Michael Young appointed as Texas Rangers special assistant
Five-time Rangers Player of the Year to have role in all aspects of baseball operations Press conference scheduled for 1:00 p.m. today at Globe Life Park in Arlington
Arlington, Texas-The Texas Rangers today officially announced that Michael Young is returning to the organization as a Special Assistant to the General Manager.
The Rangers will hold a press conference at 1:00 p.m. TODAY at Globe Life Park in Arlington.
The 38-year-old Young, who is the Rangers' all-time leader in numerous offensive categories, retired in January 2014 after an outstanding 13-year major league career, the first 12 of those seasons in Texas. He will work with President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Jon Daniels and his staff in all areas of baseball operations, including player evaluation and player development at the major and minor league level, special assignments, and scouting trips.
In addition, Michael and his wife, Cristina Barbosa, have been elected to the Board of Directors for the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation.
"On behalf of the Texas Rangers, I am very happy to welcome Michael back to the organization," said Daniels. "Michael had a major impact on this franchise during an exceptional playing career, and his leadership was an integral part of the success we enjoyed in winning consecutive American League championships.
"Michael will be a significant asset to our baseball operations group in a variety of areas. He has already been involved in our major league managerial search and player discussions this fall. I look forward to working with him as we prepare and plan for 2015."
Acquired by Texas from the Toronto Blue Jays in July 2000, Young played in a team record 1,823 games from 2000-12. He captured Rangers Player of the Year honors five times, matching Juan Gonzalez for the most in team history, and was a seven-time A.L. All-Star. Young batted .300 or better a club record seven times including six seasons with at least 200 hits. He won the A.L. batting title in 2005 and was the MVP of the 2006 All-Star Game at San Diego.
He is the Washington/Texas' all-time leader in games, hits (2230), runs (1085), doubles (415), triples (55), total bases (3286), at bats (7399), and multi-hit games (651) and ranks third in RBI (984) and extra base hits (647). Young was a starter at all four infield positions in his Rangers career, earning a Gold Glove at shortstop in 2008.
Overall, Young batted .300 with 185 homers and 1030 RBI in 1970 games with the Rangers (2000-2012), Phillies (2013), and Dodgers (2013).