Youkilis dealt to White Sox

[ThomasTomasz]

BOSTON -- A trade of Boston Red Sox infielder Kevin Youkilis could happen at any time now, two officials involved in trade talks told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney. On Friday night, the Chicago White Sox were perceived to be one of the frontrunners.

The Red Sox have talked with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves and Arizona Diamondbacks about Youkilis, among other teams. One executive involved indicated on Friday night the White Sox were thought to be competing with an NL team, and the Red Sox were going through the process of trying to nudge offers one last time.

Arizona is said to be out of the running. The Braves reportedly have scouted Youkilis repeatedly in the past week.

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said he talked with Youkilis on Friday about decreased playing time. Youkilis, while not happy about it, understood Valentine's decision.

"He doesn't necessarily totally agree with it and doesn't wake up in the morning and hope that's the case, but I think the professional person that Kevin is, he understands it," Valentine said. "Yes, I think he's fine."

For the first time since coming off the disabled list on May 22, Youkilis is out of the starting lineup for two consecutive games. The fact that it comes in the wake of a monster performance by fellow third baseman Will Middlebrooks on Thursday night begs the question: Has there been a concrete shift at third base from the veteran Youkilis to the rookie Middlebrooks?

For Friday night's series opener against Atlanta, Valentine said he's simply going with the guy who is swinging a good bat.

"Today, I'm riding the hot hand," Valentine said. "Tomorrow might not be the case. I always reserve the right to change my mind."

But Valentine did say he had a discussion with Youkilis about the situation and expects his veteran to adjust to any part-time role that emerges.

Gordon Edes and the rest of the ESPNBoston.com team have the Red Sox covered for you. Blog
Middlebrooks hammered a game-tying two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning Thursday, keying a comeback victory for the Sox over Miami. He had four RBIs in the game and has 31 in just 38 games since being promoted to Boston. That represents the most RBIs by a Red Sox player in 38 games since Walt Dropo in 1949-50.

Meanwhile, Youkilis is hitting only .174 (8 for 46) with no home runs and 10 strikeouts in June during which he has been surrounded by trade rumors. For several days, Valentine was able to appease the hot-hitting rookie and the struggling vet, but that was because of a shortage of healthy outfielders, which necessitated Adrian Gonzalez's move to right field and enabled Youkilis to play first base. With Cody Ross back and Daniel Nava and Ryan Kalish contributing, Gonzalez can slide back to first, where he has won three Gold Gloves.

Valentine hinted the more stable outfield gives him more reason to keep Gonzalez planted at first, which would necessitate a daily decision regarding Youkilis and Middlebrooks.

"We'll take it day by day, but if I had my druthers, he'd stay at first," Valentine said of Gonzalez. "The reason he didn't was because of necessity."

That necessity is not there right now, and with Carl Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury taking steps toward an eventual return, the Sox may actually have a surplus of outfielders at some point. Right now they have a surplus of third basemen, which will create a daily lineup drama until the situation changes.

http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story...deal-boston-red-sox-3b-kevin-youkilis-nearing

 

[Villain]

A month ago I thought he was a perfect fit for the Doyers, but then he decided to forget how to hit. One Juan Uribe is enough for this team.

 

[Goober]

A month ago I thought he was a perfect fit for the Doyers, but then he decided to forget how to hit. One Juan Uribe is enough for this team.

He hasn't been hitting at all this year.

 

[Villain]

He hasn't been hitting at all this year.

Yes. That's pretty much excatly what I said, thanks for clarifying it for everyone.

 

[Goober]

Yes. That's pretty much excatly what I said, thanks for clarifying it for everyone.

You said that a month ago you wanted him, but then he stopped hitting. Which implies that he was a productive hitter for the first two months of the season, which he was not.

 

[Villain]

You said that a month ago you wanted him, but then he stopped hitting. Which implies that he was a productive hitter for the first two months of the season, which he was not.

Jesus Gob you have to argue about everything. The first part of the season was largely spent on the DL and therefore the desire to trade for him was based on his career numbers. He came back from the DL, looked fine for about a week, and then proved himself worthless. Maybe it's a slump, maybe he's finally done. I dont know. But if I'm playing GM, I don't want to give up prospects hoping that he figures it out.

 

[Goober]

Jesus Gob you have to argue about everything. The first part of the season was largely spent on the DL and therefore the desire to trade for him was based on his career numbers. He came back from the DL, looked fine for about a week, and then proved himself worthless. Maybe it's a slump, maybe he's finally done. I dont know. But if I'm playing GM, I don't want to give up prospects hoping that he figures it out.

Why are you mad at me? It's not my fault you said something silly and then got defensive about it.

As I explained above your initial comment implied that Youkilis has been a good hitter this year, until June. I replied that Youkilis has been pretty much awful all year, which is true. This seems like an innocent enough comment, it's on topic with the thread, and your post. I figured that maybe you were unaware of Youkilis' year long struggles at the plate and were simply judging his value to the Dodgers by his career reputation. I thought it would be helpful to inform you that that was not the case.

You immediately get defensive towards my harmless comment and insist that you had said Youkilis has been a bad hitter all year in your initial post, however clearly you did not. A flat out lie. I point this out, and you get even more defensive and go even further off topic. I'm really not sure why you are so upset.

Anyways, to get things back on topic. Youkilis his FB% has been nose diving the last two years, he's getting old.

 

[kyhadley]

shhhhhh

 

[Youk]

As a Red Sox fan, this is one of those times where you hate to see the rumors and the trade actually occur, but it needs to happen. It's a pipedream to think that he can perform like his old self again in Boston. He's aging, and he has not been the same player. When he isn't injured, he just isn't performing. It's a damn shame, but the Sox need to dump him now before they get jack shit back for him.

 

[spiker]

Does he play much 3B anymore? The White Sox are slugging something horrendous at 3B. As of today, White Sox 3B as a group are slugging .230 which is dead last in the entire league. The second worst team are the A's who slugging .306. It's fucking miserable. If Youkilis can still play third, bring him on.

 

[Villain]

•The Dodgers are on the "fringe" of talks for Youkilis, reports Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times (on Twitter). The Pirates continue to be in the mix according to Rosenthal and Morosi (on Twitter).

•Talks are described as "intense" according to Scott Miller of CBSSports.com. He says the Red Sox will pay a significant portion of the $7.5MM or so left on Youkilis' contract in any trade scenario.

•The Rangers checked in on Youkilis at one point according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, but they are "not involved anymore." Texas was concerned that he would be unhappy in a part-time role.

•The Pirates will not surrender a top prospect for Youkilis but they might offer a second tier guy if Boston eats most of his salary, reports Rob Biertempfel of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (on Twitter).

•Red Sox team officials discussed potential roster moves in the wake of an impending Youkilis trade last night, reports Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe. That could be an indication that a deal is close.

•Boston will trade Youkilis "sooner rather than later" according to Scott Lauber of The Boston Herald. ESPN's Buster Olney says a deal could come down as soon as today.

•The Red Sox are speaking with multiple clubs and continue to move closer to a deal, reports Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The ChiSox have engaged in "heavy dialogue" with Boston but the Dodgers remain in the mix as well. The Sox prefer to trade Youkilis to an NL club.

 

[Swarley]

Does he play much 3B anymore? The White Sox are slugging something horrendous at 3B. As of today, White Sox 3B as a group are slugging .230 which is dead last in the entire league. The second worst team are the A's who slugging .306. It's fucking miserable. If Youkilis can still play third, bring him on.

That's where he's played the majority of his time since Gonzalez came to the team. Although good luck having him stay healthy.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

Does he play much 3B anymore? The White Sox are slugging something horrendous at 3B. As of today, White Sox 3B as a group are slugging .230 which is dead last in the entire league. The second worst team are the A's who slugging .306. It's fucking miserable. If Youkilis can still play third, bring him on.

CWS are actually the one team that ESPN said are definitely in, and continuing to go back and forth with the Red Sox.

 

[spiker]

That's where he's played the majority of his time since Gonzalez came to the team. Although good luck having him stay healthy.

Nice. Wasn't sure if he was still playing first or not.

 

[Goober]

Nice. Wasn't sure if he was still playing first or not.

Where else would he be playing for Boston?

 

[Youk]

Where else would he be playing for Boston?

Could possibly pitch a better first inning than DiceK

 

[Mogriffjr]

looks like Youk's last game was today...

deal is immenent...

http://content.usatoday.com/communi...2012/06/kevin-youkilis-boston-red-sox-trade/1

 

[Swarley]

Dealt to White Sox for utility man and pitcher per Jim Bowden on Twitter. No names yet.

EDIT:

Red Sox have traded Kevin Youkilis and cash to White Sox for Zach Stewart and Brent Lillibridge confirmed.

 

[Youk]

What a curtain call

 

[FedEx227]

Great deal from the White Sox end, IMO.

Lillibridge is pretty much bound to be mediocre, not like he'll all of a sudden figure it out. Stewart has been pretty bad this year, but still has potential. Even then, I doubt he becomes an ace or anything forgettable. I really like this deal a lot, even if Youk falls on his face.