By DavidKaye
Shortstop Michael Young agreed to a 5- year, $80 million dollar extension with the Rangers'. The three time All-Stars' deal will run through the 2013 season. He now secures himself as the face of the franchise for many year's to come.
In seven seasons with Texas Young has gained the reputation as one of the elite shortstops in all of baseball. Last season he batted .314 with 14 homers and 103 runs batted in. Young was also awarded MVP honors at last year's ''Midsummer classic''. If that wasn't enough he set a club-record for doubles with 52 and has had 4 straight seasons of 200-hits.
Jon Daniels, Rangers general manager, said ''Michael represents exactly what the Texas Rangers stand for, both on and off the field'' . Jamey Newberg of the Newberg Report said that ''Young is committing $500,000 for the Texas Rangers Foundation, which funds local charities''. It is great to see one of the top players in baseball spending his time to aid a worthy cause.
The next step for Young and his teammates will be to reach the playoffs. With the A's losing ace Barry Zito and the Angels not improving their offensive[despite getting Gary Matthews Jr.] the Rangers' have a substantial shot at winning the AL West. They will not win the wild card so their playoff berth must come through the division. It won't take more than 90 games to get it done and most importantly they have a terrific manager leading them in Ron Washington.
