Pirates Will Work Out Dmitri Young, If Dmitri Young Can Work Out

I’ve heard a lot of ridiculous things in my life of Pirate fanhood, but something I heard today might rank right up there with the most ridiculous:

Yeah, that really is the same Dmitri Young that you remember from way back when.

The guy is 38 years old now and hasn’t played in the major leagues since 2008. The last time he played professional baseball was in 2009 with the AA affiliate of the Washington Nationals. I actually saw him play in that 2009 season in Altoona, and it wasn’t pretty to say the least. Young hit .237/.348/.368 that year at three different levels of the Nationals system.

Normally I would write more stats here, but in this case it’s not worth my time. Come on, now.

Are the Pirates are actually thinking about giving this guy some semblance of a chance? He’s been trying to come back since 2009 now, and no team has given him a second thought, but leave it to the Pirates to do so.

Obviously, it will take a ton for the Pirates to actually give him a shot in their system, and there’s no way that simply seeing what he has could hurt the organization, but seriously come on. This stuff only makes you look pathetic.

Two things right now would absolutely shock me:

1) If we actually heard Dmitri Young’s name again after the workout

2) If we don’t get made fun of by every other major league organization in the league in the next week.

It’s like we’re back in fourth grade and the Neil Huntington is the mean teacher who yells at kids for not letting the fat kid play kickball with them. Everybody gets a turn!

Here’s to rooting for a team that really embraces equal opportunity.

EDIT: Okay, so Dmitri has dropped 60 pounds and has been working really hard to get back in baseball shape. I’m sorry to make light of his struggle and dedication. Like I said, the Pirates can’t possibly be hurt from giving the guy a shot, it just seems ridiculous to me. This post was more for humor than to actually attack the guy; you can’t please everybody. Here’s hoping Young impressed the Pirates and swats 50 homers for them this season.