Dec
06
Hoch: Yankees make offer to Kevin Youkilis
By10:14am: Ken Rosenthal says Youkilis has two-year offers in the $16-18M range. Guessing the Indians are in on that.
9:05am: Via Bryan Hoch: The Yankees have offered Kevin Youkilis a one-year deal worth $12M. He earned $12.25M last season. Pricey, but that is where the market’s at.
144 Comments»
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Can’t wait for him and Joba on the same team!
You beat me too it. That should be interesting. My guess is they’ll get along just fine as teamates
I hope Joba shanks Youk on day 1. There are some players I don’t like, can’t stand and would not want on the team for any reason. Youkilis is one of them.
I’m already preparing the paper bag I’ll be wearing all season if Youklis becomes a Yankee.
This sucks…..
…ummm, are you available for RF?
Can’t offer more than a one-year deal.
Good one!
Yuck….not Youk….Yuck
just curious why? is it because of his #s and/or you think he’s broken down? or is it because he’s an ex Red Sox.
No, it is because he is a dick!
However, knowing this will actually stir the pot of the red sox, there is some good from it.
This is what $12MM buys these days?? Damn….
122 438 72 103 19 60 51 108 0 .336 .409 .235
4 8 15 16 23 42
Not Youlk’s Boat
+1
all those years desmond pushed the buttons in the hatch to keep the smoke mons…youk from killing everyone on the island
555-5555
555-2368
Props to anyone who gets that reference
867-530Niiiiyyyyiiiine!
Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters.
+10
I get it! Lost! But I think it was Schilling not Youk
Damn Puke-ilis coming to us?
They have freakin $12MM for Youk but not 3M for Schieholz. This is ridiculous. I don’t even blame Cashman anymore, its all ownership. ugh.
It’s probably because Youk is much, much better than Schierholtz when healthy. And still produces more than him when injured half the season.
Lot of money for Youk–better than Reynolds though
I don’t mind Youk, but I’d rather have Reynolds. Cheaper and he can stay healthy.
The only reason I don’t say “both” is the complete lack of defense which would follow, but Youk could very much be a solid veteran stopgap. If you’re going to have stopgaps, a guy who’s taken a shit, or three, in big leagues is where I’d go. Besides, it’ll make for a season’s worth of torture for my Sox fan coworker, which usurps everything.
I’m happy with either of them. If Youkilis can stay healthy he could put some good numbers up.
Methinks that torture cuts both ways. I hate the fucking guy, and will have a hard time even accepting him (to say nothing of actually liking him) unless he completely crushes it.
Oh this makes me sad. Only good that could come of this is he’d have to shave that crap off his face.
I’d rather he keep it – the more his face is covered the better
Yea–management–should have used the money for Martin
I’d be shocked if he turned that down.
Reynolds is a terrible player
No.
Yes. Horrible with the glove, provides power and nothing else at the plate.
Adam Dunn sucks, too, right?
Depends what you want to so with him.
Ew.
Always happy when the congressman stops by,
Reynolds has had 1,158 PA in the past two years. His total fWAR for that time is 0.8. If you prefer a second opinion, bWAR has him at 0.4. He’s a disaster in the field. He’s a 100 – 110 wRC+ DH.
I wasn’t aware that fielding is the only skill that matters on the field.
I wasn’t aware that you hate Emma Watson.
Who could hate Emma Watson? cute, smart, talented, really really rich. Oh, OK. I get it. But, I’m still taking her in the Rule “10″ Draft. . ..
Then you better not ever say a bad word about Nunez.
Reynolds looks pretty good at 1b. But the Yanks don’t need him there. If he was even a little below average, I’d see it as a good fit. But he’s not. He sucks at 3b.
At this point its clear they arent gonna find another 3rd basemen via free agency. Reynolds is too much of a defensive liability. One idea though would be trade Granderson for a number of prospects or whatever. Then sign Reynolds to replace the power production. Just a thought.
I think the only way they trade Granderson is if they have Hamilton signed. Or at least an agreement in place.
I hate Youkilis, but there aren’t many other options out there. Who else is there that can play the hot corner? David Adams and Nunez are really the *only* internal options we have, and I don’t trust either of them. Shifting Cano to 3rd this soon just seems like a recipe for disaster. He’s fantastic with the double-play and the last thing we need is for him to take a while to adjust at 3rd while another has to create chemistry with Jeter. Remember how bad A-Rod was when he first transitioned to 3rd? It’s not easy. “E-Rod, A-Clod”, etc. Just imagine how it’d be with a rookie, or worse, Nunez there.
Youk will provide a few things. He’s a veteran, he’s got the resumé, and he’s a stop gap. 1 year won’t be the end of the world. I personally am not a huge fan of his, but I like him much, much better compared to other options out there. I’d be content with getting Youk AND Reynolds (he has the ability to be a rotating DH who can……play other positions…kind of). I’d also either like them to re-sign Ichiro for 1 year or see if they could somehow get Corey Hart for a deal centered around, preferably, Ivan Nova — but it would most likely cost Phelps and others or Hughes.
Anyway, this really isn’t the end of the world. Yes, I think ‘Puke’ is annoying, and we would be paying him based on past performances, but that’s what the market is right now. It’s either this or some better player that we can somehow get for less money or a small trade package, aka – that player doesn’t exist. Nunez is the logical choice and he can’t even make routine throws from short, he’ll go full Knoblauch if he were at 3rd. Think of the little old ladies in the stands.
To replace our old, broken down, former shell of himself third baseman we are getting an old, broken down former shell of himself third baseman. Hooray for continuity!
TRADITION!!!
Sorry but I will never be able to root for Kevin Youkilis. I dont want to see him huff and puff and shit his pants every inside fastball that comes his way.
I’m guessing people said the same thing about Clemens. And Damon. Well, not the same thing. But a reasonable facsimile thereof.
I didn’t. Damon was the type of player we need at the time and Clemens was an ACE. Youkilis has long been my least favorite player in baseball. Even if he wasn’t on the Red Sox all that time. He whines and complains all the time and is just annoying to watch play.
First they tear down Yankee Stadium and now they are thinking of adding Youk. They are really lucky the Mets are the only other team in town.
I hear there are good seats available for all Mets games. You’re welcome to them.
MR. George Steinbrenner come back to see this!!!!!
The guy who signed Wade Boggs and traded for Roger Clemens. Right.
.236/.346/.425 in his half season tenure with the White Sox.
Honestly, I think Youk can do better next season in each of those departments. Am i saying he’ll revert back to career averages? No. But if he can do .260/.350/.450 … i would take that in a heartbeat! And i think .260 is on the low side.
Chances Michael Young would be willing to accept a trade to the Yankees? Chances Rangers would trade him to us for a “young reliever a mid-level prospect”?
Should be “young reliever AND mid-level prospect.”
As of last night Young didn’t want to waive the no-trade clause cause the Phillies want him. Doubt it.
I’d rather have Youkilis, and I don’t want him either.
Young is worse than Youk at this point by a lot.
Awesome news! I’m sure he’ll provide 4 times the value as chavez. Plus, he’s been one of my favorite non-yankees for such a long time. I can’t wait to start some youuuuuuk chants.
I’ve never disliked a Red Sox player more than I do Youkilis. This would would be very hard form me to swallow.
I hated Pedro and Schilling even more. Heard Schilling’s commercial for autism..and he spent the first minute making sure everyone knew his accomplishments before talking about his son.
Yeah, Pedro. I forgot about him. That’s a coin flip.
Schilling, Varitek, and Paps? Far more hate-worthy than Youkilis to me.
Funny how I don’t dislike any Sox pre-2004.
Michael Young for Joba and Zolio ALmonte.
Hell no. Young for nobody.
Young > Youk > Reynolds
No way. Young had a .682 OPS last season. In Texas.
But he used to be good!11!!!1
I’m still of the belief that Young was never that good and always a product of his home park.
+ 100
I wouldn’t trade Almonte for Young. I wouldn’t trade anythiing for Young. If he was a free agent, I’d offer him a minor league contract with a chance to make the team in ST. That’s it.
I’m always a fan of stealing Boston heroes. I also think the veteran presents he’d bring would be valuable. Zero issue with this.
Finally … a voice of reason.
Me too. The guy plays hard. What’s not to like? Bring him on.
One of the knocks you hear about him is that he’s not a great clubhouse guy. It would only be a 1 yr deal, so that part of it isn’t huge. But I don’t think you can talk about that as an added benefit, either.
Yeah I definitely get that he is one of those players that you hate when they are on the opposite team, but love them when they play for you. I am sure AJ Pierzynski is the same way and wouldn’t mind him on a 1 year deal either.
I do think there’d be some “knock it off” talk with Girardi, the other vets, and AJ if he were to come to the Bronx, or at least I’d hope there’d be. That’s never been my #1 knock on him, though.
If he even THINKS of asking for #20 we should riot.
I see I wasn’t the only one who thought numbergate might occur again. I thought maybe he could just convince Stewart to give him 19.
lol numbergate. “going over the Number Cliff”
I would like to see him at 3B look i hated Damon and he came over and played well. Youk is very good at working counts and is decent at 3B he can also spell Tex and have close to no drop off in defensive ability…..he is a team first player as evident in when the red sox asked him to play the OF…. I still think he goes to CLE with Terry Francona but id take him with no problem. this isnt like bringing in Vincente Padillia this is a guy who mainly only had a problem with joba and always getting hit by pitches not anything personal like with Tex and padillia
he is also a douche bag…
Youkilis playing 120 games is still better than manos de piedra Nunez manning 3rd base.
LOL
Roberto Duran is pissed you stole his nickname.
I laughed hard at both of these.
I don’t necessarily mind going after Youkilis, but $12 million??? Really? And you couldn’t put a potentially better platoon together for less than that?
Not that it’s really surprising overall. Nearly mid-30′s, ‘old-man’ skills, moderately injury prone, not good defensively. The combination sounds about right…
At this point yes, I hate Youklis but I got over Clemens and Boggs so I can get over KY. As long as he produces (which is my concern) I am OK -
I would think Mark Reynolds would be better to sign as 3B and then keep looking and MR could be switched to DH if better 3B found.
My main issue is not Youk’s Red Sox connection (although Youk has one thing in common with all Yankee fans – hatred of Bobby V) I hate signing players with injury concerns when his one talent that we need is not for him to be spectacular in 2013 but to show up and be slightly above average every day from April- at least July while Arod is out. I don’t want to see any DL stints while Arod is out. Yes, everybody, even a 21 year old or Mark R for that matter, can get hurt but Youk has a bad history in that regard.
As I said before. I hated signing Nick Johnson when we turned away damon/Matsui because of age/declining skills – turning damon/Matsui away was right move but not signing NJ to replace. At least Mark R has been relatively healthy. Also we lost so many HRs with departure of Martin, Swisher, Chavez and maybe Ibanez that the one thing that is most certain is that Mark R has power. Not sure what Youklis has and it is not a small investment, $12 million is a lot of money if Youk stumbles or gets hurt.
I like Reynolds a lot, but he’s just been so bad defensively the last two years. Although I saw him play a lot in AZ and he actually looked pretty good (UZR had him as above average in 2010). Maybe he can get back to only being bad instead of atrocious.
Youk is one of my most hated players, but he’s good. I wouldn’t like it, but we CAN use him.
Joel Sherman ?@Joelsherman1
Youkilis is in Boston today for his charity so a decision might not come today
Haha, had to be in Boston didn’t he?
Man I hope he signs
Come on, Youk. Please sign. We all know you always secretly wanted to be a Yankee anyway.
They all do, even Papi.
Waaaay too much.
Looking forward to 2014 season. Go Mets for 2013.
Ken Rosenthal ?@Ken_Rosenthal
Youkilis indeed has one-year, $12M offer from #Yankees, as reported by @BryanHoch. Also has two-year offers from others in $16M-$18M range.
That doesn’t sound good if others are offering a multi-year deal for a good amount. Especially if it’s Cleveland.
I don’t think it is a good sign that we know about the offer ahead of time. Seems to indicate he will take another team’s multi year offer. But I sure hope I am wrong. I would love me some Youk on the Yanks.
It is odd that the details on the other teams are known. Could be from Youkilis’ agent trying to pressure the Yankees to add another million or so on the one-year deal.
If Youk comes close to career averages next season he’ll regret making a measly $8-9 million next season when he could have likely fielded another round $11-12 million offers after ’13.
If the man is healthy and motivated, he’ll be wise to turn down 2 year offers. Take the bigger money now, play like he can, and he’ll get market offers once more in 2014.
Hell of a day to quit drinking
12 mill a year for Youk…ok i get it…but why not offer nate s and kepp and chavez that 12 million..lets do the math chavez 1 yr 3 mill…kepp 3 yrs 12 mill…4 per year, and nate s…1 yr 5 mill…thats 12 mill year for 3 players…whatever Hal..whatever…starting pitching will be solid. bullpen will be strong…watch out for montgomery….Catching-JOKE. IF-no 3b???bahahahah. OF-2/3 and ????? bench???? basically no money to spend…thanks Hal. heres where we will be for the next some years…well done bro..so frustrating.
dear cleveland,
please sign this scumbag. i will be fuming if he is a yankee. Reasons: a) he sucks. b) he was a fucking prick on boston.
i hope joba throws at his head during the spring
sorry about the cursing and violence. this offseason has me really upset with ownership. hal steinbrenner is pissing me off. RIP George. At least you didnt give a damn about the luxury tax if it meant winning.
If NY was his preferred destination, he would have taken that deal immediately. I think he wants to go to Cleveland if they give him a good deal (and a multi-year deal for $16-$18 mil is definitely a good deal for him)
Time to call Mark Reynolds now lol
So, now they have $12MM to pay Youkilis next year. Just for the sake of comparison: Russell Martin cost $8MM, Keppinger $4MM, Chavez $3MM, Schierholtz $2MM. I think turning $12MM into 2-3 of those players would have more value than Youkilis next year. Thoughts?
You are missing that Martin and Keppinger’s deals would have also cut into their sacred 2014 budget. And even 2015 in Keppinger’s case
DKnobler ?@DKnobler
Indians pushing for Youkilis. Francona connection could help. But Yankees want him, too.
I guess PaulC had the same thought…9 minutes ago. Never mind.
I hope he goes to Cleveland on another long term bloated contract and Cashman is able to use the $12M elsewhere. I am more inclined to think Cashman knows Youkillis will not accept but take some pressure from the media and fans off the Yank’s inactivity and the FO’s austerity.
I’m not convinced he’s going to be signed since he has two year offers from two other teams.
Yup. And if NY was his preferred destination, he would have signed, because no one would offer him more in 1 year than the $12 mil offered.
I say the chances are extremely high that he goes to Cleveland.
If Youkilis is on the Yankees, I’ll be doing other things beside watching baseball next summer.
Adams or Joesph would be far better choices.
Cash and Girardi hate rookie position players.
LOL!! Sure you will
Thank you.
I think I’ll bookmark this comment on the offchance he signs, then check back in May.
Youk is injury prone and is way past his prime. Reynolds could be a challenge for the Yankee coaching staff but has upside potential at a cheaper investment for management.
Everyone hates Youk, but let’s not forget another player who once became a Yankee and didn’t put up ‘sexy’ numbers, but he played good defense and had clutch hits. Here are some stats.
17 HR, 71 RBI, 39 BB, .247 AVG, .307 OBP, 84 OPS+
Who posted that stat line? Scott Brosius (1999)
I think Youk could easily replicate those numbers — plus add more walks. He’d accomplish that and have a higher OBP (which would lead to more runs scored). It isn’t impossible for him to do that. I’m not saying he’ll be the 90-100 RBI, .300+ avg, and .400+ OBP player anymore. He isn’t that player; that’s why the Sox let him go. But he’s still capable of 15-20 HR, 70-85 RBI, .250-.280 avg, and .350+ OBP. For 1 year I’ll take that. It’s better than what Nunez would provide, especially when you think of the defense.
I hate Youk. He’s one of the Red Sox I hated most. He wasn’t in the Schilling, Pedro, Pedroia, or Manny level…but I still hated him. But oh well. This is baseball and I’d rather field a winning team than a team with Eduardo Nunez at the hot corner. I can live with 1 year of Youk. It beats selling the farm for a 3rd basemen while we also need an OF and catcher in the worst way.
Those numbers would be the worst of Youkilis’ career. He’d easily clear those.
but, but, but…he’s a red soxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx!
No Youk! Sign Mark Reynolds and give Nuney a shot at 3rd. Reynolds can DH to start, and can fill in at 1st and 3rd.
First Yankee ever to be asked to grow hair? Seriously I think if he had hair the white supremacist vibe might go away a little bit. He’s coming off of a pretty bad season, second highest K rate of his career, tied for the lowest walk rate, lowest ISO since 2007. But none of those numbers are so low as to make you think he can’t still be a good player. His BABIP being 54 points below his career average didn’t help. He’s probably a pretty good candidate to have a bounce back season before he’d done for good. I think a .250/.360/.430 line is a pretty reasonable expectation and he’s certainly better defensively than Reynolds, if more injury prone. Although if we signed Youk I’d still want Reynolds, we can worry about where it all fits in the line-up when A-Rod gets back.
Youk reminds me of how Swisher was a few years ago, albeit a bit older and past his prime. It’s the buy-low factor (well, about as low a buy as you can get in this market). Swish was coming off a rough stint in Chicago and turned it around here. Again, Youk is older, but I still think 20/80/.280/.370 is very, very reachable for Youk. I’m not saying he’ll go 30/110/.310/.415, so let’s be realistic. He’s a better choice than Nunez. Remember how many games Nunez literally threw away for us? And people want him put at a position that will be even harder to adjust to? Come on people.
Swisher isn’t even old and past his prime now, much less when the Yankees acquired him.
It’s amazing how many of you can’t get over your pretty grudges for a player who would benefit the team. Seriously, stop whining like a bunch of 16 year old girls.
Well said JJ Couldn’t agree more!
Seriously.
I’d take Ted Bundy, the Ghost of Jeffrey Dahlmer and Charles Manson to play the outfield if they could do the job
It’s all part of being a fan and why we even care about any of this. Would you like to have seen Bernie or Mo go to the Red Sox? If you only care about it from an analytical point of view and not an emotional one, why even bother?
So now you get to decide how people get to exercise their fanhood?
I want to win first, and feel “emotionally connected” second. Pretty sure that’s how ownership feels.
I didn’t want to see Bernie or Mo on the Red Sox because I prefer good players to stay with the Yankees. I wouldn’t have begrudged them at all if they went for more money or if the Yanks had hit a rough patch and Boston gave them the best chance to win.
Um, I wasn’t the one calling people names because they do have an emotional attachment and would prefer to not have players they dislike on their team, particularly if said players came from the hated rival. I didn’t start the “right way to behave as a fan” narrative. Plus it certainly is up for debate whether Youkilis really is a good player anymore and a smart allocation of resources.
And why is it do you think the Yankees-Red Sox are the greatest rivalry in sports? Do you think it’s all about the winning the two teams have done, because Boston was doing so much of that for almost 100 years? Or was it because of the emotional component between the two teams and their fans?
“And why is it do you think the Yankees-Red Sox are the greatest rivalry in sports?”
Don’t care. I care about winning. And those years would have been VERY different if free agency had existed for the majority of them.
The debate as to youk’s merit as a player are fair. I just couldn’t care any less about the teams he’s played for.
I agree with you except for the somewhat contrived nature of the rivalry. I fully understand that fans care about it a lot more than players do, therefore am fine with the idea of guys who are rivals in our eyes only joining forces.
We had no problem with Boggs, Clemens, or Davis. Perhaps stuart can us what it was like when Babe Ruth was around. *snare*
That is absurd. He can’t play the field or hit, and that’s on the rare occasion he’s healthy.
Dude’s been in the league since 2004, and played 140+ games in only 3 seasons. The last time was 2008.
If they get him, they better set aside more money to pick someone else that can play 3rd well enough to handle it for 60+ games.
That’s the concern, is that you are signing a guy who is probably as fragile as Chavez at this point, and not as good a defender.
He can absolutely hit and he’s average in the field. The “rare occasion he’s healthy” is the concern here.
Or I guess, that he was a douche, or something else about his personality.
I’ve spent the last week whining about the Yankees refusing to pay anyone, so I’m not going to start complaining that they’re overpaying. That said, I do think it is a very high offer.
Bill James has Dom Brown at .274/.347/.445 and 17 homers next season. I would take that and some middling guys close to the majors for Granderson. Would the Phillies do it?
They’d better be more than middling for me. You have to be getting an impact piece along with Brown, and I’m not convinced the Brown ship hasn’t sailed.
Brown and 2 pitching prospects like Ethan Martin and Jonathan Pettibone and maybe Ruf OF/1B.
Seriously, replace “Youk” with “Swisher” and this could be an Over the Monster thread.