Toniiiiiiiiiight, Dodgers Are Young! Dodgers Acquire Michael Young

Come on guys, you knew I would have to use this pun sooner or later, and tonight was the perfect time.

We have some breaking news coming in. We knew this was coming eventually. According to Ken Rosenthal, the Dodgers have acquired infielder Michael Young from the Phillies. Rosenthal reports that Young waived his no-trade clause to allow the deal to be completed. This is coming in just about an hour before the deadline for roster expansion. Reports are surfacing now that the Dodgers have sent Philadelphia a minor league pitcher (Rob Rasmussen) in exchange for Young.

Young is the newest Dodger-Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Young is in the final year of a five year 80 million dollar contract. The 36 year old infielder is owed 16 million dollars this year, but ten of that is being paid by the Rangers. Terms of the deal have not yet been released. I’m not sure how much of his contract the Dodgers would have to pay, but it appears the Phillies just gave him to the Dodgers.

Young is batting .276 this season with eight home runs, and 42 RBI for Philadelphia. He’s posted a .731 OPS in 2013 in 468 plate appearances. He’s split time this year between first base and third base, but has experience playing all four infield positions. Known for his bat, but not his glove, he has a career .300 batting average, and a .346 OBP, and 2,356 career hits in 14 MLB seasons. He’s hit 185 home runs, and has had six 200+ hit seasons.

Young may not be a good defensive player, as his -9 runs below average rating at third base suggests, but he still can hit kind of. I don’t know yet how the Dodgers will use him, if, but I’m assuming he’ll play some occasional third base to possibly spell Uribe, and come off the bench and pinch-hit.  That’s my guess for now. It’s not a bad thing to have an extra bat off the bench with some pop. Young could be useful in that regard.