While we wait for the Hall of Fame voting to be announced, there are a few interesting stories in Texas to take a look at.  First, the Michael Young fiasco.   While no one has been watching, Michael Young has slowly been stepping into the shoes of the premier shortstop of the American League, with leadership qualities to boot.  Though it has been happening outside of the spotlight is irrelevant, it has been happening, and Michael Young is the kind of player that a small market team wants to build around.    His long-term contract, signed early enough to be reasonable for a few more years makes him ideal.  The leadership and example he sets is beyond extraordinary.  I happened to be in the clubhouse two springs ago, the day after Young had been hit in the earflap with an out of control fastball. The earflap shattered, absorbing most of the shock, but the plastic mangled his left ear something good.  The doctors had managed to sew it back to together, but Young changed the dressing while he calmly and professionally answered questions for the half dozen reporters who had nothing else to write about that day.  The stories the next day centered around how quickly Michael wanted to get back out there, and the concern about the ear if anything happened again before it was healed being the factor holding the team back from letting him get back.  It was clear, Michael wanted to be back.  You won’t find a story where he doesn’t appear to be the guy that wants to work harder than he did the day before to help the team.  And yet, it seems because of the way the team handled the request (read demand) that he move to third suddenly it seems he isn’t all about the team.  What Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels may have forgotten to say to Young when telling him of the teams plans is that they want him to move to third because he is so good that they have no doubts he will be successful.  They are confident that he can make the transition seem much smoother than anyone else on the team, and that they will do whatever is necessary to get him on board with the move because a Michael Young in the line-up makes the team better.  Instead, what they probably said is we need to find a way to get this kid Elvis Andrus in the line-up because he can hit, and the only way we see we can do that is move you to third.  Very different tactics.   Now Michael, by all accounts has trouble going to his left, which makes the shift to third seem not ideal, and clearly makes the case for moving him to second for another team. If asked, do I think he gets traded?  I think the answer is no.  That really is not in the teams best interest since its doubtful they can really get enough value for him that will keep them on their road towards contention.  He’s also the current face of the franchise, though Josh Hamilton and Ian Kinsler are working towards sharing that title with him.  With the Rangers attendance dropping below 2 million last year, the team can’t afford to get rid of the most popular player, which is why all of Jon Daniel’s words since this became public have been conciliatory towards Young, hoping he will buy in.  Is Michael in the right?  Well, he signed a contract believing he would be playing short-stop for the entire time, so this is changing the terms of the deal significantly.  The team has to really drive home two things.  First, that the move offers him the best chance of winning with the Rangers, and two, that if it doesn’t work the team will work to make sure he is in a position to succeed- even on another team — after a reasonable attempt at third.  There will certainly be more to come on this, but I think Jamey Newberg of The Newberg Report has the best single reaction.  Basically, its a big day for the Rangers organization and tumultuous day for Ranger’s fans.

The other Texas story, which is much less agonizing, comes from Richard Justice who writes about Nick Venuto, Astro’s Scout of the Year.  Each organization picks someone to receive their clubs award, but often that person goes unrecognized by the media unless there is a very slow news day or the scout has a good relationship with a particular reporter.  The piece, while not completely telling, gives a little bit of a picture of the life of a scout– much of which is spent sitting in a car driving, or sitting in a seat in a high school ballpark.  Just and interesting perspective of one of the least known parts of the game.  Also a funny story or two.

I received a couple of notes about my seemingly new interest in the Braves, and so I want to take a moment to talk about why I do this.  Though I do often spend a lot of time on a few teams, that tends to be because I either see those teams a lot, or there is more good informative writing about those teams.   I try to find pieces from all over the baseball map to inform what I am writing about, and to inform you, the reader, so that our understanding of the game grows.  It galls me when I find someone who has been in the business of baseball so long and shows such a lack of understanding about us, the fans of the game, as Frank Wren has shown.  That’s my mission.  One one side, its to make fans smarter, so its harder to write us off, and on the other, its to make teams smarter about us, so that its easier to give us what we want, and to allow our love of the game to grow.  I often get emails saying I haven’t been writing enough about a particular team, and the Braves are one of those teams because honestly, there isn’t a lot of great writing about them out there, and I don’t have any close ties to the organization that give me any special insight.  That being said, when the opportunity arises, hopefully, I will be right on it! Please keep your comments coming, and if you have any thoughts, we would love to hear your voice on the messageboard!