UPDATE: Mariners relief pitcher Dan Cortes is done for the season. Cortes fractured his hand in what the team says was an “off-field incident” on Thursday. He’ll need three weeks to heal, then play winter ball.

Colby Lewis had struck out six of his last seven by the time Mike Carp stepped up in the fifth inning, but Carp did his job with a two-run homer to right center. That cuts the Texas lead to 7-6 and puts the M’s right back in a contest they looked out of moments earlier.

5:28 p.m.: Texas scored three more times in the fourth inning for a 7-4 lead. Anthony Vasquez walked leadoff batter David Murphy, ending his day as the M’s called on Jeff Gray.

One out later, Ian Kinsler walked and Elvis Andrus singled to load the bases. Josh Hamilton brought two runs in with a single and then a sac fly by Michael Young scored the other.

Colby Lewis struck out the side in the bottom of the frame. That’s now four whiffs in a row for the M’s. Fan Appreciation Day is heading south in a hurry.

5:01 p.m.: Well, that lead didn’t last very long. Texas tied it 4-4 in the third after Anthony Vasquez decided to throw a little late BP, giving up three home runs to the first four batters he faced. Elvis Andrus left the building first, belting one into the M’s bullpen in left, then Josh Hamilton lined one over the right field wall two pitches later.

Vasquez got a lineout, then saw Adrian Beltre bang one off the second deck in left on the first pitch thrown his way. See? Beltre can have power at Safeco Field — when the pitcher he’s facing tops out at 85 mph.

Onward we go…oh yeah, Brendan Ryan is already out of the game, replaced by Luis Rodriguez at shortstop. That pregame handshake I gave him in handing out the local BBWAA Unsung Hero Award must have been a little too firm. Actually, the M’s just announced it’s a neck spasm. Kept wheeling around to watch all of those home runs, perhaps. Or, perhaps not. In the photo below, you can actually see me administering the Vulcan nerve pinch.

4:51 p.m.: Big second inning for the Mariners, who scored four times to take a 4-1 lead. The Rangers had opened the scoring in the top of the frame with a Craig Gentry single that brought Mike Napoli home after a leadoff double.

But then Adam Kennedy and Brendan Ryan singled, Michael Saunders walked to load the bases with two out and Ichiro delivered his second single of the game for a 2-1 lead. Kyle Seager then doubled to right field, bringing home two more runs.

3:38 p.m. It’s Fan Appreciation Day at Safeco Field today, which means I’ll be down on the field in a few minutes to present our annual BBWAA chapter awards to Mariners players.

Best Player: Dustin Ackley

Best Pitcher: Felix Hernandez

Unsung Hero: Brendan Ryan

The M’s have made a late scratch, subbing Michael Saunders in for Casper Wells in center field. We’ve been told by a PR spokesman that Wells is “not feeling well.”

The lineups:

Mariners (63-87)
——————————-
51 Ichiro Suzuki (L) RF
15 Kyle Seager (L) 3B
13 Dustin Ackley (L) 2B
20 Mike Carp (L) 1B
4 Adam Kennedy (L) DH
3 Josh Bard (S) C
26 Brendan Ryan SS
12 Trayvon Robinson (S) LF
55 Michael Saunders CF
——————————-
59 Anthony Vasquez LHP

Rangers (86-65)
——————————-
5 Ian Kisler 2B
1 Elvis Andrus SS
32 Josh Hamilton (L) LF
10 Michael Young 1B
29 Adrian Beltre 3B
25 Mike Napoli C
17 Nelson Cruz DH
7 David Murphy (L) RF
23 Craig Gentry CF
——————————-
48 Colby Lewis RHP

FORT WORTH, Texas — The Texas Rangers are discovering that it isn’t easy to trade a six-time All-Star with fewer than two weeks remaining before spring training.

Baseball sources indicated Thursday that a deal for Michael Young is not likely to develop and that the Rangers’ all-time hits leader will be in Surprise, Ariz., on Feb. 20 for their first full-squad workout of spring training.

General manager Jon Daniels said only that nothing has changed since Monday, when the Rangers first acknowledged that Young had asked to be moved. But the Rangers are considering how to move forward should they be unable to deal him.

“There are two potential outcomes,” Daniels said. “One is that there’s a trade that makes sense for the club and satisfies Michael’s request. The other is it doesn’t and Michael will play a vital role on the club. We’re still working through it.”

The timing of Young’s request and the size of his contract have clubs balking at a deal. Some have shown interest to varying degrees, but others have called to say they aren’t interested.

Colorado and Minnesota, two of the clubs that aren’t blocked by Young’s limited no-trade clause, have interest in him, but only if the Rangers pick up a significant portion of the $48 million remaining on Young’s contract over the next three years.

The Rangers aren’t willing to do that, though they would consider picking up more money depending on the strength of the package they were to receive in return.

Minnesota is willing to deal away left-hander Francisco Liriano — who would fill a hole in the Rangers’ rotation after they missed out on signing Cliff Lee and trading for Matt Garza or Zack Greinke this offseason. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire is a big fan of Young, who could become their third baseman.

But the money factor will be difficult to overcome.

“I’m not going to set any deadlines,” said Daniels, who has not spoken to any free agents about filling a hole that would be created if Young were traded. “We will walk down the path and see if we can satisfy all parties. If not, we put the club together with the idea of Michael playing a key role on the team, and we’re still prepared for that.

“If a deal is going to happen, it would be more likely that it would happen before (spring training). But we all know better than to say something definitely will or definitely won’t happen.”

The Rangers have not been in contact with Young for almost two weeks, since he asked to be traded. Daniels said that he hasn’t had any recent conversations with agent Dan Lozano.

But a source said that the Rangers would reach out to Young next week if it appears that they will be unable to trade him. They expect that Young won’t be a disruption in the clubhouse should a trade not develop.

“I would hope so,” Daniels said.

At the moment, Michael Young remains a member of the Texas Rangers. No one knows how long that will last, but earlier in the week it appeared that a Michael Young trade looked like a slam dunk (we know how those types of things turn out, right?). At some point during that time frame, the mother of a Michael Young fan tried to explain the situation to her three-year-old son:

First, the kid just thinks Young will have a new number, but eventually he realizes that Young won’t be on the team any longer. Like a manager who has seen enough, the kid, Gavin, takes his Texas Rangers cap off and lowers his head. But he doesn’t cry, he doesn’t even really shout. He just tries to make sense of it all.

As Gavin says of Michael Young, “He [is] my team.” Sometimes the youngest of us all can see the truth easier than adults. Michael Young has been the player connected to Rangers for most of the last decade, and the kids who will eventually be spending their money at the ballpark may be out of the player they most associate with the Rangers.

At three-years-old, I don’t think I had a favorite baseball player. But if I did it would have been Don Mattingly. I wonder how I would have reacted had Donnie Baseball been traded in 1988.

Oh, well. I guess Gavin has an “embarrassing” video his mother can break out years from now.

Having spent 10 seasons with the Texas Rangers, Michael Young, centre, is the longest-tenured member of the team. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Michael Young has asked the Texas Rangers to trade him, a request the American League champions are willing to oblige for their career hits leader who is unhappy about his changing role.

General manager Jon Daniels, however, said “nothing is imminent” and that the Rangers would trade Young only if they could improve the team in doing so.

After signing free agent third baseman Adrian Beltre last month, the Rangers said Young would become the primary designated hitter and serve in a utility role where he could fill in at every infield position. Young, the team’s longest-tenured player after 10 seasons, initially agreed to that plan.

“Our first choice would be to continue with our off-season plan and go to camp with Michael and him playing pivotal role on the club,” Daniels said Monday. “He’s changed his mind, had a change of heart about that role, and if we can accommodate his request, and in doing so upgrade the club, we certainly would like to do that.”

What could make that difficult is that Young is owed $46 US million over the remaining three seasons in contract — $15 million in each of the next two seasons and $16 million in 2013. Plus, there are only eight teams not on his no-trade list.

Team president Nolan Ryan, who spoke to Young twice over the last few days, said that list hasn’t expanded at this point.

Daniels said he has already been approached by some clubs not on Young’s list, though he wouldn’t get into specifics about who they were.

“It certainly hasn’t gotten to a point where we’ve presented Michael with anything because he’s been clear on his feelings about that,” Daniels said.

The 34-year-old Young has spent his entire major league career with Texas, and played in 1,508 regular season games before finally making it to the playoffs last season. A .300 career hitter whose 1,848 hits are the most in Rangers history, he also had five consecutive 200-hit season (2003-07) and led the AL with a .331 average in 2005.

Young was a second baseman when he became a starter for Texas in 2001, then switched to shortstop after Alex Rodriguez was traded in 2004. The Rangers moved Young to third base two years ago when they decided to promote rookie shortstop Elvis Andrus from AA.

When Beltre was signed, Young said it was clear that he wanted to play with the Rangers because of his willingness to “make some pretty big sacrifices” to do that. Now a month later, Young is looking to leave so that he can be an everyday player in the field instead of doing what is planned in Texas.

Young indicated in those recent conversations with Ryan that he initially accepted the role because he has made the Dallas area his home, where his family is comfortable. The California native also wants to be on a winning team.

“I think once he had time to think about his career and about his future, I think he felt like the time wasn’t right for him to take on that role,” Ryan said.

Excited about the unique plans for Young, Ryan said he tried to assure the player that manager Ron Washington would be giving him the same number of at-bats he has always gotten. And the acquisition of catcher-first baseman and potential DH Mike Napoli after the Beltre signing wouldn’t change that.

“Obviously at this point his mindset is that in the best interest of his career, it’d probably be better for him to move on and continue to play a position on a daily basis,” Ryan said.

Young was among several teammates Josh Hamilton worked out with Monday. The AL MVP said there was no real sense of what might happen and if Young would be at spring training for the Rangers’ first full-squad workout Feb. 20 in Surprise, Ariz.

“He said he wasn’t sure, he didn’t know for sure,” Hamilton said. “It’s going to be different, if he’s not there. … It’s definitely a concern. You think about his leadership and how long he’s been with this organization and just think about him not being here, it’s kind of hard to think about.”

Read More: Michael Young (DH – TEX), Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies

On Monday night, the Texas Rangers held a conference call to discuss the team’ situation with Michael Young. Young has been the subject of trade speculation since December, but over the weekend it was reported that he had demanded a trade.

Participating in the conference call were Rangers general manager Jon Daniels and owner Nolan Ryan. The Denver Post’s Troy Renck listened into the call and tweeted what was said. The overall theme was that the team will attempt to satisfy Young’s request for a trade, but only if it helps improve the team at the same time. They would like to mend the tattered relationship.

Daniels confirmed that Michael Young had asked for a trade about a week ago because he felt that moving to the designated hitter position would not be beneficial to his career. Young wants to play beyond the three years remaining on his contract.

Ryan said that he expects the Rangers to receive appropriate compensation for Young. The key parts to any deal will be how much money the Rangers must absorb of Young’s remaining contract and what prospects they receive in return.

Daniels went on to indicate that if they do trade Young, he wants it to be with one of the eight teams Young can be traded to. The Colorado Rockies are one of those eight teams.

By Rob Neyer – National Baseball Editor

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Feb 7, 2011 -

According to Yahoo!’s Tim Brown, Michael Young wants out. This time for real:

The Texas Rangers have told infielder Michael Young that they will attempt to trade him in the coming days, according to a source familiar with those conversations, in part because Young has grown disillusioned with his diminished role on the team.

The Rangers are known to have been in contact with the Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Angels. The Rockies are believed to be Young’s most likely destination. The Rangers probably would rather not trade Young to the Angels, who share the American League West, but also would like to heed the wishes of Young, a loyal and productive player for a decade.

Both the Angels and Rockies would ask for salary relief in order to offset Young’s contract. He is due $48 million over the next three seasons.

Man, what an awful contract. I have defended Young (notably, here), but his five-year, $80 million contract was ridiculous when he signed it four years ago – the contract didn’t actually kick in until 2009 – and of course it looks quite a bit more ridiculous now.

Two years after getting a long-term mega-extension that manifestly was not merited by his performance, Young threw something of a fit when the Rangers made it clear that Elvis Andrus was going to play shortstop in 2009, theoretically pushing Young to third base. I say “theoretically” because he initially said that he simply would not play third base, that the Rangers would have to trade him to a club that would let him keep playing shortstop (poorly, we might add).

Not that we should hold that against him, because he soon agreed to make the switch and by all accounts took to his new position with good grace (if not success; he cost the Rangers about as many runs playing third as he had playing short).

We shouldn’t hold his current frustration against him, either. Just imagine that you’re the highest-paid player on your team, you’re No. 1 or 2 on the list in many of the franchise’s all-time statistical categories, and you’re still (you think) in the prime of your career. Would you be thrilled about losing your just-learned position to a free agent, and then seeing your last option filled, at least to some degree, by Mike Napoli?

This is mostly management’s fault for giving Young that silly contract in the first place. They’re paying him like a great player … Why shouldn’t he think he’s a great player?

Of course he’s not a great player and management knows this, now. Bringing first Adrian Beltre and then Napoli aboard was a fairly blatant declaration that Young’s simply not good enough to play for a contending team if other options are available. But management pointedly did not suggest that there wasn’t any room for Young on the roster … Because that would have made that contract look even sillier, and because it might have alienated Young’s fans in the Metroplex (of whom he supposedly has many, thanks to his long and meritorious service with the company). Also, it might have given management just slightly less leverage in negotiations with other clubs … And you have to think management started thinking about moving Young the moment they got Beltre’s name on the dotted line.

This way, though? They can say to the fans, “Gosh, we love Mike just as much as you do. So if he wants to be traded, we’ll do our very best to accommodate the fine young man.”

All of which would be great for everyone concerned if the Rangers weren’t going to wind up paying Young a massive amount of money, even if they’re able to trade him. Because the Rangers are still going to wind up choking on some or maybe even all of that $48 million.

Remember, you budding baseball executives: Your actions do have consequences (granted, often you’re not still around when they do, which come to think of it explains a lot, doesn’t it?).

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