Thursday Newsletter time: Media, Chris Young dance around lockout to answer questions at third base for Texas Rangers
The general manager couldn't discuss players on the 40-man roster or free agents while trying to discuss the fallout from Josh Jung's shoulder surgery.
The conference call Wednesday with Texas Rangers general manager Chris Young was generally frustrating, starting with the fact that Josh Jung will miss at least six months after surgery to repair a labrum tear in his left shoulder.
It’s a significant injury on several levels, including what the Rangers are going to do at third base in 2022. Another frustrating part is Young is not permitted to talk about players on the 40-man roster or free agents, as a condition of the MLB lockout, so it was difficult to get an clear idea of what the Rangers’ plans will be.
There was a lot of dancing, the figurative kind, as reporters tried to piece things together. Young is a much better dancer than the media.
But he was frustrated, too.
“I hate being cryptic with stuff that we're not allowed to talk about,” Young said.
He did say that the Rangers feel good about replacing Jung internally via their infield depth, but he did not mention any names. He also said that the Rangers have sculpted multiple plans so that they can hit the ground running once the lockout ends, but he didn’t say if the Rangers would be looking at free agents and trades.
Young is permitted to talk about the minor leagues, which is why he is in Arizona ahead of big-league camp. The Rangers are holding a mini-camp for a group of 90 minor-leaguers, and another 40 are staying in the player village and working out on their own.
“That is the silver lining,” Young said. “Right now, we're able to spend a lot of time on things that maybe we would not be able to dedicate as much time to, such as evaluating our own player development system.”
Young expects to be able to talk about the MLB side soon, though there is no timeline as the owners and players continue to discuss a new collective bargaining agreement that would end the lockout.
An MLB spokesman told reporters in Florida on Wednesday that regular-season games will be lost and players will lose pay if an agreement isn’t in place by Monday. That comes after the owners proposed another raise to the minimum salary, but there’s still a large gap.
Rangers minor-leaguer goes No. 1
The USFL version 2.0 held its draft Wednesday night, and former Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson went No. 1 overall to the Michigan Panthers.
Those who have been paying close attention to the Rangers’ farm system the past few seasons know that Patterson is part of the organization.
Technically, he is on the temporary inactive list. He has never played in a game for the Rangers, who selected him in the 39th round of the 2018 MLB Draft, but he spent a week at spring training in 2019.
Patterson last played organized baseball as a junior in high school, and it appears he has no interest in giving up on football even though he was not selected in the 2020 NFL Draft.
The USFL begins play April 16.
ICYMI …
This week has been a tad slower than last week, though definitely not without news or Texas Rangers Newsletter content. My guess is that things really pick up next week. Until then, here’s our latest in case you missed it.
Minor-leaguers flock to Arizona
Prospect countdown 11 through 20
Doggy video!
Wishing it was a sunroof kind of day. Enjoy. See you Friday.
