Kevin Youkilis getting attention from several leading teams – MLB Update
Free agent Kevin Youkilis is a highly talented individual and the spot where he plays is now giving him more attention in Major League Baseball.
“They’re going to be like the Red Sox with [Mike] Napoli — they’re going to overpay because they have to,’’ said one front-office executive.
“'This year it’s third base,’ It’s a good year to be Mike Schmidt right now," Cubs' president Theo Epstein said.
He has been playing at third base since 2004 and performing with his best abilities. With the recent injury of New York Yankees’ star third baseman Alex Rodriguez and his subsequent hip surgery, Youkilis’ at a third base position is in the limelight.
Yankees' management has already showed some optimistic signs to bring Youkilis in the Yankees’ roster. They have prepared a time frame in order to tackle any potential extra difficulties on their third base position.
Recently, Brian Cashman, the New York Yankees' general manager said, “I’ve had a few of maybe the names I wouldn’t have thought of — lesser names that I wouldn’t have an interest in — volunteer their services for that position,” Cashman said. “I’ve had some people suggest, ‘Hey, my guy who plays second base, he can swing over to play third.’ That type of stuff. I don’t have an interest in stuff like that.”
Youkilis last played for the Chicago White Sox and showed enormous progress with his existing hitting average. He performed beautifully and earned a lot of appreciation from the White Sox’s management. Though looking at the level of productivity he showed, the White Sox could have re-signed him but their new general manager and manager did not support Youkilis’ as they argue salary cap issues which needed to be sort out first.
Youkilis finished last season with .235 hitting average. Along with a good hitting average, his other stats also remained consistent with 19 homers, 60 RBIs and .336 OBP. Overall his career stats are also quite consistent at .283 hitting average along with 610 RBIs and 148 home-runs.
Experts believe that next few weeks will be critical when Kevin Youkilis’ potential future will be decided with a leading Major League team.
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