Ben Cherington said in a recent appearance on WEEI’s Mut & Merloni show that there’s nothing going on regarding trade candidate Kevin Youkilis. The general manager acknowledged that several teams checked in on Youkilis “a while back,” but said the Red Sox aren’t looking to make a trade. Here are the details, along with more notes on Youkilis:
- “Right now we're focused on getting Kevin going,” Cherington said. “He's an important part of the team and we know that when he's clicking and feeling good he makes our lineup very tough to pitch to" (quotes via WEEI’s Kirk Minihane). Youkilis, who earns $12MM this year, has a .219/.303/.352 batting line through 145 plate appearances.
- One general manager suggested to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com that the trade market for Youkilis is far from robust. "Good luck with that,'' the GM said. A Red Sox person told Heyman that there seem to be at least two interested teams, but the White Sox don't seem heavily involved on Youkilis at the moment.
Kenny is probably focused on pitching..We could use another quality starter
Well he may want to revert that focus back to fixing 3B.
This season CWS 3B’s are batting .173/.249/.234 good for an .483 OPS. Each number ranks dead last in MLB except for OBP where they rank 28th. That .483 OPS trails the 29th ranked who have .605 OPS.
The White Sox 3B’s aren’t just the worst 3B’s in the MLB, they are the unquestioned worst.
I realize this but I don’t see any clear solution on the trade market, I think Youk is washed up
If Boston is paying and you’re not giving up anything substantial isn’t Youk an improvement to what you currently have?
Honestly I don’t really know…Youk seems to be performing at a similar level right now, if he can regain some of his old form he would be.
why would they pay if they aren’t getting anything substantial
To get rid of a distraction, addidtion from subtraction
3rd base is absolutely the WSox biggest hole offensively, but we’re getting more than enough production from other places in the lineup to cover it. The starting rotation is what needs some insurance. Sox should be going after some middle-to-back-end guys who will get you innings. As much as I’d love to see the Greinke rumors come to fruition, WSox don’t have the prospects for it, and especially considering compensation picks are gone next season. Any solid innings eater who will take some stress off the bullpen would be perfect for this team, and if you can make a move to upgrade third base then that’s just icing on the cake.
or 2 quality starters
Ben Cherington kept Theo’s policy of not discussing negotiations, rumors, or trade-able players. This post is moot — Unless he or Middlebrooks goes on the DL or Youk gets moved, there is NO “latest on Youk.”
except that both of these pieces of news came from somebody other than Ben Cherington.
Actually, 2 of the 3 items contain Cherington quotes…
Unless they plan on playing Gonzalez in the OF everyday (until Ellsbury and/or Crawford return) there’s no point in “getting (Youk) going.” Middlebrooks has proven he’s ready to contribute at the major league level and I think he’s already a better defender than Youk is at 3B. You’re actually hurting the team playing Youk over Middlebrooks Gonzo or Ortiz.
I’m also not buying the “play him to increase trade value” theory either. Say Youk starts heating up over the next two weeks…is a team really going to approach the Red Sox and hand over anything of substantial value based on two weeks?
For as much as the fans appreciate his high effort/hard work ethic you could also point to a number of stories where he gets on teammates’ nerves. I appreciate his time here but it’s time to move him, the sooner the better and I bet if you asked him off the record he would say the same thing.
Agreed. Too many Boston fans nowadays put too much stock into what players did in 2007. Well, it hasn’t worked since, so lets go in a new direction. God bless Youk & what he’s meant to this organization, but his time is over — his contract is about expire, he’s not coming back to Boston, Middlebrooks is better, lets just rip off the band-aid & move on.
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And you’re right: playing Youk over Middlebrooks is killing us because Middlebrooks is batting 70 points higher & Agon playing in the OF is most definitely affecting his hitting. Plus, with Ross almost ready, CC coming back next month & Ells shortly thereafter, we’re already 3 OF’ers too many w/o even factoring in Agon.
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Youk NEEDS to go because the positives of his departure far outwiegh its negatives. God bless what Youk did in 07 & 08, but it’s 2012 & in 2012 he’s a liability in the field, negatively effects teammates (because they have to sit for Youk to play or play out of position for the same reason), ineffective at the plate, and too injury prone to keep. I love ya Youk, but see ya later, dude!
how about 2011 is that too far back
how about may of 2012 is that too far back
so if he goes 4-4 tomorrow night is he back to being the man, then? no? that’s too small?
ok how about his last 160 games, which have been very good overall? no? that’s too much?
ohhh, so it’s just the ~25 games during this season that’s the right sample size to evaluate his true talent. the ones sandwiched around a productive stretch of 10 in may
yes, that sounds legit
I gave up arguing that point with these people. It’s relentless.
i think a change of scenery will perk him up. get this weight off his shoulders. hopefully for his sake he could play 1b full-time on his new club. i’d like him at first for the dodgers. im so done with loney and rivera and they aren’t going to give sands and van slyke a shot, even if they’re better alternatives to loney/rivera
I’m sick of people using Loney’s glove as a reason to keep him in the lineup, yes he has a slick glove, but the wasted at bats are killing the team. His hits are slipping through the infield, and he has little power to the gaps. I think he costs more runs with his bat than he saves with his glove. Uribe is another waste of an at bat. I also agree that for some reason Sands and Van Slyke aren’t getting the opportunity to show us what they can do at the big league level and neither have much to prove at AAA
How about a trade for fun and excitement? Manny and Reddick for Youk. That should rock the house! This team needs a good laugh!
You can keep Manny, Ill trade you Youk for Reddick straight up, and still get to keep Bailey & Sweeney :)
OK, sounds fine, lets do it.
The whitesox need two thing at the minimum a league average 3rd basemen which should not be hard to find. Even be willing to trade for chone figgens at this point. But come on whitesox you don’t have a guy in your system who can play average even slightly below average defense at 3rd and actually hit their way out of the paper bag. Why not give Dan Johnson a shot he has been playing more third in AAA and he has been hitting really well. Also they need to figure out what to do with Humber( should have traded him before the season) I say DFA Stewart. Move Humber to the pen when danks comes back and ride Quintero until he fails(if he does) DO NOT TRADE FOR YOULK UNLESS The sawx are paying almost all of his contract.
We may have something in Quintana…I pretty much aqgree with everything
I don’t think it is even worth sending Stewart to AAA as I don’t think his stuff is very good…
you know what figgins’ contract is like, yes? also, he sucks.
Whoever gets him, i think will get a steal. He looks unhappy, and a change will do wonders. Cant tell you how many times I’ve seen new location, and the player going back to form.