Michael Young: Are Arizona Diamondbacks in the Young Sweepstakes?

Almost from the moment that super-utility man Michael Young demanded a trade from the American League champion Texas Rangers, teams seemed to be lining up to inquire about a trade. The Arizona Diamondbacks were among those who called.

With the Diamondbacks shipping third baseman Mark Reynolds and his 200-plus strikeouts per year to the Baltimore Orioles, the team has a substantial hole in their infield that Young could fill. Arizona heads into spring training with Melvin Mora likely to get most of the playing time at the hot corner and clearly Young would be a substantial upgrade.

In his current contract, Young has a limited no-trade clause with eight or nine teams he would be willing to play for. Unfortunately, Arizona is not on this short list. For any deal to be consummated, it would require Young to waive his no-trade to come to the desert.

That is not the only roadblock to a potential deal.

Young who is 34 years old, still has three years remaining on his current contract worth approximately $48 million. This would be a rather substantial amount of payroll for the Diamondbacks to add and team officials have already said they are near the top of their estimated payroll for 2011.

Adding Young would also block minor league prospects Bobby Borchering and Matt Davidson, who both could be ready for major league action within the next couple of seasons. Young would not be interested in moving positions again as this has been the issue he has had with Texas the last two years.

Arizona is also not likely to want to part with any of their top prospects, who they believe will be able to help them as the veterans they brought in this season begin to leave, opening up spots for the upcoming crop of stars.

So while the Diamondbacks initially looked like a good fit for Young, it does not appear likely that the team will strike a deal with the Rangers to bring him to Chase Field any time soon.