Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports
If Michael Young has any say in where he goes, which he actually does, he will be a member of one of two teams come August 1.
According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, Young has told the Philadelphia Phillies that he will only waive his no-trade clause for one team: the Texas Rangers.
Rosenthal’s report disputes one from Jayson Stark of ESPN earlier that stated Young was willing to approve a trade to just about any contender. Apparently, what Young meant was that he would accept a trade to the only other team he has known in his career.
It shouldn’t surprise anybody that Young would want to return to the Rangers. He loved his time in Texas and is still one of the most highly-respected and appreciated players within that franchise. Manager Ron Washington has spoken high praise of Young, and so have several of his teammates.
However, this doesn’t mean that Texas wants Young back.
In fact, according to Jeff Wilson of the Fort-Worth Star Telegram, the Rangers are done making moves and were never really that involved in trade talks to return Young to the organization anyway. If all this is true, it could be very bad news for the Phillies, who might just be stuck with Young until the end of the season.
The team has already promoted Cody Asche to play third base for the rest of the 2013 season with the expectation being that they would be able to trade Young, and all indications were that this was going to happen.
And maybe it still will.
According to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Asche’s promotion is not short-term and would more than likely force Young into a bench role. With that, there is of course the possibility that the Phillies are using this to coerce Young to accept a trade somewhere other than his beloved Texas.
Marilee Gallagher is a baseball writer for www.RantSports.com. You can follow her on Twitter @MGallagher17 like her page on Facebook, or join her network on Google.
