"Vernon Wells and Michael Young were each drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1997 (Wells in the first round, Young in the fifth) and "we hit it off immediately," Wells said. They became close friends while playing together for parts of three seasons in the minor leagues. They have remained close since (even after Young's trade to the Rangers' organization in 2000) and Wells is not happy with the way the Rangers are treating his friend.

"It’s been handled poorly on their end, I’ll say that," Wells said of the Rangers' attempts to trade Young this winter and the rift that has been created between Young and the team. "I’ve heard about everything. It’s not just this off-season. It started a couple years ago."

Young has made multiple position switches for the Rangers, going from second to short to third. This winter, though, he lost the third base job when the Rangers signed free agent Adrian Beltre then saw his potential playing time at first base and DH squeezed by the acquisition of former Angel Mike Napoli. The Rangers (who had already shopped Young on the trade market earlier in the off-season) then made Young's request for a trade public, prompting Young to criticize the team's handling of the situation to reporters."