Dmitri Young Rumors

UPDATE: According to Bill Ladson of MLB.com, the idea is to put Dmitri in left field next year.  Should be wild.  This might put Ryan Church‘s future in jeopardy; the Cubs have some interest.

According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, the Nationals are close to inking Dmitri Young to a two-year, $10MM contract extension.  That’s right around what I thought he’d ask for, and I think it’s a bad idea for Washington.

While it’s true that Young wouldn’t fetch much in trade or draft picks, locking him up for his age 34-35 seasons just isn’t wise for this team.  He’s having a career year, but can you really count on him for even an .800 OPS?  Even if he can provide league average 1B production, why lock yourself into that?

Furthermore, Nick Johnson is already tied up at $5.5MM annually through 2009.  He should be healthy next year; what then?  Do you really want one of these guys lumbering around left field?  Or a $5MM bench player?   

The justification for this deal is going to be the intangibles Young brings, and I can’t speak to that.  But from where I’m sitting it does not make sense.

Dmitri Young learned of teammate Ron Belliard‘s two-year contract extension, and now is talking about staying in Washington himself.  He’s cautious to add that there’s a ceiling on what kind of discount he will provide.

What would Young want?  It would have to be two years, already a questionable idea for Washington.  I’m guessing maybe he’d want $8-10MM?  Just doesn’t make sense for the Nats, no matter how good Young thinks he is in the clubhouse.  He’s not a reliable player; he’s a DH nobody wanted who happens to be on a hot streak. 

Even if it’s just a B-level prospect, it’s hard to see why Jim Bowden would not trade Young in the next week.

The time has come for the Nationals to decide whether to trade their All-Star first baseman, Dmitri Young.  He’s arguably their best player this year, but he’s a free agent after the season and might yield a solid prospect.

Phil Wood would like to retain Young, and even sign him to a multiyear free agent contract.  He extols Young’s virtues as a "personable, productive, and solid candidate for comeback-player-of-the-year honors." 

Young’s 180 in public perception comes as quite a surprise to me.  In April of ’06 he choked a 21 year-old woman and faced a domestic violence charge.  An arrest warrant was issued in June when he failed to show up for court.  He later pleaded no contest to the charge.  Young’s had other problems as well, and I wouldn’t criticize those.  I’m glad he’s recovered.  But he still did something disgusting, far worse than anything Alex Rodriguez has ever done.  Leave him alone, let him play baseball, give him a second chance, sure.  But let’s not give the man a medal.  Save the adoration for an actual role model.  I know you may not agree, but I had to get that off my chest.

Anyway, Mark Zuckerman and Rick Snider think trading Young is a no-brainer.  The alternative would be letting him leave via free agency and taking the draft pick.  I talked to ESPN’s Keith Law to learn exactly what kind of pick the Nats should expect for Young:

"I’d say there’s a decent chance he’s a no-compensation guy, probably an equal chance he’s a B (one sandwich pick), and a slight chance he’s an A (one sandwich pick plus a pick from the signing team)."

Over the 2006-07 seasons, Young really hasn’t amassed the kind of stats that vault a player up in the Elias rankings.  The Nats wouldn’t get much if any compensation for him.  As far as published reports, only the Braves have shown interest so far.