On this day in 1989, the Yankees re-signed Tommy John, who was 45 years old at the time. John lost seven of the 10 starts he made in '89, and was released by the Yankees on May 30th. It would be his last stint in the majors. Of course, over two decades later, the southpaw is a bigger household name than ever, immortalized as the namesake of a surgical procedure now common among pitchers: Tommy John surgery. Here are the links for Sunday, as we celebrate the return of baseball. Pitchers and catchers report!
- Jamey Newberg provides some reasons that Michael Young is unlikely to be traded. He points out that Texas doesn't match up well with contenders looking to add offense because those contending teams don't want to give up players who will help them win in 2011.
- Jonathan Papelbon doesn't know why everyone assumes he won't be with the Red Sox after 2011, tweets Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe. However, in this piece from WEEI.com's Rob Bradford, Papelbon voices his desire to be the "number one guy" on free agency next offseason and says Rafael Soriano's contract helped set the bar for elite relievers.
- Juan C. Rodriguez of the Sun Sentinel discusses five questions about the Marlins' roster changes for 2011.
- ESPN.com's Buster Olney (Insider-only link) thinks Michael Young makes a lot of sense for the Brewers. Not only would Young represent an upgrade over Yuniesky Betancourt at shortstop, but it was GM Doug Melvin who initially acquired Young from the Blue Jays in 2000. Olney acknowledges, however, that Milwaukee's minor league system has been depleted by the Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum deals, and the money situation might not work.
- It's been an up-and-down offseason for the Rangers, writes Randy Galloway of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
- The Indians view recently signed infielder Orlando Cabrera as a super utility type who could play not just second base, but also shortstop and third base as needed, according to Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Yuniesky Betancourt… the one player that Michael Young at shortstop would be an upgrade over.
Only if you’re limiting it to people who actually play shortstop. I’d wager that he’s a step or two better than Bengie Molina would be at short. Heck when you look at it that way — Young’s one of the best defensive shortstops in all of baseball! :)
I should be an agent.
LOL yeah, Betancourt is worse than replacement level. Young could probably manage at least a 1.0 WAR at SS.
I would love to see the Brewers land Young! I just don’t think they have the pieces to make Texas happy.
if the brewers have decided to go all in this year (which it seems like they are), then it makes sense to go for the win-now trades. good luck to milwauke!
Would it take anything to get him? Isn’t he a salary dump? The question is how much of that salary will the Rangers pay.
What does Papelbon not understand? He’s said that he’s looking to reach new heights for closers financially…something that won’t be possible in Boston under Theo.
No wonder everyone thinks that he’ll be a Yankee after 2011.
Who thinks he’s going to be a Yankee after this season?
Papelbon and Yankees will never happen, with Soriano in the mix there is no room for that nutjob and his contract for just being a regular relief guy.
I know…
but that was the notion a few years ago when Pap kept saying that he wanna set standards financially, and with Rivera heading towards retirement, it was reasonable to think that.
Young can barely play 3B… how the hell would he manage to play SS and not be the worst defensive shortstop in the league?
He won’t be the worst defensive SS in the league because Yuniesky Betancourt still exists.
Micheal Young…back at Shortstop? Ok…that one made me laugh. I worry about him fielding 2nd for 3 year if he come to my Rockies!
Young isn’t going anywhere. The Rangers don’t want to trade him. If they did, they wouldn’t have raised their asking price to ridicules levels for an aging over paid infielder.
Pointless inclusion of Papelbon in this. Just seems like they’re trying to get views with a name from a premiere team.
So you think that MLBTR should open a new topic just for the Papelbon news? Oh well, sox fans sometimes are weird.
Weird? Dude check out your name!
And then someone who goes by the username “Green_Monster” complains about my username… weird.
Yeah, that must be it. Or maybe Luke included the bit about Pap for the same reason he included the other info–because it was a quick hit.
Does Young and tons of cash for Betancourt make any sense? I’ve seen other half-serious posts suggesting Young belongs in Milwaukee but cannot see how it would work considering the playing time Young wants but cannot earn, defensively at least. One suggestion was Young for Randy Wolf but I’d hate to see Milwaukee part with one of their starting pitchers, regardless of how mediocre Wolf ends up being this season.
Might be an even crazier idea, but what about sending Prince to the Rangers straight up for Young. We would land a good bat, not as good as Prince but not the fall off that Gamel would bring. Texas would dump an expensive contract and get a great bat for one year, plus the draft picks when they don’t re-sign him. I don’t think it’s a great deal, but it’s something for Prince.
I feel that Prince would/should garner way more than Young. Young just doesn’t have much value, especially in the NL. He can not be counted on defensively at any position and while his bat still plays well enough, it most definitely won’t be at the end of his deal.
I agree with all of what you said, just tossing it out there. Young couldn’t be worse at first than Prince. I agree we would need some more in a trade, but the Rangers will be asking for more than Young is worth.
Do you think that Prince is bad at 1st?
What is in it for the Brewers?
Is Prince that bad? No. He is servicable, but Young would be too. I don’t think we should do it, just throwing some random ideas out there.
Gee, I don’t know, Pap. It might have something to do with the “Screw the Red Sox, I’m going to the highest bidder” statements you made when the shoe was on the other foot.
Guess what. Theo isn’t going to pay you more than Rivera. And nobody else is, either.
Young to the Brewers makes no sense. The money won’t work, even if we had the prospects/players the Rangers are asking for too much and the weakness of the Brewers is defense. So going from Betancourt to Young may be an upgrade offensively but it’s lateral defensively, the money wouldn’t work and the players/prospects that would be needed to trade for him makes it not worth it.
The Brewers should be looking for a SS, but it should be one who can play defense.
Ok, Michael Young to the Brewers for Greinke. Cmon….We’ll even throw in Scott Feldman.
Try throwing in Feliz, Andrus, and $30M.
Wolf to the Orioles for Tillman and Pie. The Brewers can trun around and trade Pie and Tillman for Young. The Orioles need another lefty and the Brewers want Young so this sounds like a fair deal.
If the Orioles were willing to trade Tillman and Pie for Wolf, we would just keep those two.
im pretty sure youre joking…so im not gonna rip that proposal to shreds
Just a idea, Papelbon for Michael young?
The Rangers are in the position of a homeowner whose mortgage is underwater. Michael Young represents a decent house, but the 34-year-old infielder is owed far more than his market value. Texas probably would walk away from the house and its mortgage if the Rangers could.
In short, Texas would not get much in return unless the Rangers were willing to pay much of the $48 million remaining on Young’s contract.
It seems a bit daffy for the Indians to sign a guy who’s played 1804 out of his 1837 career MLB defensive games at one position (SS) with the intent of using him as a super utility guy. That kind of logic speaks volumes about the current state of their organization.
Am I missing something here? The Brewers biggest weaknesses are defense up the middle and lack of available payroll. So They’re gonna go out and get Michael Young (an overpaid, HORRIBLE SS)? Yuniesky Betancourt is bad, but at least he’s cheap. Young is bad and expensive. This isn’t quantum physics.