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According to Erik Boland and Steven Marcus of Newsday, the Yankees are "very much interested" in Michael Young to help out the team's current question marks at second and third base.
Young, who turned 37 in October, managed to hit .279/.335/.395 with a 102 wRC+ in 565 combined plate appearances with the Phillies and Dodgers last season. This came after hitting a career-worst .277/.312/.370 with a 79 wRC+ with the Rangers in 2012. Young can play third, second, short, and even first base, so he would, in theory, be a decent fit.
Although Young can "play" almost anywhere, it doesn't necessarily mean he's that good. Young played primarily third base last summer and recorded a -20.2 UZR/150 and -20 DRS in 107 games and nearly 900 innings. He was so bad defensively last year that he was worth -0.6 fWAR despite hitting moderately well. In his career at the hot corner, Young has recorded a -12.2 UZR/150 and -55 DRS in 465 games. He's also been bad at shortstop (-10.2 UZR/150, -82 DRS, 776 career games), second base (-1.7 UZR/150, -11 DRS, 448 games), and first base (-6.1 UZR/150, -10 DRS, 111 games).
If you remember, the Yankees offered Double-A reliever Tom Kahnle for Young right before last year's Trade Deadline in hopes to improve the infield. However, the Phillies rejected New York's offer and sent him to the Dodgers a month later in exchange for minor league pitcher Rob Rasmussen instead. Now Young is a free agent and the Yankees don't have to give up anything except money. Hopefully, in this case, they don't have to give up much money at all since, especially if he reverts back to his 2012 form, he may not be much more than an older, more overrated version of Yuniesky Betancourt. Anyway, I almost feel it's inevitable that Young signs with the Yankees given his "leadership" qualities and his "versatility" and whatnot, but we'll see.
