Michael Young Named Special Assistant to the GM

Michael Young was named Special Assistant to the General Manager of your Texas Rangers today.  Aahhh…music to my ears!  And, of course, this makes me think of two things:

1. Special Assistant to the GM sounds a lot like Assistant to the Regional Manager. Dwight Schrute and Michael Scott anyone?
2. I knew Jon Daniels was smart enough to patch things up with MY to make our team better.

Not that you need Intro to Michael Young Studies, but here’s the quick and dirty, just in case:

• Awesome Big Leaguer from 2000-2013, with 13 of those 14 seasons played with your Texas Rangers
• Gold Glover, Batting Champ, ALCS Champ, All-Star MVP, and all-around good guy
• In his years with the Rangers, MY was the on-field and clubhouse leader of the team; pretty much the on-team manager and Wash’s right-hand man.

Now that we’re all up to speed on the greatness of Michael Young…

Here’s a little something you may not notice when you’re at The Temple AKA Rangers Ballpark in Arlington AKA Globe Life Park:  Every home game, the same Rangers player leads the club out of the dugout after Chuck Morgan says “YOUR TEXAS RANGERS!”

There is one guy on the top step of the dugout ready to lead HIS guys to battle.  Why do I mention this?  Only to throw in that the guy that leads that charge is THE GUY.  THE leader of the team and everyone else in the clubhouse knows that.  It’s a sign of deference that the other players wait for that one guy to leave the dugout first.

And for, I’d say about 10 of Michael Young’s Rangers seasons, he was that guy.

Does that mean he’ll be the world’s best Assistant to the General Manager?  Well…no… I mean, does any of us even know what all that title entails?  But it does mean that Young is respected by the Rangers players, the very players that were once his teammates and by players league-wide.  I expect that he’ll have a similar rapport with the players to the one that Nolan Ryan did.  That relationship that many players only have with each other.

So while I didn’t get my wish for MY to be president…I mean manager, I am pretty stoked that the Rangers have added a great baseball mind to their organization and you should be too.

Say what you will about MY’s playing career; I can hear the double play jokes now.  But to say that Young is a great addition to a Big League front office staff is an understatement.

MY jerseys for everyone!  The Assistant to the General Manager gets a jersey, right?

Hang in there y’all.  Only 151 days until Opening Day.