It appears as though it will be the end of an era in Texas this coming season. Michael Young has now publicly asked for a trade and the Rangers seem more than willing to comply with his request if the right deal presents itself.
Although nothing official has happened yet, it appears that one mom has jumped the gun and broken the news to her young son.
The YouTube video, which is quickly making its way around the Web, shows a young boy, presumably a toddler, distraught and upset about the news that Young won’t be with the Rangers next season.
The boy at one point takes off his Rangers ball cap, drops it on the ground and says the Rangers are no longer his team because his favorite player is gone.
It’s funny that the reaction from a toddler is about the same as the reaction I had when I learned my favorite player wanted out of Arlington.
Even if Young doesn’t end up leaving, it is still hard to know that the face of the franchise, and the most popular player on the team for nearly a decade, wants to leave.
I know everyone wants to be happy and I understand Michael Young completely. What is hard to understand is how the Rangers franchise and GM Jon Daniels have treated Young, the face of a team that had nothing going for it before 2010.
Daniels has been actively listening to proposals from teams since the winter meetings, despite reassuring both Young and the public that the Rangers were not shopping the six-time all-star. It seems as though the Rangers have given Young every right to feel “betrayed” and “misled,” even if they won’t admit it to anyone.
The designated hitter role and super utility position that was promised to him is seemingly all but gone with the addition of Mike Napoli and rumors of Texas going after another possible DH before spring training.
The way Young, who has accepted two position moves before this off-season, has been treated by an organization that owes him so much is a borderline travesty. The Rangers would not have been the team they were last year without his leadership. Now it appears the Rangers have taken him for granted one too many times and enough is enough.
Now all of us who claim the Rangers as our team may have to go through the next few years without seeing No. 10 out on the diamond. And it is a shame.
