Kevin Youkilis Falls to the Dark Side

Former Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis has given into temptation, abandoned his teachings and joined the dark side.  Fear of losing his starting job to Will Middlebrooks made him angry.  Anger caused him to question his role on the team and hate 2012 manager Bobby Valentine.  His hate led him to sign with the New York Yankees for $12 million next season on Tuesday.

"Hate, leads to suffering." -Yoda, 32 BBY

The deal in New York is awaiting a physical from Youkilis before it is official, but the plan right now is to bring Youkilis is for a year to fill in for Alex Rodriguez while he recovers from an ailing steroid-ridden body.  Youkilis hit a combined .235 last season with 19 home runs and 61 RBI for Boston and Chicago, and should be a solid replacement for the Yankees.

As far as consistency going, he's probably a better option than A-Rod at this stage in the game.  The Yankees lucked out signed Youkilis as the free agent pool of third basemen was drying up quickly with names like Jeff Keppinger and now ex-Yankee Eric Chavez getting signed a week ago.

The Red Sox will be in New York on Opening Day, April 1, for another installment of the greatest rivalry in sports.

Youk to the Yankees?

So with Alex Rodriguez needing hip surgery as his body deals with the aftermath of years of rampant steriod use, the Yankees are looking for a third baseman.

Eric Chavez and Jeff Keppinger have already signed elsewhere, and one of the best third basemen on the market right now is...

Kevin Youkilis.

The Yankees have reportedly offered him a one year, $12 million deal.  A-Rod figures to be back in six months time, so Youkilis would be able to either fill the void, or provide a solid every day third baseman while A-Rod DH's so he doesn't break something while his body weakens from all the performance-enhancers he's pumped through his veins throughout his career.

No deal has been reached yet, but the Yankees seem desperate to make something.  Its tacky, really.

President Obama Thanks Boston...For Youkilis

President Obama was at Symphony Hall on Monday to hold a fundraiser, which happened at the same time as the Sox game.  Knowing how big of a sports town Boston is, Obama decided to slip in a line about the team recently trading Kevin Youkilis to his hometown Chicago White Sox.

I will say, the comedic timing of his first line is pretty good.  And then the line he has explaining that he was just pointing out that all he will have to do is change the color of his socks.  The guy is good.

Youkilis Wearing Different Sox, Chicago Bound

The trade has finally been made; one that Red Sox Nation knew was imminent in the past couple weeks.  The advent of Will Middlebrooks and the under-production from Kevin Youkilis totaled up to a trade with the Chicago White Sox for Brent Lillebridge and Zach Stewart.

Youkilis has been known to be a problem in the clubhouse, and barely hitting over .100 in June while his counterpart Middlebrooks hit over .700 meant the Sox would have to take action quick to get anything back for him.

Youkilis tripled in his final at-bat in Fenway, and was pulled for a pinch-runner, giving the Fenway Faithful ample time to give Youkilis the send-off he deserved.

Nothing can discredit was Youkilis has done for the Sox, especially in 2007, but of late, his style and his play have been nothing but detrimental to the club. 

Please Cut Him Loose

Kevin Youkilis is 2-for-25 in June.  According to reports, the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, White Sox, Pirates and Indians have all shown interest in the corner infielder.  For the love of moneyball, please get rid of him.

Nicknamed "the Greek god of walks" while he was coming up to The Show, he has proven time and time again that he can be a valuable component to an offense, but his nagging injuries have decreased his value of late.  Comparatively speaking, Youkilis has a lot to offer teams who are lacking a solid corner infielder, but his problems lie off the field as well.

In 2010, Youkilis publicly criticized teammate Jacoby Ellsbury for not spending time with the team while rehabbing from broken ribs.  According to an article written by Jackie Macmullan at the end of last season, Youkilis was bringing down the clubhouse with his poor attitude, and this season, has already shown that he would be fine with getting traded, displaying no interest in staying with Boston.

So let's dump him while we still can, before other teams realize what a horrible decision they are about to make.

Please Trade Kevin Youkilis

Youk's hat must be a little too tight if he doesn't think there are some boo's mixed in with the "Yooouuuk" cheer whenever his name is called.

Kevin Youkilis has been severely under-performing this season, with just a .219 average after already missing a good number of games with his trademark injuries.  He has an absolutely poor attitude, and the Sox already have Will Middlebrooks with Nick Punto on the bench.  Having Youkilis is just unnecessary.

"If I get traded, I get traded.  Nothing you can do.  I wouldn't be the first of the last person here in this room to be traded," Youkilis said.  "Am I happy here this year?  I mean, did it start out well this year?  It hasn't been fun.  So what are you going to do?  You've got a game, you've got teammates, you've got to play.  That's all you can do."

Great attitude, Youk.  Why would you even ask the rhetorical question of "am I happy?"  Do you realize you're playing baseball to earn a living?  Give me your job then, you douche.  It didn't start out well because you're terrible.  You talk trash about your teammates, complain about every little thing the umpires do, and do that weird top step pre-on-deck thing.  Make it stop and go away.

If I get traded, I get traded. Nothing you can do," Youkilis told the Boston Herald before Tuesday's game against the Marlins. "I wouldn't be the first or the last person here in this room to be traded...Am I happy here this year? I mean, did it start out well this year? It hasn't been fun. So what are you going to do? You've got a game, you've got your teammates, you've got to play. That's all you can do."

Read more at: http://www.nesn.com/2012/06/kevin-youkilis-responds-to-trade-speculation-says-if-i-get-traded-i-get-traded.html

Why the Sox Should Get Rid of Kevin Youkilis

Photo: The Slanch Report

Kevin Youkilis has only played in less than half of the Red Sox games this season.  He hasn't had more than 491 at-bats since the 2008 season.  With players like Will Middlebrooks making a huge splash already and (as much as I don't want to say it...) Nick Punto already on the bench, I think the Sox could do without Youk.

On Monday night, the Sox got themselves back to .500 baseball against the division-leading Baltimore Orioles, and on Tuesday, Youkilis is scheduled to come off the disabled list and rejoin the team at Camden Yards.  There's talk of Middlebrooks staying even with Youk back because of the injuries to Cody Ross and Ryan Sweeney (with Sweeney being the only one on the DL as of now), but here's why Middlebrooks staying shouldn't even be a question.

Two years ago, Jacoby Ellsbury went down with a rib injury, thanks to Adrian Beltre's clydesdale-like frame, and spent time away from the team in Arizona rehabbing for most of the season. Youkilis has had a few injuries over the past two seasons, and rather than focus on getting better, he has taken some of that time to blast Ellsbury for time the centerfielder spent away from the team.

Playing in the same about of games (18), the stats looks like this:

Youkilis:               14 H, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 14 R
Middlebrooks:   22 H, 5 HR, 16 RBI, 12 R

As for the argument that Middlebrooks isn't ready to be an everyday player?  Platoon him with Punto, problem solved.  Youkilis could help almost any team in the majors, and has decent trade value.  The Sox have a bunch of young players producing already this year, so if they could cash in on Youkilis for a few more, I'd say its now or never.