The End Of The Youkilis Era

It started with another day off, it continued with another DL trip, and it might have just ended yesterday with the announcement that he was going to need surgery to repair a herniated disk in his back.  The battle between Kevin Youkilis and his back has been waged, and Youkilis has lost.  You can check the calendar if you want, but the 10-12 week estimated timeframe for his recovery all but ends a Yankee career that was snuffed out almost as quickly as it started.

As it is, Youkilis will end his Yankee career with a .219/.305/.343 batting line in 118 plate appearances.  It wasn't the production anybody hoped for, least of all Youkilis himself, but it's a testament to the grit and desire and passion for the game Youkilis had.  He wore the pinstripes with pride, although usually in a stiff and uncomfortable looking posture, and honored the # 36 like no Yankee had since Freddy Garcia.  He'll make a cool $12 million this year - $1 mil for every run he scored, 1.5 for every RBI, or 6 for every HR - and no man, woman, or child could say that every cent of it wasn't well earned.

Kevin Youkilis wasn't a Yankee for very long.  He joined them later in his career, when his flame had started to burn a little fainter.  It's a flame we'll never forget though, and a flame that will burn on in time for the rest of Yankee history.  Now somebody hit the music.

Youkilis Back To The DL

Multiple beat writers are tweeting it.  Kevin Youkilis will go back on the DL because of his back, specifically a lumbar strain.  He's been an empty husk of himself since returning to the lineup 2 weeks ago, and this will get David Adams back on the field.  I think somebody around the blogosphere basically predicted that this was going to happen earlier this week.  Oh yeah.  If this isn't the first toll of the bell for Youkilis' career, I don't know what is.

The End Appears Nigh For Kevin Youkilis

(Pictured: Injury risk.  Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Kevin Youkilis was out of the lineup again yesterday, for the same reason he's been out of the lineup for every game he's missed this season: his back.  Youkilis strained it diving for a ball at first base in Saturday's game and was held out yesterday by Joe after reportedly feeling stiffness "stiffness" in the back.  He'll get an extra day of scheduled rest today with the off-day, and Joe certainly sounded like he was going to play him on Tuesday.  But with the continued back problems limiting Youkilis' playing time and severely hindering his production, it's almost time to ask if he's done.

The Importance Of Teix And Youkilis Returning

If there's a way to spin this current Yankee slump into a positive, it comes from pointing out how it's put a quick end to all the growing talk about the team not needing all their injured players back, and what's going to happen to the current players, and what do they do if the team plays worse with the better players back?  This current version of the Yankee team appears to have hit the wall and they are in serious need of a spark, one they thought they had when Curtis Granderson return.  More than anything else, even if neither guy gets a hit in tonight's game or all weekend, that's what Mark Teixiera and Kevin Youkilis will give this club when they return tonight.

And if it turns out they both can shake the rust off quicker than expected, even better.  From a performance standpoint, the 2 things this team lacks the most right now are right-handed power and patience.  The lack of power has been an issue all season long.  The lack of patience is something new and it's been at the forefront of this week's offensive disappearance.  Teix and Youkilis have always been good at working counts and drawing walks, and blending that patience with their power presence and balance they bring to the lineup should help turn things around.

Lyle Overbay has done the job well, but he's got an OBP in the .280s.  David Adams has looked more than capable of hacking it at the Major League level, but he was still never expected to be in this position this year and is already showing signs of being exposed at the plate.  Vernon Wells and Travis Hafner helped carry the offense through the first 6 weeks of the season, but the grind of playing every day appears to be catching up to them now.  Teixeira and Youkilis are the salve to ease these wounds, the reinforcements for the reinforcements, and they represent the first step towards a return to business as usual for the Yankees.  If they're both healthy enough to play every day, and I don't think the team would be bringing them back tonight if they weren't, they should be just what the doctor ordered.

Duh...

Brian Cashman says the decision to play Kevin Youkilis on Saturday was "a mistake by everyone involved."
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughSL) April 30, 2013

 Ya think???

Youkilis' MRI Comes Back Clean, DL Stint Still Likely (UPDATED)

The good news is that the MRI on Kevin Youkilis' back came back clean yesterday, so at least there's no serious damage to it that could cause it to be a definite lingering issue.  The bad news is that the team still elected to give him an epidural today, and chances are he's still going to end up on the 15-day DL.

I imagine the hope is that the DL stint and epidural will be enough to get Youkilis' back back to 100%, but if he's getting an epidural after the MRI didn't show anything, that's a big red flag for me and leads me to believe that his back WILL continue to be a lingering issue moving forward.  With his back clearly not good enough to play right now, it makes the decision to put Youkilis back in the lineup on Saturday look really bad.  Now instead of backdating his DL stint to last week when he first went out of the lineup, it will have to start from Saturday.  Don't know what Joe was thinking there.

** UPDATE 2:14 PM- The Yankees announced earlier that Youkilis will indeed take a trip to the 15-day DL to rest his ailing back.  Corban Joseph has been called up to take his place on the active roster. **

Youkilis' Back Also Worth Keeping An Eye On

(Strikeout or back pain?  Only Youkilis knows for sure.  Courtesy of The Boston Globe)

Andy Pettitte returned to the mound Friday night and pitched 7 strong innings, easing concerns about the back issues that caused his last start to be pushed back.  As one back problem seemingly goes away (for now), another took its place in the form of Kevin Youkilis.  Youkilis left Saturday's game early after feeling some tightness in his back, and was a scratch from yesterday afternoon's game for the first time this season.  Joe said he expects Youkilis to be back in the lineup tonight against Tampa, and as expected, Youkilis has talked down the seriousness of the issue since the moment Saturday's game ended.  In the same way that Pettitte's back is still worth keeping on the radar, Youkilis and his back should also be closely monitored over the next few weeks.

Youkilis' Power Potential Key To Yankees' Early-Season Success

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Despite being the most significant non-returning player signing of the offseason, the Yankees didn't bring Kevin Youkilis in with high expectations.  His eroding offensive skills and 1-year deal pointed to him being nothing more than a plug-in at third base, a regressing, broken down former All Star brought in to temporarily replace the regressing, broken down former All Star the Yankees already had at third in A-Rod. As the everyday third baseman for the first half of the season, the Yanks would probably hit Youkilis 6th or 7th against right-handed pitchers, 2nd against lefties, and through a combination of walks and the occasional HR here and there get enough production out of him to help keep the offense going until A-Rod returned in July.

That plan quickly fell apart with the injuries to Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira, and got thrown further out of whack with the recovery setback to Derek Jeter's ankle.  Youkilis now finds himself as the #1 right-handed bat in the lineup and arguably the second-biggest power/run-producing threat in the middle of the Yankee batting order.  For at least the first month of the regular season, the Yankees are no longer looking at Youkilis as a cog on the offensive wheel; they need him to be one of the pedalers that keeps the wheel moving.  Youkilis had a very good and surprisingly powerful Spring Training.  How well he manages to keep that performance up on an everyday basis could be a major determining factor in the Yankees' ability to keep the ship afloat while their walking wounded recover.

Who Really Needs A Platoon Partner In 2013?

(How many lefties should this guy be facing?  Courtesy of the AP)

"Platoon" is a word that's slowly worked its way into the collection of words typically associated with the Yankee lineup over the past few seasons, right next to "patience" and "power."  Older veterans on the downside of their careers who are drawn to New York to chase a ring, lack of impact bats coming up from the farm system, and the newly implemented payroll restrictions have all combined to make the Yankee lineup a safe haven for the still productive but no longer well-rounded hitter.  This season, the reliance on platoons will play an even bigger role in the everyday lineup as the Yankees have their fair share of guys who only excel against one category of handed pitchers, guys like Ichiro, Hafner, Gardner, and Youkilis.  Joe has shown before that he's not afraid to mix and match and play with the lineup, but how necessary is it for every one of those players to be platooned?  Does the Yankee lineup really need to be turned into Version R and Version L?  Let's take a look.

Thinkin' 'Bout Youkilis' Swing

 (Yeesh, guy.  Courtesy of Matthew O'Haren/Icon SMI)

There's been a lot of chatter around the Yankosphere in the last week or so regarding the work that the Kevins, Youkilis and Long, are putting in trying to tinker with Youkilis' batting stance and swing, chatter that I've managed to steer clear of up until now.  It's not that I don't think the chatter is worthwhile; I'm just more of a "see it and analyze it" kind of guy when it comes to swing mechanics, and with just mental pictures of the changes right now I didn't feel qualified to offer my 2 cents on how optimistic I am that the changes will return positive dividends.

Thoughts On The Kevin Youkilis Signing

(Ahh the good old days.  Let 'em go, people)

I made it pretty clear last week which side of the fence I was on when reports of the Yankees offering Kevin Youkilis the 1-year/$12 mil deal first came out.  I had my reasons and I don't think any of them were misguided, even if my way of expressing them (which was meant to be humorous, by the way) did get me an attempted morality lesson and possible challenge to a fight in the TYA comments section.  But barring something major coming up in his physical that would negate the agreement, Kevin Youkilis is going to be a Yankee next season and he's going to be the Opening Day third baseman.

That's the reality, snd there's nothing that I or anybody else who was anti-Youkilis can do about it.  So rather than bitch and moan about how much better of an option Mark Reynolds would have been, or complain about how I can't/won't root for him because of who his former team is, I'd like to break this move down logically and calmly now that I've had a night and a day to digest it.

BREAKING NEWS: Yankees Agree To Sign Kevin Youkilis

Not a lot of details yet, but according to Ken Rosenthal, Kevin Youkilis has agreed to sign with the Yankees for the 1 year and $12 million they offered him.

Youkilis will have to pass a physical, and details are still coming in, but if this is true it gives the Yankees their temporary solution at third base while Alex Rodriguez recovers from his hip surgery, and gives Joe options on how he wants to rotate both of them through third and DH when A-Rod gets back to keep them both healthy.  The Yankees have needed to make a move to address the lineup holes, and now they have.  More details to come...

** UPDATE 5:25PM- Joel Sherman has confirmed Rosenthal's report, and also started talking about the Yankees moving to get a deal done with Ichiro by week's end. **

Don't Be So Sure About Youkilis

(I'm just not that into you, Kev)

The Winter Meetings will basically be over this afternoon after the Rule 5 Draft is complete, and it's becoming more and more likely that the Yankees will leave the meetings without addressing any of their open lineup holes.  They've been connected to a ton of players, and lost out on most of the ones in which they had interest just as quickly as they were connected.  Third base continues to be the biggest area of activity for the Yankees, and after the events that took place yesterday, the Yanks are down to 2 real "good" option as a temporary starter in Alex Rodriguez's absence: Kevin Youkilis and Mark Reynolds.

I get the sense that Youkilis is not only the bigger target for the Yankees right now, but also more of the fan and writer favorite, mainly due to his peak being higher than Reynolds' and his overall offensive production being better and more well-rounded.  While I won't disagree with either of those facts, I also won't come right out and say I think Youkilis is the better option.  If you look closer, there are reasons to be wary about him.