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Kevin Youkilis: On the Block?

The 2012 Boston Red Sox look a lot like the 2011 version of the team. Two players entered this year as potential free agents: David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis. Ortiz, enjoying a tremendous resurgence, may have already guaranteed himself another arbitration deal with the Red Sox, but Kevin Youkilis, over whom the Sox have a $13 million option for next season, may not even finish 2012 in a Boston uniform. The question is: if he’s not playing in Fenway, where is he?

2012 did not start the way Youkilis would have wanted. Right off the bat his new manager was calling him out to the media questioning not his health or his playing ability but his intangibles: Bobby Valentine criticized his passion for the game. The new Sox skipper said Youk just wasn’t “as physically or emotionally into the game as he has been in the past.” While both sides tried to dismiss the comments and focus on the team - struggling mightily at the time - Ken Rosenthal is reporting that, according to a baseball executive,“Valentine wanted Youkilis out as far back as spring training, viewing him as a liability.” Learning that

If that wasn’t enough, the third baseman soon hit the disabled list and prospect Will Middlebrooks go off to a roaring start and, with a few slumps, is hitting .259/.295/.552 with 4 home runs. Middlebrooks has proven himself in the minors and has held his own in the majors, is generally expected to become the starter in 2013. If the Red Sox think he is ready to stay, maybe when Youkilis returns from the DL, he’ll be featured for a trade.

Who’s Looking?

There are a few teams who could use help at the infield corners who might be interested in the veteran “Greek God of Walks.”

The Dodgers, lead by superstars Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw, are off to a surprising start in a weak NL West. Their current starter at third base? Juan Uribe. Uribe is hitting just .250/.302/.338 with a home run and a healthy Youk would be an improvement on his .640 OPS. The story doesn’t get much better across the diamond: James Loney, who never developed into the player the Dodgers always thought he would, is hitting .233/.310/.336. If a move back to first base could keep Youkilis healthy, an option the Red Sox don’t have, the Dodgers’ current roster construction wouldn’t make that very difficult.

North of LA, the San Francisco Giants, also looking at the weakness of their division, and currently without Pablo Sandoval, aka Kung Fu Panda, could be interested as well. Sandoval is currently sidelined with a hand injury, and while he should return in another month or so, Youkilis might be ready before then. Like the Dodgers, the Giants also have a question mark at first base. Prospect Brandon Belt hasn’t forced the team to pencil him into the lineup every day, giving an opening for Youkilis to take over. Belt also has experience playing the outfield, which could allow the Giants to upgrade offensively at two positions if Belt can really get into gear - he has the ability, just not the track record in the Majors.

What Red Sox trade talk would be complete without including his former boss, Theo Epstein? The breakout of Bryan LaHair at first base has been well publicized: the formerly-labeled quad-A player has slugged 10 home runs already this season while hitting (an unsustainable) .330/.422/.670. While the power is real his other stats will likely regress a bit as the season goes on. Behind LaHair is former Sox and Padres first base prospect Anthony Rizzo. Rizzo will eventually inherit the first base job when LaHair is traded or shifted to the outfield. But the hot corner is occupied by Darwin Barney.

Barney is a fine stopgap while the Cubs rebuild, but the Cubs may decide to play up their Red Sox knowledge again. Adding Youkilis to man third base this year, and possibly next year, would give the club a veteran leader with a solid batting eye. Youkilis is injury prone at this point in his career and can’t be expected for 162 games, but Epstein and Hoyer know this. The money isn’t a huge obstacle for the large-market Cubs and even the option is just a one year commitment. Like evert rebuilding team, the Cubs need to balance putting a decent product on the field with their efforts to become competitive again. Alfonso Soriano is a high-priced player well past his prime, but Youkilis probably still has something left in the tank, and it might be enough to warrant an upgrade from Barney to keep the team looking respectable, if not competitive. Even an understanding fan base likes to go to the ballpark with a chance to see their team have a good game.

Full Circle

In a way, the situation facing Kevin Youkilis today is not all that different than the one he was in during 2004. Bill Mueller, the 2003 batting champion and Red Sox third baseman at the time, went on the disabled list. The Sox called up the already Moneyball-famous Youk to take over at third base. Youk impressed, but not enough to win the job away from Mueller that season. In 2005, Youk got in work at third and first as Kevin Millar, John Olerud, and the immortal Roberto Petagine spent time in a first base platoon. In 2006, the starting job at first was his because of the arrival of Mike Lowell (with Josh Beckett) to handle the hot corner.

Maybe Middlebrooks will stay cool until Youkilis returns. Maybe he’ll heat up and force the Red Sox hand on a trade before Youk gets going himself. Maybe Carl Crawford has another setback but Middlebrooks ends up returning to the big leagues as a left fielder this season. As they say, these things have a way of working themselves out.

Rays Young Pitching: It Keeps Going, and Going…

It looks like the Rays are at in again in terms of setting records with young pitching:

Rays have started 200 consecutive games w/ a pitcher they drafted and 931 consecutive games w/ a pitcher age 30 or younger, both ML records.

— Jonathan Gantt (@Jonathan_Gantt) May 14, 2012

James Shields is, of course, the "old man" of the staff at 30 years old, drafted way back in Y2K, but still a pitcher drafted and developed by Tampa. Like Jonah Keri talks about in his book The Extra 2%, the Rays take the long view regarding their franchise and the starting rotation is a product of that. 

With Wade Davis working out of the bullpen and Alex Cobb in the minors, the Rays have young pitching depth that any team would envy.

He's Going Crazy, Call Him Superman

Josh Hamilton hit his 9th home run of the week, and 18th of the year, on Saturday. In addition to doubling his current season total, Hamilton has accumulated 1.6 WAR in this week alone.

Over the last seven days, Josh Hamilton has racked up +1.6 WAR, the same mark that Ryan Howard posted in all of 2011.

— David Cameron (@DCameronFG) May 12, 2012

In 2011 8 players hit 18 home runs over the course of the entire season. The list isn't made up of superstars, but it's a solid group of guys: 

+ Mekly Cabrera

+ Chris Heisey

+ Chipper Jones

+ Howie Kendrick

+ Carlos Lee

+ Russell Martin

+ Miguel Montero

+ Brandon Phillips

In all, 76 players hit more than 18 home runs. Hamilton himself hit "just" 25 long balls last year. Much has been made about Hamilton's inability to play the field, but he did appear in 156 games in 2008. The problem is the other years of his career have game totals of just 90, 89, 133, and 121.

If Hamilton appears in more than 133 games, the total from his MVP year in 2010, he should stand to crush those numbers. Hamilton  is already more than half way to his home run total (32) and forty percent of the way to his RBI total (100) and a third of the way towards his runs scored (95), This fast a start could carry him to a career year even with a slump or injury mixed in during the remainder of the season.

Sold Something on eBay to Greg Harris

No part of my mind doubts it was not this man: