I Want Michael Young.

Pictured above from his days at UCSB, my fellow Gaucho alumn, Michael Young is on the trading block. I can't think of a better solution to our problems on the left side of the infield than to make a deal for the former Blue Jay prospect, but is there any chance in the world that it will happen?

In his 11 year career, Young has averaged a .300 batting average, 17 homeruns, and 87 RBI. Last season he sported a +2.7 WAR, which is slightly above his WAR/Season average of +2.26. He's 34 years old, but he clearly seems to have a couple of high quality years ahead of him, right? Now, if at this point you are questioning if we need a guy with those numbers, let me give you our two current options at SS, our two current options at 3B, and compare their averages over the last three seasons to Michael Young's:

Erick Aybar (SS): .280, 4, 42, and a +1.9 WAR.

Maicer Izturis (SS): .273, 4, 43, and a +2.1 WAR.

Alberto Callaspo (3B): .290, 7, 48, and a +1.5 WAR.

Brandon Wood (3B): .180, 3, 10, and a -0.6 WAR.

Michael Young (SS/3B): .296, 18, 80, and a +3.2 WAR

So now that we have far and away removed any doubt that Michael Young would be a serious upgrade over what we have, we turn to what the Rangers might want.

However, I'm going to take a pause here and point something out. I think what I'm doing right now is something that a lot of fans of a lot of teams are doing, and I think that's really interesting. Whenever a desired player goes up on the trade block, fans of almost every team kind of assume that their team is the frontrunner, and start talking about potential deals. Obviously, this isn't true. A very small group of teams actually even have a chance. But, all it takes is a need, which we have for Young, and one tiny little article out of any newspaper/website in the country to suggest it, and us fans are all over the idea that we might have a shot at landing the big star. 

I mean, so far the rumors have named the Angels, the Dodgers, the Tigers, the Twins, the Rockies, the Phillies, the Blue Jays (who would dump all their Angel acquisitions to the Rangers by sending Rivera, as Andrew pointed out), the Mets, and the Cardinals. And that's just what comes up when you type "Michael Young" into Google. And yet, myself, and many Angel fans seem to feel we have the best shot. To our credit, we are on the list of teams the Rangers can trade Young to without veto. We are also the team of his home town, now that we've changed our name to "Los Angeles." We should have a good shot, in reality. But, there is that whole "never trade a good player within the division" thing. We'll just have to wait and see what the Rangers decide to do.

So, if we assume that the Rangers would send Young within the division, what would it take to get him here? Note: This is usually the part of a possible trade post where I bail and say that so-and-so at AA Arkansas has way to much upside to deal away. Well, Y! Sports is reporting that the Rangers would be looking for some combination of players like Maicer Izturis or Alberto Callaspo along with Kevin Jepsen or Jordan Walden.

PULL THE TRIGGER!

Of course, if I got to pick, I'd deal Callaspo and Jeps, but I think I would be fine with moving any combination of those four to make this deal (my geeky minor league self pauses the most over Walden, in all honesty). It's hard to believe that this would get the deal done, but that's what's being shopped around in rumorville. Even if we dealt Izzy, think of how much more that would make the Rivera and Izturis for José Guillen trade a better deal. JR and Ma$e played well for us after the trade, and then helped us get Wells and Young? Historically speaking, that'd be pretty cool.

As you can see, I'm all for a deal to get Young playing under the Halo. Let's just hope Arte and Tony don't find a way to blow this chance to completely turn around their offseason, and make it a gem. 

Pitchers and catchers report on Monday. Can you believe it? Welcome back, baseball.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē