Kevin Youkilis of the Boston Red Sox has been back healthy for about 2 weeks now and he’s showing major League Baseball that he can hit. That’s good for the Red Sox because they would love to unload him and his $12 million salary. In 9 May games he’s batting .313 after only hitting .219 in April. His slugging percentage is .533 in May after just .344 in April. A contending team looking for a shot in the arm could do worse than picking up a guy with a career .384 on base percentage.
It’s understandable why they’re shopping him, besides the big money he’s due this and next year, he’s 33 years old and obviously on the down side of his career, and Boston seems to have his replacement in big league ready Will Middlebrooks. The 23 year old rookie has 6 homers and 21 RBI in the 24 games he’s played in the Majors.
CBS Sports is reporting that the Dodgers and White Sox have already begun scouting Youkilis for a possible trade. He may be a better fit for an American League team so he could DH on occasion, but his ability to play both corner infield spots would make him valuable to quite a few teams.
If the Red Sox can get a few contenders into a bidding war for Youkilis they could parlay him into a starting pitcher that could help them get back in the AL East race.
