During an interview last year, Michael Young told me that he wanted to finish his career with the Texas Rangers. Now, according to too many reports to list,Young hopes to finish that career with a team not named the Rangers.
How do his teammates feel about that?
"If we lose him, it's a big loss," outfielder Josh Hamilton said Monday as the Rangers loaded moving vans bound for spring training in Surprise, AZ.
Hamilton visited with Young Monday morning during a workout and talked to 34-year old for the first time since the latest round of trade rumors emerged.
"Obviously he'd be disappointed," Hamilton said. "He's been here a long time, this is all he's known for his whole career."
And if Young is moved?
"It's definitely a concern. You think about his leadership, how long he's been with this organization."
"It's going to be different if something happens and he's not here but we'll have to step up and focus on what got us to where we were last year. That was having that chemistry encouraging each other, loving each other and backing each other up."
"Anytime you lose a player like Michael it's hard on the team. Hopefully we can keep chemistry there, hopefully somebody will step up and be a leader."
Those leaders are hard to find (are you listening, Dallas Cowboys????) and perhaps even more difficult to replace.
UPDATE:
The Rangers held 5pm conference call with Jon Daniels and Nolan Ryan. Daniels confirms Young has a requested a trade and that they will try to accommodate his request. Young initially agreed to move to DH but had a change of heart. Daniels said he wishes "it hadn't come to this."
Stay tuned!!!!!
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