It’s quite the step up for the 30-year-old Young, an outfielder who struggled throughout 2012 and was cut by the Detroit Tigers in August before finishing the last three weeks of the season with St. Louis Triple-A affiliate in Memphis.

Young, who was named UNM’s Male Athlete of the Year in 2002 after hitting .385 as a freshman, hit .212 with a home run and 24 RBIs in 96 games with the Toledo Mud Hens, Detroit’s Triple-A affiliate, before he was cut Aug. 10.

Young, however bounced back and hit .442 over the final 13 games of 2012 with Memphis.

That performance may have caught the attention of the Angels.

“(Former major leaguer and current assistant GM with Los Angeles) Scott Servais just called me and said somebody saw me and liked the way I played,” Young said. “They offered me a contract, and I agreed and went to Venezuela like three days later.”

On Nov. 20, Young and the Angels agreed on a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training.

“I had a strong belief that I was going to get a job or at least an offer even after a bad year,” Young said. “All athletes are going to believe they’re not done and they have something left in the tank. I just had a miserable year and I felt strongly that my track record would get me another chance. At this point, somebody would take a shot that last year was a fluke, which is what I’ve been saying since it’s been over.”

Not only did Young find a job, he played in the Venezuelan Winter League and was able to put the misery of 2012 behind him.

“It was up and down,” Young said. “I hit .300 but it was only 20 at-bats. I got hit in the elbow in my third at-bat by a guy throwing 96 (mph) so I missed some time. It was different; I was kind of snakebit from the beginning, but performance-wise I accomplished what I wanted to down there. I just wanted to get at-bats and make up for what I considered a lost season last year and really just focus on going forward this year.”

Young’s 2013 season officially began Friday, when the Angels conducted their first full-squad workout of the spring.

This will be the fifth time Young has been invited to a major league camp.

“It’s almost humbling that they think enough of you to be one of the 50 or 60 guys they bring to big league camp,” Young said. “I’m definitely excited about it. It’s one of those things where I can look back at previous camps and grow from that.”

While Young will lean heavily on his past experiences to try to earn a roster spot with the Angels, he said he will also look back at his nightmarish 2012 season.

“Seeing what I did wrong last year is going to help me out tremendously this year,” Young said. “Seeing what I did right the year before that is going to help me too. It’s exciting to be here, but I know I have a lot of work ahead of me.”

Young, who has appeared in 25 major-league games with a .190 batting average and two RBIs, signed with the Atlanta Braves as an undrafted free agent in 2004 and made the Braves’ opening-day roster out of spring training in 2011.

He was invited to Detroit’s 2012 camp before being sent to Toledo, so sharing a locker room with a superstar such as Pujols is nothing new to Young.

“It’s definitely fun watching guys like Prince (Fielder) and Miggy (Miguel Cabrera) and Chipper (Jones), all these really established Hall-of-Fame kind of players take batting practice and go about their business,” Young said. “You’re not in awe in the sense that you’re like a little kid. But you don’t want to sell it short either — like they’re just another guy here when you know they’re not.

“They’re the best at what they do, and they didn’t just get there on talent alone. It’s kind of a mix of being in awe and trying to learn everything you can from them.”

Obviously, Young isn’t on the same level as all the All-Stars in Angels’ camp, but he thinks being their teammate when opening day rolls around is not out of the question.

“I think anything is possible,” Young said. “There’s a lot of great players, a lot of talent in that clubhouse but there’s been crazier things that have happened.”
— This article appeared on page D5 of the Albuquerque Journal