Kevin Youkilis traded to the White Sox

[SpecialFNK]

Youkilis changed the colour of his Sox. (yes coloUr, in Canada we spell it with a U. we give U colour eh)

Red Sox traded 3B Kevin Youkilis and cash to the White Sox for RHP Zach Stewart and UTIL Brent Lillibridge.
A monster upgrade over the Brent Morel and Orlando Hudson platoon, Youk has escaped a diminished role in Boston and assumed an everyday gig with the contending White Sox. Chicago's third baseman entered play Sunday with a pathetic .466 OPS, easily the worst mark in the majors. The move is obviously a coup for Youkillis' fantasy value. The veteran missed nearly a month earlier this season with a back strain and has batted just .233 with four homers and 14 RBI, but we would expect him to improve in his new surroundings. Youkilis is earning $12 million this season with a $1 million buyout of next season's $13 million salary. Boston covered a bit more than $5.5 million of the roughly $7 million owed to Youkilis through the end of the year.

talked about some already in the Middlebrooks thread.
viewtopic.php?t=446356
but I'm wondering what this does for Youkilis.
what are the expectations/projections for Youkilis the rest of the season with the White Sox?

on the surface Youkilis numbers are bad.
.225 /.311/.359/.670/
but maybe he hasn't been that bad?
deeper numbers on the season..
8.7 BB%, 24.2 K%, .280 BABIP, 20.2 LD%, 51.0 GB%, 28.8 FB%, 13.3 HR/FB, 80.7 contact%.
better in June?
11.1 BB%, 18.5 K%, .222 BABIP, 16.7 LD%, 47.2 GB%, 36.1 FB%, 0.0 HR/FB.

Youkilis was BAD last year in August/September.

not sure where he is going to bat for the White Sox, but likely behind Dunn/Konerko? still good for RBI.

what are people thinking about for Youkilis the rest of the season?

if Youkilis finishes his career for Chicago, he will have played his entire carer for the Sox. just 2 different Sox.

[Izenhart]

This looks like one of those trades where a change of scenery will spark a player to do well. I'm expecting Youk to either bust out of his funk and rake or get hurt again and end up having a big comeback year next year.

[jcook3127]

As a fan who's watched him live back in short-season A ball I really think he's just done.

He's a grinder, has great discipline, and is as competitive as they come..but from a pure 5x5 fantasy perspective I'm not sure he's anything more than a bench player anymore.

With the White Sox, I would say a pretty good scenario would be for him to start hitting .275 with a prorated 16 HR/80 RBI/70 R and no speed.

I think that's just the player he is now. If you think that carries value than go ahead but like I said that to me would be one of the better cases. He just seems very bland. In OBP leagues or 8x8 leagues that have doubles he might be a guy to target..in standard 12 teamers I wouldn't really pay anything for him at all, and would still consider the idea of putting/keeping him on the waiver wire if I owned him/could own him.

[AussieDodger]

So the Red Sox just traded a down-year Youk for a pitcher who has conceded 10 HRs from 30 IP in '12, and a utility player who is OPSing .422?

Seriously? Are they that desperate to save money?

/amazed

[clarkw267]

So the Red Sox just traded a down-year Youk for a pitcher who has conceded 10 HRs from 30 IP in '12, and a utility player who is OPSing .422?

Seriously? Are they that desperate to save money?

/amazed

They had to trade Youk. It was the right thing to do for the team and for him.

Middlebrooks has to play everyday. He's the future at 3B, and he was significantly outperforming Youkilis. What are they going to do? Keep Youkilis as a backup? No way. That wouldn't be right to him, after all he's meant to that franchise.

The Stewart/Lillebridge offer isn't great, but it's the best they could get. Honestly, it's worth it , just to alleviate the tension and media spin that was bound to increase when Youk was on the bench.

[AussieDodger]

So the Red Sox just traded a down-year Youk for a pitcher who has conceded 10 HRs from 30 IP in '12, and a utility player who is OPSing .422?

Seriously? Are they that desperate to save money?

/amazed

They had to trade Youk. It was the right thing to do for the team and for him.

Middlebrooks has to play everyday. He's the future at 3B, and he was significantly outperforming Youkilis. What are they going to do? Keep Youkilis as a backup? No way. That wouldn't be right to him, after all he's meant to that franchise.

The Stewart/Lillebridge offer isn't great, but it's the best they could get. Honestly, it's worth it , just to alleviate the tension and media spin that was bound to increase when Youk was on the bench.

I understand that they can be seen to be "doing the right thing" by Youk, but that return is horrendous.
Talk about sell low

[jcook3127]

Yeah obviously there was no market for Youkilis as they've been desperately shopping him the last 3 weeks he's been back from the DL..

The thing is the Sox had to pay 5.5 million of the remaining 7 million of Youk's contract this year. I was hoping they'd at least get the cash relief since they got nothing tangible in return.

Sad day for Red Sox Nation, but like clark said..just a day that had to come. Better now than on July 31st I say. They tried to give Youk time over Middlebrooks to increase his trade value and Youk promptly went 4 for his first 37 back. Nothin' else to say really