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West Notes: Young, Rockies, Giants, Napoli

On this day in 1978, the Padres acquired future Hall-of-Famer Gaylord Perry from the Rangers for left-hander Dave Tomlin and $125K.  The trade paid off for San Diego -- Perry posted a league-leading 21 wins and captured the NL Cy Young Award.  Perry previously won the AL Cy Young in 1972 with the Indians, making him the first man to win the Cy in both leagues.

Some items from the western side of the baseball world...

• The Mike Napoli trade makes it seems like the Rangers are still trying to move Michael Young, argues FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal.  The Rockies "still view [Young] as a potential answer at second base," Rosenthal hears from sources.  Colorado and Texas discussed Young at the Winter Meetings but talks have been dormant since. 
• Rosenthal says the Rangers would have to pay some of Young's salary in a trade with the Rockies, plus take Jose Lopez in return to be their new utility infielder.  Troy Renck of the Denver Post says the Rockies "love" Young but the Rockies "are tapped out financially this winter." (Twitter links)  With this in mind, it's hard to see Colorado acquiring Young unless Texas agrees to cover virtually all of the $48MM Young is owed over the next three seasons.
• The Giants will face a salary crunch next offseason in regards to the rising salaries and arbitration cases of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Brian Wilson, writes MLB.com's Chris Haft.  It seems like Wilson would be the clear odd man out of that quartet given how cheaper closing options can be found elsewhere.  It's possible the club could arrange to keep all four pitchers since a number of veteran contracts are coming off the books over the next two years -- Freddy Sanchez, Miguel Tejada and Mark DeRosa (who combine to make $18.5MM in 2011) are only signed through this season, and Aaron Rowand's deal expires after 2012. 
• MLB.com's Lyle Spencer thinks the fact that Napoli was so quickly flipped from the Blue Jays to the Rangers turns the Jays' swap of Vernon Wells to the Angels into "a garden-variety Toronto salary dump."  Spencer also thinks Napoli will be unhappy with a potential lack of playing time in Texas.  This may be true, but Napoli would've been similarly fighting for at-bats with the Jays, given Toronto's plethora of first base, catcher and DH options.

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