The Red Sox agreed to send Kevin Youkilis and cash to the White Sox for Zach Stewart and Brent Lillibridge in a deal that was announced earlier today. The trade provides the White Sox with much needed stability at the hot corner and gives the Red Sox the opportunity to play Will Middlebrooks on a daily basis. Here are some reactions to the deal:
- The emergence of Middlebrooks as a legitimate Rookie of the Year candidate made a struggling Youkilis expendable in the eyes of the Red Sox front office, writes Brian MacPherson of The Providence Journal.
- Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington told reporters, including MacPherson, that it was pretty clear Middlebrooks needed to be in the lineup every day (via Twitter).
- The White Sox are getting a player in Youkilis who was an All-Star third baseman last season in exchange for cash and two replaceable players, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com.
- The legacy of Youkilis was built upon his ability to will himself into a player who far exceeded his natural talents, says Scott Miller of CBSSports.com.
- The Indians, Dodgers and White Sox were the finalists for Youkilis as of Saturday evening, reports Rob Bradford of WEEI.com. The White Sox separated themselves Sunday morning with the inclusion of Stewart in the trade.
- By acquiring Youkilis, the White Sox are making the statement that the Tigers are vulnerable and not a guarantee to win the division, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
- White Sox manager Robin Ventura expects Youkilis to be a strong fit with Chicago given how the veteran plays hard and has a reputation as a good teammate (video link).
- A change of scenery for Youkilis may prove to benefit the former All-Star considering his strained relationship with manager Bobby Valentine and the series of injuries that kept him off the field, writes Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald.
I’m so nervous about what will happen the first time Middlebrooks falls into a slump (when his babip and or K/BB rate catch up to him for a period of time). I think he has the talent to be great long-term, but getting past that first slump, as the guy who the team has put all its faith in, might be very difficult. Not to mention that the media will have a field day with him.
What happens if Middlebrooks doesn’t work out..i mean as the fox people said last night players are gonna figure him out and he will have to adapt to that
You’ve got to find out at some point. Obviously, the front office believes enough in his ability or they wouldn’t have dealt Youkilis.
Youk wasn’t going to be around forever.
ya…it is good he is going to an AL team his career will last longer because he can DH
Exactly. Given how well Middlebrooks has played thus far, it was HIGHLY unlikely that the Red Sox would have picked up Youk’s option for next year, so he was almost certainly going to be gone after this season regardless. WMB’s success just forced the Red Sox to push up their time table a few months.
This has been one of my issues with dealing Youkilis from the beginning. It doesn’t even have to be him struggling, what if Gonzalez or Middlebrooks get hurt? Are you really going to have Nick Punto play 1B or 3B every day?
If Nick Punto ever becomes our everyday first baseman I’m just going to go cry until 2013.
That’s basically the option if Gonzalez goes down now that Youkilis is gone. Maybe they call up Anderson, but that might not be a considerably better option.
Anderson or Gomez would cover 1st .. Aviles could slide to third with iglesias (or spears) call up and juggle them with punto .. or they could trade for a fill in .. not the end of the world either way
Anderson and Gomez are nobodies, and Aviles at third with Iglesias at SS would be a temporary solution at best.
Lavarnway needs to grab a 1b mitt..
Yeah, I think he defense would be below average, even for a first baseman though.
Granted. Still prefer him over a Gomez/Anderson and if they move Shoppach also? Gives him more use,
Yeah, I don’t think it’s a bad idea, I just don’t think he’ll be very good there.
And what if the sky falls…And what if locusts devour Cleveland…You can’t make decisions based on what if’s only what you have today…WM is the real deal who will probably hit .280 / 25 / 90 at least every year and is still young…
That’s exactly how you’re supposed to make decisions, “what ifs” are the reason teams worry about depth. And what Middlebrooks has done so far is not the real deal; he’s hitting over his head right now. There are significant issues he needs to work on if he wants to maintain his offensive success, and the best place for him to do that would have been AAA, so sending him to AAA would have solved two problems – the depth problem, and the problem of getting him to where he needs to be at the plate.
Cherington manages once again to bring back no upside in a trade. Very weak GM.
What was he supposed to get? Chris Sale?
all of his trades this season has had no upside…trade away young players (Lowrie and Reddick) and get nothing good back ( other than Sweeney he is a double machine)….then he puts us in a hole at shortstop after trading Scutaro for a guy who barely has been playing this year even though Aviles has been playing well…they better make some moves for good players especially when you have a ownership group willing to spend and take in big players because it will draw in a crowd…also that sellout streak is a lie….
Now I’m no huge Cherington fan, but to be fair, Reddick is doing absurdly well. And Lowrie has never been healthy for a full season. So at the time the deals didn’t seem as questionable as they do now.
And what Reddick is doing is 100% unsustainable. He’s always been a good power hitter, so it’s not like he isn’t going to hit for considerable power, but his HR/FB is twice as high as his previous career high and he’s in a much worse HR hitting park. He’s not going to keep hitting home runs at anywhere near this rate.
Middlebrooks a legitimate ROY candidate?
Mike Trout laughs at your assertions.
Since when did the definition of “candidate” get changed to “award winner”?
He didn’t say frontrunner, he said candidate.
Trout is a lock though baring an injury that keeps him out for the rest of the year.
we all love trout, but many of us also love being able to read
he is a legit candidate….look at his numbers and it is through much fewer games
Jose quintaña should win Roy .
Let the Boston media and Red Sox FO vilification of Youkilis campaign commence!
So happy for Youk. Chicago will love the way he plays. I think he’s going to have a lot of weight off his shoulders and have a big 2nd half. He will be appreciated again.
i was thrilled that fenway gave him a good send-off. hope he tears it up in chicago
I was watching on TBS. It was pretty cool. Very glad both sides departed with class and hopefully it works for the best for both sides.
Like really…Youk really isn’t a third baseman… up until last year…he played 1st his whole career and not resigning Beltre was a big mistake
…He was drafted by us as a third baseman and was converted to first full time after the Sox traded for Beckett and Lowell.
It doesnt matter what the Red Sox got back for Youkilis.. they are getting two all star caliber all stars in Crawford and Ellsbury this deal was made to have Middlebrooks play third base regularly .. and thats the important thing..Youkilis isnt the Youkilis off 06 to 11 .. he was injury prone and getting long in the tooth.. Tks for the memories youk . G L in Chicago.
If that was the best offer I can just imagine what the others were…
as a Cub fan I’m a little baffled by this. Over the past 6-8 years the Sox minor league system has been consistently ranked by multiple siurces as being worse than the Cubs’ – and presently roundly derided as the worst in baseball. We cub fans have been fed a steady diet of “patience, rebuilding from the ground up, rebuilding the system the right way, aquire controllable assets….” and we sit quietly watching a rubbish product, waiting for 2015 or whenever. Yet Kenny Williams seems to laught at this approach, and always seems to put a competetive team on the field. He doesn’t seem to care that the Sox are a team full of good players that are old, and young players that are mostly bad or mediocre. All logic dictates that he should be looking for prospects in return for Peavy, Pierzinsky and Konerko, but instead he takes on a 33 yr old guy with an injury history.
Personally, I’m fed up with Theo’s preaching patience and the godlike reverence some people give him. Gimme someone like Kenny that plays to win.
“Gimme someone like Kenny”
Oh god.
… You do realize no one actually thinks Theo is a god in the sense that he would snap his fingers and the Cubs would win it all this year.
I think you need to be more than a god to do that.
The White Sox will be in the same boat as the Cubs before you know it.
Unless you realistically believe that team isn’t vastly overachieving in ’12
I don’t see how the White Sox are vastly overachieving…
Adam Dunn had possibly the worst season of all time last year coming off 40 HR seasons every year with the same approach. Rios is historically up and down, and AJ and Konerko are two of the most consistent vets in the league. Peavy is finally healthy and is pitching like he used to, and if Danks and Humber ever come around, the team has the potential to be even better as the season goes along.
They might not be good in a year or two, but I see no reason why they won’t be in the running for the division by the final week of the season. Games are NOT won and lost on paper no matter how often all the talking heads try to force us into believing the Tigers are just playing around with the opposition and waiting to run away with the division.
Please elaborate – other than DeAza, who is performing vastly out of their norm? Konerko’s average is high but his OPS is right in line.
You call yourself a Cubs fan yet you forgot Hendry ran the Cubs franchise so deep underground it’s impossible to field a competitive team for at least 3-4 years?
Kenny isn’t doing a great job as a GM either. AL is arguably the weakest division in the AL yet they have not done much, if anything, since 2005 with a pretty decent payroll.
the minor league system does not win major league games, otherwise the Padres would be running away with their division and the white sox would be in last place. Hendry was way too generous with free agents – too much money, too many years, too many no-trade clauses – but his trades were mostly phenomenal. Theo thinks he has a crystal ball on his computer that reveals hidden talent in players that, well, just isn’t there. Exhibit A and B: Chris Volstad, Ian Stewart.
Did he give up anything of value for either Volstad or Stewart? No. No risk, small reward type things for a team that nobody expected to compete
The difference between the Cubs and the Sox is that one team is 15 games out of a playoff spot and the other is currently in first place. If the Sox were 15 games out, they’d be selling too.
If you are already fed up with Theo, that’s unfortunate. The Cubs are already in MUCH better shape than the day he was hired. If a “fan” can’t give the new president and GM and couple years after living with Hendry for almost a decade, that’s pretty sad.
but they’re NOT 15 games out, that’s the whole point of what I’m saying – KW goes out and gets the guys he needs to win MLB games today, not maybe possibly with luck 5 years from now.
Seriously, there is no way you can actually know if the Cubs are in better shape right now with Theo. You’re just trusting that it is so.
Did you guys judge KW two and half months into his first season?
theo did two things very well in boston:
1) turned the organization into a “player development machine”. pedroia, lester, ellsbury, you know the big names. the year epstein left, the red sox fielded more homegrown talent (measured by WAR) than any other team in baseball – the rays included
2) won a world series within 2 years. this is what he’s best known for. and although it couldn’t have happened without several of the key signings and trades he pulled off, he was operating from a much better position than what hendry left you guys with. where is your manny ramirez? where is your pedro? where is your nomar? and by the way, you’d have to let him trade that last one away
the cubs are a mess. he was brought into build a sustainable winner, not a one-year wonder. you don’t have to be patient, but expecting a winning club already is less than impatient. it’s absurd
yeah young players over the years who are mostly bad or mediocre. Like Alexei, Dayan, Reed-Santiago-Jones, Sale, Quintana. You really are a shrewd judge of young talent, like all those a-clowns who bemoan the WHite Sox poor farm system, not realizing that Kenny goes about it a different way, realizing that prospects are largely a crap shoot and packaging the likes of Lance Broadway and Clayton Richard for a playoff series #1. Give you props for recognizing Kenny is a riverboat gambler who can often overstep— the Swisher deal in particular—but Kenny is a big believer in picking up guys with high ceilings who have failed elsewhere and giving them a new environment, or pairing them with Coop. You can only stockpile so many prospects. Few realize that a prospect coming through actually does resemble like a Gordon Beckham, everyday player who plays above-average defense. Most end up as AAAA who never cut it and end up as organization depth by the age of 28
Yea right. The White Sox have one Championship in over 90 years and have never been to the playoffs two years in a row. The Cubs aren’t the only team in Chicago who’s “plan” seems questionable.
Now, if the FO could only find a new home for Beckett….
Perhaps the Marlins again? or the Yankees?
They need Beckett if they want a chance at doing anything this year. Unless you can move him for someone like Grienke but that is not happening.
Beckett is 4-7…what has he done?
Hooray for winz!! Woo!!
he hasn’t scored enough runs, obviously
Using wins to judge a pitcher. haha
at least the guy is consistent… his ERA is 4.14 but could be better..but is not bad…the Red Sox should be scoring more than four runs on an everyday basis with there lineup and he hasn’t gotten much support
Should have just shipped him to the Dodgers for the lesser offer. This trade makes the Sox no better and now they just improved a team that may be competing for the WC with them. I mean Stewart pushed their offer over the top?? really? Very dumb.
Your forgetting the purpose of a trade- it’s supposed to benefit both teams. The W/S get a proven winner with pride that will help them in a multitude of ways. The R/S get freed up from all the drama that has taken place since Spring Training. Boston also avoids the off season drama of whether or not to pick up Youkilis’ option. Now,WMB can go out on a regular basis and not get caught up in the Youkilis vs WMB soap opera. They receive two bodies they can use, and with Bucholz out, Stewart is the ready replacement. While he’s not anywhere as good, he lessens the impact of the blow. This trade works for both parties in different ways, but it works.
Stewart is not going to be replacing Buchholz in the rotation..
Buchholz is on the DL, he meant Stewart can step in for a couple of starts.
That’s not gonna happen either. Buchholz is only gonna be out 2-3 weeks. Stewart is going to AAA. There are multiple spot starter options (both in the bullpen and in AAA) higher than Stewart on the depth chart that would get a chance before him..
agree with bosox. shouldve sent middlebrooks down for more seasoning and hoped youk turned it around by trade deadline or rest of season. Got nothing in return and paid almost all his salary. Next trade for red sox: Anyone want Valentine?
So tell me. What do you think Red Sox could get in a trade by waiting?
What type of players would other teams be offering, in your opinion?
Nice seeing a Yankee fan making a rational point on a Red Sox thread.
I can surely understand why diehard Red Sox fans are having a hard time coming to grips with this trade, anytime you lose a player who was a key part of organization’s success for so long, it hurts. To have it happen like this went down is even tougher to swallow. Hope it works out for both teams in the end, but I feel Bostons pain.
With all the junk being said about the Red Sox. I’m still amazed by their farm. Middlebrooks is a beast.