The off-season was tumultuous for Young as the Rangers decided to go with a 20 year old kid to play SS and he asked to be traded. Many Rangers fans were torn over their allegiance with the team or Michael. Fans hate to be in a situation where they have to choose and Michael put them in that situation. Michael has always preached that the team came first and I understood his frustrations with the move to a certain extent, but you can't preach "team" and then demand a trade when things don't go your way. That all seems to be a lifetime ago now that the Rangers are in 1st place and Michael is once again aiming at 200 hits.
Last season was difficult for Michael as he won the Gold Glove for the first time, but struggled at the plate and fail short of 200 hits for the first time since 2002. He struggled with a couple of broken fingers and other lingering injuries, but still managed to tough it out and play 155 games. But fans were not use to seeing Michael hit under .300 and neither was he.
This year he has been healthy and from an offensive standpoint has been hitting great (except for his .133 w/RISP) and his defense has been solid at 3rd base. We are seeing the Young that Rangers fan grew to love over the last 9 years with solid defense, hitting for average, and showing some power. At his current pace, he is looking at hitting 20 HRs for the first time since '05, but his RBIs dipping to 20 below his average (an obvious sign of his poor RISP avg.). Overall you can't complain about a player hitting .336 and when I see him on a daily basis he looks like 2005 Michael Young, which good for everyone involved with the red, white, and blue.
Year-by-Year Stats over the last 5 years:
2005: .331-24-91
2006: .314-14-103
2007: .315-9-94
2008: .284-12-82
2009: .336-8-22
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