Philadelphia Phillies: The Risks and Rewards of Pursuing Kevin Youkilis
May 20, 2012 by Zak Schmoll
Filed under Fan News
Kevin Youkilis is almost definitely going to be out of Boston by the trade deadline.
Will Middlebrooks has been proving himself as the third baseman of the future at Fenway Park, and that leaves very little room for the man who was once deemed “The Greek God of Walks.”
These rumors have been circulating for a few weeks, but today Jerry Crasnick of ESPN reported on Twitter that the Philadelphia Phillies and the Cleveland Indians are among the teams keeping track of Youkilis on his minor league rehab.
My only thought in this situation is confusion about the potential risks and rewards.
In one sense, I appreciate the fact that the Phillies might be looking for a more powerful right-handed bat than Placido Polanco. Youkilis has hit at least 15 home runs the past five seasons while Polanco has only hit 10 home runs one time in the last five years. This could be a very high potential reward for a team that needs to generate some type of offense.
However, if there really could be potential competition in the market for Youkilis from the Indians for others, his price tag might become disproportionately inflated in relation to the risk that his new team would be absorbing.
Youkilis has hit .219 with two home runs and nine RBI with the Boston Red Sox this season. On top of that, while he has always been known for his high on-base percentage, he has struck out four times more than he has walked in 2012 (20 versus five).
2011 saw Youkilis start to fade, and he has not done very much to turn it around in 2012.
I am not saying that Youkilis has no hope and should hang up his spikes. He might rebound. Players have had worse seasons and continued their careers with great success.
Rather, if the Phillies are thinking about making this trade, they need to be very careful that they do not overpay for his potential reward. There would be a lot of risk, and the Phillies are not necessarily in a position to take more than they should.
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