Dmitri Young is heading to Lakeland to begin a strength and conditioning program. Upon completion of the program he’ll head to AAA Toledo for a rehab assignment.
I’m actually quite surprised by this. I fully expected that Young’s career as a Tiger was over. I expected he’d stay on the DL throughout the season and then the Tigers would decline his option.
I know he was granted time away from the team to deal with personal issues, but to the best of my knowledge there is still an arrest warrant for Young and his being out of state is a violation of his bond.
I’d love to see Dmitri return as the player he once was and help the team. However given the circumstances I just don’t know that it is possible.
Could all work out for the best (speaking strictly from the Tigers’ standpoint). The fact that he left the team opened up the spot for Thames to show he was a legitimate big league hitter. If, in fact, Dmitri returns, at this point I’d look at it as that left-handed hitter the front office was looking for (.287/.356/.504 as left-handed hitter over last three years). We were paying him anyway; the marginal cost is zero.
Kinda sad that we have to specify what KIND of rehab D is in.
According to ESPN, Young appeared in court (in Oakland County) yesterday and pleaded “no contest” to the charges against him. He’s no longer a fugitive from justice.
I, too, had thought Young’s Tigers career was over. Perhaps that’s why Leyland is stifling all this trade talk about a left-handed bat: he knows that it is in DY’s power to come back this summer and play well down the stretch.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060629/SPORTS02/606290337/1048/SPORTS
Drew Sharp is an idiot. (I say this based on reading many of columns–not just this one.) Dombrowski and Leyland will be smart enough to make sure Young’s head is right before they bring him back. Should we avoid bringing anyone new to avoid ruining the team’s chemistry?
Young cheats on his ex-wife and his mistress and then pleads no contest to domestic violence and I’m supposed to be excited because he adds a left handed bat to the lineup? Maybe we can add Brett Myers before the deadline as well. He’s younger than Smoltz and probably won’t cost us as much at this point.
I’ll be very disapointed if Young plays another game for the Tigers, regardless of how much it helps the team.
Nick, he has certainly screwed up his personal life, but as long as he owns up to his sins and pays a reasonable price for it, I have no problem with him going back to work.
I have no problem with him going back to work. I have a big problem with cheering for him to be successfull. I have very little respect for cheating on your wife (though I suppose if you are going to cheat on your wife, you might as well get your monies worth and cheat on the mistress as well) and no respect for domestic violence. I’m not sure pleading ‘no contest’ is owning up to his sins and I highly doubt he’s going to pay a ‘resonable price’ for his actions (though reasonable is a relative term obviously).
On the list of people I don’t EVER want to cheer for guys that cheat on their wives and choke their girlfriends are pretty high. I’d rather the Tigers simply let Young try and find employeement somewhere else where I won’t have to even consider cheering for him at all.
Nick–I’m with you. Kinda. I guess what it comes to is this: whether D plays with the Tigers again this season or ever is up to Leyland and Dombrowski, and I trust them to make the right decision for the team. The only choice we fans have is whether to applaud him or not. D has made his contributions to this team and paid his dues (remember ’03) so it doesn’t seem right to just kick him to the curb. However, I agree I don’t think I can cheer or applaud him now. Maybe the best the Tigs can do is help him get his personal life together as much as possible and let him move on.
No decent human being would condone wife beating/cheating, but once you start saying who you will or will not root for based on the morality of athletes, it won’t be long before you have to give up rooting for sports teams entirely.
It’s not even that. I’m sure we could watch some Amish guys play Bocce ball or something.
It really just comes down to the fact that (it appears) he is owning up to his mistakes and trying to right the ship. I can respect that. If his boss believes he has things heading in the right direction, who am I to say he doesn’t deserve another chance?
Kyle–we all have our flaws and have made mistakes, and saintliness is certainly no requirement, but adultery and domestic violence are pretty serious. I’m not saying D doesn’t deserve another chance, only that my personal feelings about him have changed. Now I wouldn’t be sad to see him go. Besides, pleading “no contest” is not the same as admitting you did something.
If sports degenerate to the point where they openly support wife beating I don’t think I’ll have much trouble not rooting for sports teams entirely.
And as I mentioned before, I’m not saying he doesn’t deserve another chance. I’m saying I don’t really feel the need to hope he’s successfull in the rest of his baseball career. Anymore than I’m going to pull for the random child molester to win the lottery once he’s served his time in jail. I’d rather he wasn’t on the Tigers (or affiliated with the Tigers in any way) and I’ll be very disapointed if he gets another opportunity in a Tigers uniform.
As far as owning up to his mistakes, I’m still not clear when he’s actually done that?
Pleading ‘no contest’ is actually the opposite of admitting you did something.
I agree with that sentiment. I’m just not to …
…that point yet.
He hasn’t publicly, but DD’s comments the other day give me the impression that he has owned up to them privately and that he will in the near future. If he doesn’t, I’ll lose the last bit of respect that I have for him.
True, but that’s just typical legal manuevering. I’m more concerned with the sentence that he gets and how handles it with his bosses, peers, fans, and victim(s).
Dmitri please come back and take sheltons spot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!