Infielder Michael Young announced his retirement from baseball in a press conference at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on Friday.
Michael Young lauded at retirement press conference
Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington called the retiring Young the “ultimate teammate.”
Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Young, at the stadium that he called home for 13 of his 14 major league seasons, was lauded by multiple members of the Rangers organization. General manager Jon Daniels claimed that Young “constantly proved people wrong,“ and manager Ron Washington called him “the ultimate teammate” and said that “his attitude every single day was exemplary.“
More Rangers-related retirement: Michael Young Lance Berkman
For his part, Young stated, “It’s gonna be a fun next chapter. This one was a blast.“ He also mentioned that he was ”(not) disappointed in the offers (he) had this offseason” to play another year, suggesting that he is leaving the game on his own terms rather than retiring due to a lack of options.
More Michael Young
Young split the 2013 season between the Phillies and the Dodgers and managed to post a league-average season at the plate at age 36. However, his defense had slipped to the point where he had no position to play in the field; his poor defensive metrics led to a sub-replacement-level valuation by both Baseball-Reference and Fangraphs last year.
Young batted .300/.346/.441 for his career and racked up 2,375 hits, 185 home runs, seven All-Star bids and a Gold Glove at shortstop while receiving MVP votes in five different seasons. The next stop for Young will likely be the Hall of Fame ballot, where he could receive some light support from old-school voters who eschew WAR figures but like his hit totals, his defensive versatility (he spent multiple seasons starting at each of second base, third base and shortstop despite never being good at any of them) and his reputation as a top-notch teammate.
More from SB Nation MLB:
See More:
