Special assistant to the GM Michael Young recently joined The Ben & Skin Show on KRLD-FM 105.3 The Fan to talk about spring training and the most recent addition to the club. Here are some of the highlights:

On Ian Desmond:

"I think the biggest thing is that this guy is a big-time competitor, big-time talent and he's hungry. I think the biggest thing, you ask anybody about Desi, you'll get a couple of answers. You're going to get big right handed power, you're going to get a great athlete, if you ask the guys who he played with in D.C. they're going to say an unbelievable competitor and teammate. And that fits the bill for a Ranger player. You have to have those boxes checked if you want to have success here. Otherwise you're not going to fit in. I've talked to him several times when I was there, obviously I talked to him before he signed with us and he was just thrilled with the way his first couple of days went. It's an environment that is conducive to someone that loves the game and loves to win. So he's pumped.

I think he's going to have that natural progression, that learning curve. I will say this, and I don't think I'm reaching out on this one, it won't take long because one: he wants it. This guy wants it. We watched him out there, he basically took our outfield coaches aside and said he doesn't want two-a-days, he wants three-a-days. He's going early, middle and end. He wants to dominate left field. This guy has sat there and not just talked about going out there to play left field or to give his manager his options, which we know he can do because he's a great athlete, he wants to kill left field. That's the most important thing, to have the want to.

This guy, like I said, I'm big on Desi. I've known him for a while, had a ton of respect when I played against him and I just think he's really, really a great fit. To be honest, I'm completely shocked he was still out there. If you're a GM or a manager, you've gotta kind of watch what you say, but as a special assistant I can kind of let if fly. 29 other teams missed the boat on this dude. 29 teams missed the boat. He's a Ranger now, and we're going to reap the benefits."

On balancing the current team with the young guys and the future:

"I'm a complete suit in that regard now, it makes me sick. I see where they are coming from now, because the one thing about being a GM or any executive that you have to have one eye on your team now and one eye on your future. It gets hard to do when your team is really good, because you want to have both eyes on the now.

But looking at what we have now, we have incredible depth, especially among our position players. The young guys are going to contribute to that. The biggest thing I love about our young guys is that they're being schooled in the proper way to approach this thing. Come in early, get your work in, work extremely hard, that's a non-negotiable: hard work.

They're coming in, they're killing their work, they're asking questions, they feel comfortable in the sense that they can approach people on the team and ask about it, but not comfortable in the sense that they think they are Adrian Beltre or Prince Fielder, which is a good thing. But I think we're very thrilled with what our young guys are doing right now.

His thoughts on Joey Gallo:

"I would really caution against somebody giving up on this guy. He's 22 years old. So it's almost like a tough way to look at it. Because he was good enough to get to the big leagues at such an early age, and he faced big league pitching, had some great stretches and had some stretches where he didn't execute because the talent level's so high. When I was 22 I had just finished up my last season in A-ball. I hadn't even touched the big leagues, I hadn't earned my way to the big leagues yet.

So I would really, really be slow against judging a guy because he was good enough to get to the big leagues at such a young age. This is insane, raw power. He's athletic, he wants it. Joey wants to be an impact player. It's just a matter of development. Baseball is a hard game. There's a reason there are so many levels to the minor leagues, cause it takes time. So I think the biggest thing is let this kid develop. He will let everyone know when he's ready to rock and roll. I believe in him, I'm in his corner, I know our organization is. The sky really is the limit to this guy."

Click here to listen to the whole podcast.