Kevin Youkilis a fit for the Twins

[Fire Dan Gladden]

TR says he is looking for a competition at 3B with Plouffe. Thoughts on how Youk would fit with the team?

 

My opinion: If he could be had for less than $5 mil, I would love to have him. Decent defense at 3B/1B, professional hitter (though in decline), great clubhouse guy, injury prone but still have Plouffe... forget the competition, go get him.

[Top Gun]

From 12m to 5m I don t think so.

[Tcrose3636]

Bobby Abreau went from 16m to 5m when he was done with the Yankees....he was a year older...but it is not like it has never happend before.

[YourHouseIsMyHouse]

I'd be willing to go up to 8 mil for Youk. Maybe even a 2 year since it doesn't look like we'll have much over there for a while.

[iastfan112]

Pass. Plouffe showed enough last year that he should get a legitimate shot to start. With how much Youkilis will cost, it'd be foolish not to have him starting. Much prefer to see a Mastroianni-esque pickup.

[johnnydakota]

id slit my throat if i had to watch him play everyday....

yes i know many of you would provide the knife , but unless he rebounds we have the same no hit infielder and could add chavez or reynolds for the same money

[Fire Dan Gladden]

id slit my throat if i had to watch him play everyday....

yes i know many of you would provide the knife , but unless he rebounds we have the same no hit infielder and could add chavez or reynolds for the same money

 

Why? What do you have against him? He had 15 HR in his 80 games with the White Sox, I'm not prepared to call him no-hit just yet...

[diehardtwinsfan]

First off, Plouffe proved that he earned a shot to start. Signing Youk is essentially taking that from him. I'm not sold on Trevor, but compared to the rest of the team's needs, Trevor is not near the top of the list. Finding a nice utility infielder that could potentially start at 3rd might be smart, but spending roughly 1/3 of the spending budget on a guy like Youk when there are far greater needs is foolish. Competition for Plouffe should be in teh 1-year prove it type deals.

[John Bonnes]

Yeah. Youk is a fine addition, but either that means you're giving up on Plouffe or you're moving him to another position, like second base. I'm not totally opposed to the latter plan. I'd love to see some improvement of our middle infield.

 

(BTW, we listed Youk as likely to get a 2-year/$14M deal. That still sounds about right to me.)

[spideyo]

I will say, I have an irrational hatred of Youk's batting stance. When I play MLB the Show and he is batting, it's hard to resist the urge to hit him

[Fire Dan Gladden]

First off, Plouffe proved that he earned a shot to start. Signing Youk is essentially taking that from him. I'm not sold on Trevor, but compared to the rest of the team's needs, Trevor is not near the top of the list. Finding a nice utility infielder that could potentially start at 3rd might be smart, but spending roughly 1/3 of the spending budget on a guy like Youk when there are far greater needs is foolish. Competition for Plouffe should be in teh 1-year prove it type deals.

 

You make improvements when and where you can. I believe having Youk on the team would be an improvement. That's not to say you still can't go out and get pitching. I don't think signing a $5 million player would have any impcat on the spending for pitching. Plouffe was unworldly for 6 weeks and meh for the rest. No problem bringing in somebody potentially better.

[iastfan112]

First off, Plouffe proved that he earned a shot to start. Signing Youk is essentially taking that from him. I'm not sold on Trevor, but compared to the rest of the team's needs, Trevor is not near the top of the list. Finding a nice utility infielder that could potentially start at 3rd might be smart, but spending roughly 1/3 of the spending budget on a guy like Youk when there are far greater needs is foolish. Competition for Plouffe should be in teh 1-year prove it type deals.

 

This. I was looking through the International league stats and there's a lot of guys who could fulfill this role and appear to be either blocked or out of favor with their teams. Some fringy prospecty types like Jared Goedert, Josh Satin, and Yamaico Navarra are the ones I like best. All have positional versatility and at least a decent minor league hitting record. Don't look to be very expensive either.

[johnnydakota]

Yeah. Youk is a fine addition, but either that means you're giving up on Plouffe or you're moving him to another position, like second base. I'm not totally opposed to the latter plan. I'd love to see some improvement of our middle infield.

 

(BTW, we listed Youk as likely to get a 2-year/$14M deal. That still sounds about right to me.)

so you think youks value is similar to willinghams?

[johnnydakota]

id slit my throat if i had to watch him play everyday....

yes i know many of you would provide the knife , but unless he rebounds we have the same no hit infielder and could add chavez or reynolds for the same money

 

Why? What do you have against him? He had 15 HR in his 80 games with the White Sox, I'm not prepared to call him no-hit just yet...

and this is an improvement on what we have?

and yes i absolutly hate his batting stance

[Chris in Osaka]

It's less a question of Youk's positives as basic roster construction. We don't need another slow, aging bat that is basically reduced to a d.h. role, especially since the team has almost no legitimate shot contending next year.

[DaveW]

I wouldn't give Youkilis anything more than a 1 year 4-5 mil contract, the guy was ****ing terrible this year and in 2011 his OPS dropped by 140 points. A 2 year, 12-14 mil contract would be a recipe for disaster, I know he didn't get along with Valentine, but he was one of the most popular Red Sox, they wouldn't have traded him for nothing if he had anything left in the tank.

[TheLeviathan]

If you're going to add competition for Plouffe I'd rather have it be a left-handed hitter or a guy that can play SS/2B option like Keppinger.

[Riverbrian]

Keppinger over Youkilis for sure. You get your third base competition and MI infield competition if Plouffe keeps his job. Keppinger had a hell of a year at the plate in 2012.

 

However... I wouldn't even consider either of them if it kept even one arm away. Pitching please and lots of it.

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

Youkilis at this point is a "Jim Thome-lite" luxury to add to a team (but would cost more) - I agree with the others that mentioned that pitching has to be the priority. the players I think would be a good fit to be competition for Plouffe:

 

Eric Chavez - (left handed bat, maybe he can still play defense at third?)

Keppinger - (right handed bat, is he too similar to Jamey Carroll? He's a better hitter, but not by much)

Mark DeRosa - (just kidding)

 

or ... maybe a trade for someone. The Free Agent Third Base market doesn't go much further than that unless you're getting Scott Rolen to not retire. The reason they want competition for Plouffe is shaky defense and an inconsistent bat. There's not much out there that solves that specific problem.

[Brandon]

Inge, Chavez and Polanco fit what TR described he is looking for as a 3rd baseman type to compete with for playing time. Good Field, low cost, solid professional. I would venture to include someone who can also play elsewhere in case Plouffe plays well all season next year. Keppinger is going to be more expensive and probably be a starter somewhere. There are other names out there but these are the most name targets.

 

I do wish they would at least get someone else who can play SS defensively too even as a backup. If there is not going to be much offense out of a position, I hope they get better than good defense out of the position.

[Siehbiscuit]

Go with Youk for 2 years and 12-15 million and move Plouffe to 2nd base! Two birds, one stone. Florimon at SS and Carroll at utility infielder. Plouffe's NEVER going to be great defensively, but playing second would hide some of the accuracy issues a little better than at 3rd. Youk had a down year, but he has a pretty solid track record. He is worth the investment/risk, IMO. Wouldn't it be great to see a Twins 2B hitting 20-25 homers? Youk can provide 25 homers still. 50 homers between the two isn't unrealistic.

[Winston Smith]

Go with Youk for 2 years and 12-15 million and move Plouffe to 2nd base! Two birds, one stone. Florimon at SS and Carroll at utility infielder. Plouffe's NEVER going to be great defensively, but playing second would hide some of the accuracy issues a little better than at 3rd. Youk had a down year, but he has a pretty solid track record. He is worth the investment/risk, IMO. Wouldn't it be great to see a Twins 2B hitting 20-25 homers? Youk can provide 25 homers still. 50 homers between the two isn't unrealistic.

 

Very much agree with this. Plouffe should have no problem at 2nd being a ss coming up, wait would he have to bat second?

[Willihammer]

Youkilis with bursitis in knee and hip. He is wincing all the time out there, can't run worth a damn, and would need daily cortisone shots probably and lots of breaks and/or DL time. This is a FO that abandoned Hardy because "he was never on the field," they will never spend the money to snap up Youk, thankfully.

[YourHouseIsMyHouse]

Youkilis had a bad season, but if it was a Youk fluke then the contract could pay extreme dividends. High risk, high reward. I personally think he'll rebound and I'd be happy with a 2 year deal. I think his 7 seasons of elite play are much more than what Plouffe has "proven" in a few months.

[YourHouseIsMyHouse]

Youkilis with bursitis in knee and hip. He is wincing all the time out there, can't run worth a damn, and would need daily cortisone shots probably and lots of breaks and/or DL time. This is a FO that abandoned Hardy because "he was never on the field," they will never spend the money to snap up Youk, thankfully.

 

It only takes a month or two for bursitis to go away. Not really a big issue for 2013.

[Fire Dan Gladden]

Why does everyone believe Plouffe is set? I am not saying he will bust, but I would like to see more before giving him the job. Sketchy defense, questionable offense... We really don't want to look here?