Rangers, Young agree to extension

Shortstop Michael Young has agreed to a contract extension worth about $80 million over five seasons with the Texas Rangers.

“We accomplished a great deal over the past four days,” Young said after spring training workouts Thursday in Surprise, Ariz. “This puts me here through the 2013 season and represents a great leap of faith on their part.”

Young didn’t discuss the finances of the deal, which is for 2009-13.

The $80-million figure was disclosed by a person familiar with the negotiations and who spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made.

The Rangers were expected to announce the deal today.

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Gary Sheffield met with a Major League Baseball executive to discuss recent comments by the Detroit slugger on whether he would cooperate with former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell’s investigations into steroids.

Sheffield and Rob Manfred, baseball’s executive vice president for labor relations, declined to comment on the meeting, which also included Bob Lenaghan of the players’ union.

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Right-hander Matt Cain and the San Francisco Giants agreed to a $9-million, four-year contract that includes a vesting club option for 2011.

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Frank Thomas won’t start during Toronto’s first week of exhibitions because his legs aren’t in shape.

“I’ve just got to get my legs under me because I didn’t do any running during the off-season,” Thomas said.