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Youkilis Changing His Sox

 

Its official. After 9 productive and memorable years, Kevin Youkilis is trading in Red for White and heading to Chicago to play for the Sox of a different color. This comes after weeks of speculation that Youkilis could be moved because of his slow return from injury this year and the emergence of rookie Will Middlebrooks.

The deal was reported yesterday almost as soon as Youkilis collected his final hit with the Red Sox to help beat Atlanta. It was a special moment to hear the crowd cheer Y-O-U-K one more time. Chicago desperately needed someone to man the hot corner and parted ways with Zach Stewart and Brent Lillibridge. In my opinion getting a utility player with some speed (Lillibridge) and a low level pitching prospect (Stewart) is not a great deal for the Red Sox considering they will pay all but $2 Million of Youk's contract. However the pressure to give Middlebrooks the opportunity to start on an every day basis, possibly forced the Red Sox to cave in. As sad as it is to see the veteran leave Boston, I think he, as well as the fans, knew it was time.

The departure of Kevin Youkilis is an interesting thing to watch because we get to witness the passing of the torch. It seems that Boston has found its third baseman of the future in Middlebrooks. Although Youkilis was never the best player on the Red Sox, what made him so great and will undeniably help him in the future is the fact that he has always went above and beyond what any team or scout thought he was capable of. After being overlooked by many teams due to his seemingly nonathletic body, Youk was given a chance in Boston. It didn't take long for him to become a staple in the lineup and to soon be known as "The Greek God Of Walks". 

Although Youkilis's time in Boston has reached the end, I think fans should proudly celebrate the man who was one of the last remaining pieces of a team that broke "the Curse of the Bambino" in 2004 and was also crowned champs in 2007. He has handled this whole situation with nothing but class and maturity. If Middlebrooks can have close to the career that Youkilis did in Boston, he will be considered a very successful player.

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Thanks for the memories,

Aaron Granoff