The Brewers Anti…Anti-Hot Stove: Michael Young

Our boy looks good in blue and gray, right? Photo: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

My original plan was to make the “Anti-Hot Stove” an ongoing segment, but since the Brewers continue to sign no one and get out bid by every other team in major league baseball…I have had little opportunity to add to the AHS cannon.  Luckily, word is circulating that there is a player the Brewers are sweet on and I could not be more supportive of this potential deal.  That fact, would make this article an Anti-Anti-Hot Stove because I am against…being against this move.

Look, there are plenty of reasons for me to hate this idea.  Young is 37 years old, only has 110 games of experience at 1st base, and is coming off of a season in which he made $16 million dollars.  Woof!

Many of you will call on my countless articles blasting management for bringing in washed up, past their prime players to fill key roles on the roster.  I have no reasonable defense to this.  You are right.  Over my time writing here, I have consistently lambasted management for turning this team into a nursing home for aging players closing in on the end.  No one is more aware of this than me, but…

I really like Michael Young.  I like him a whole lot.

Michael Young is a two-time Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award winner.

"“The award is presented to the player in either league whose on-field performance and contributions to his community inspire others to higher levels of achievement.”"

When you have a really young team, you can always use a guy like this to help the coaching staff develop young players into leaders.  Something tells me that Young would have a bigger impact on guys like Jean Segura, Scooter Gennett, and Khris Davis than Aramis Ramirez ever has (or will).  If you can find anything negative ever said or written about Michael Young as a person, I would love someone to show me.  All I read about was how sad the young guys were when he left Texas and then Philadelphia.  This is the type of leader Ramirez SHOULD be, but isn’t and will never be.

Young would provide us with a back-up plan for 3rd and 1st base.  Let us be real with each other for a second.  There is no possible way Ramirez plays more than 110 games this season.  You can quote me on that.  Having Michael Young around gives you options all over the infield, especially at the corners.  There is no guarantee that Ramirez even makes it through Spring Training.  So rather than having to platoon 1st and 3rd base with scrap players from Nashville, wouldn’t it be nice to have an insurance policy with a career .300 batting average?  I think so.

I think about it like this:

Back in the glory days of baseball, it was very common for guys to manage the team and play on the team.  These fellows were called “Player Coaches”.  What was wonderful about this situation, was that a coach could not only lead from afar, but he could also lead by example on the field.  A player coach could fire up the team by some method other than getting tossed from a game for arguing about a close play at 2nd base.  If you are going to waste perfectly good money on a player who is in the twilight of his career…it should be for a player coach.  A Craig Counsel type guy who is just as valuable on the bench as he is on the field.  Michael Young is that type of person/player/dude.

Even though my mind is littered with Jeff Suppan, Eric Gagne, Doug Davis, Mark Kotsay, Aramis Ramirez, and Brooks Conrad flashbacks…I find myself wanting the Brewers to sign Michael Young.  Not for anything crazy!  I would accept a two-year deal as long as it is mostly incentive based.  Young is the type of player who could easily be a trade piece if necessary, so as long as the money is not outrageous I say pull the trigger.

This is the first name I have heard attached to the Brewers all off-season that did not immediately result in me cringing and making a sad face.  That says something, both about Michael Young and about how the Brewers off-season has gone.

The 2014 off-season has been like a train with square wheels…interesting to speculate on how it works until you see how it works, then you weep openly in front of your family, friends, and that hot chick you met at the coffee shop this morning.  Let’s round off those wheels Uncle Mark and Aunt Doug.  Sign Michael Young.  Unless, of course, you have a better option at first base and as a backup for the injury certainty that is Aramis Ramirez…oh you don’t?  Then why are we even talking about this?