Michael Young has accepted a trade to the Philadelphia Phillies, who shipped right-handed reliever Josh Lindblom and minor league righty Lisalverto Bonilla to the Rangers to complete the deal.
The deal gives Young an opportunity to play more and gives the Rangers another bullpen candidate in Lindblom.
Young had to waive his no-trade clause to get the deal done.
A source said Thursday that the Rangers were going to have to pay at least half of Young's $16 million 2013 salary to complete the deal. Young will receive $1.2 million in "benefits" in exchange for waiving his no-trade clause, a source confirmed to ESPN.
The trade means the 36-year-old Young won't be wearing a Rangers jersey for the first time in his 12-year career. But it also means he's going to a place where he'll get more playing time. It was clear Young's role in Texas was diminishing and he would be on the bench more in 2013 if he stayed.
The 25-year-old Lindblom was 3-5 with a 3.55 ERA in 74 games in 2012, playing for the Dodgers and Phillies. He was traded to Philadelphia at the deadline as part of the Shane Victorino deal. He was selected in the second round of the 2008 draft by the Dodgers.
Bonilla, 22, was 2-1 with a 1.64 ERA in 21 relief appearances in Double-A. He had 12.5 strikeouts per nine innings and 4.6 walks. He started the 2012 campaign in Class A and moved up after posting a 1.35 ERA in 10 games.
Young struggled in 2012, hitting .277, his lowest mark since 2002, his first full season in the majors. He also had a career-low eight homers and a .682 OPS this past season. Young's WAR (wins above replacement) was near the bottom of every-day players in the big leagues this past season as he was the club's primary designated hitter and also spent parts of 86 games at first, second, third or shortstop.
"Because Michael Young has spoiled everyone getting 200 hits every year and hitting .300 every year, by his standards, his year was a little off," Rangers manager Ron Washington said of Young on Wednesday. "You take his standard of what he put together last year and put on a player where the expectations aren't so high, it's not a bad year. By Michael Young's standards maybe you guys see it as a bad year."
Young leaves Texas with his name littered throughout the club's record books.
He's the franchise's all-time hits leader with 2,230, breaking Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez's mark in June 2010. He also tops the club's career numbers in games played (1,823), at-bats (7,399), runs (1,085), singles (1,583), doubles (415), triples (55), total bases (3,286), multihit games (651), strikeouts (1,152) and sacrifice flies (70).
He has a career .301 batting average and 984 RBIs -- both are third-most in Rangers history. He has six seasons of at least 200 hits, including five straight from 2003-07.
Young lived through a gaggle of last-place finishes before the club's recent success. He had appeared in 1,508 career regular-season games before Game 1 of the AL Division Series on Oct. 6, 2010, at Tampa Bay, the second-most games without a playoff appearance of any active player at the time.
Young was an integral part of AL championship teams in 2010 and 2011 and started all 33 of the Rangers' playoff games during those runs.
Young became a Ranger on July 19, 2000, when he was shipped from Toronto, along with right-handed pitcher Darwin Cubillan, for right-hander Esteban Loaiza. The Blue Jays had selected Young in the fifth round of the 1997 draft.
Young made his major league debut later that same year, playing in just two games, though his first hit didn't come until 2001, when he was called up in May and never was sent down again. He played in 106 games and became an everyday player the following season.
Young started as a second baseman and placed second in the Gold Glove voting in 2003 at the position. He moved to shortstop the following year to make room for Alfonso Soriano and hit .313 with 22 homers and 99 RBIs and made his first of seven All-Star teams. Young won the AL batting title the next season, hitting .331.
He made yet another position change shortly after winning the Gold Glove at shortstop in 2008. Texas decided to promote Elvis Andrus to the big leagues for the 2009 season, and Young moved to third base. He was there two seasons before Adrian Beltre was signed (after the Rangers lost out in the Cliff Lee sweepstakes), shifting Young to designated hitter and super-utility infielder.
Young did not want to make the move, but the club signed Beltre anyway. When Young wasn't traded, he showed up at spring training and played well, hitting .338 with 11 homers and 106 RBIs that season -- one of the best of his career. But there were communication issues between himself and management over how that offseason was handled.
Young's departure means that one of the club's most important leaders will not be in the clubhouse in 2013.
"Mike's the glue that holds everybody together," Rangers outfielder David Murphy said Friday on SiriusXM Radio when asked about Young possibly getting traded. "He's just a guy that he creates a great atmosphere in our clubhouse regardless of whether you are a rookie, whether you've been around a long time, whether you're a player that has just signed as a free agent or traded for. Everybody feels welcome in our clubhouse and everybody gets along."
Young's lengthy stay in Texas has included some important work in the community. He and his wife, Cristina Barbosa, created the Michael Young Family Foundation, which supports the physical, mental, social and educational health of children in the area. He also provides college scholarships to young adults that have overcome battles with cancer and has helped the Hispanic community in a variety of ways.