He played part of one season in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles in 2005 as a first baseman and designated hitter.

Young recovered from a slow start in Bowie to hit 33 home runs and appeared in the Eastern League All-Star Game.

In the offseason, Young played for the Tiburones de La Guaira club of the Venezuelan Winter League.

Young was then claimed off waivers by the San Diego Padres, but faced much competition for the first base job: although their regular first baseman, Mike Piazza, started the season on the disabled list, Young did not win a spot on the major league roster out of spring training; Adrián González became their starting first baseman instead.

On May 8, the Houston Astros signed Young and assigned him to their Class AA affiliate, the Corpus Christi Hooks, where he spent the rest of the season hitting .277/.309/.410 with 10 home runs and 60 RBI and alongside Hunter Pence lead the team to a Texas League championship.

Later in 2008, Young moved to the Sioux City Explorers and helped lead the team to the American Association playoffs, where he hit .367 with 5 home runs and 29 RBIs in 26 games.