never been an outfielder and the Rangers aren't going to start now.
It'd be a feel-good story which would make guys like Ian Kinsler ecstatic, but it's most likely not going to happen. We'll know, one way or another, within 24 hours.
