Dick Allen

All AL Central teams except the Sox have lost today.

This fresh start crap that many are hoping will prompt Youkilis to be the player he was before he was hurt reminds me of the same hope we had when Robbie Alomar came from the Mets. Fresh start, out of NY, with his brother...Youk's problems aren't in his head, they are all over his body. Please don't overpay.

QUOTE (Baron @ Jun 23, 2012 -> 12:18 PM) ^^^well thats just silly. Ofcourse they wont have to give up a top prospect. No one will unless there are more pieces to the deal. That's one possibility, that's its just a piece to a larger move. Considering the Red Sox had scouts at White Sox games last week, although it may have just been advanced scouts but they don't play each other for almost a month so that wouldn't make much sense, the more it seems probable its at least been discussed.

QUOTE (Noonskadoodle @ Jun 23, 2012 -> 12:13 PM) Pirates Beat Writer: #Pirates won't give up front-line prospect (Taillon, Cole, Marte) for Youkillis. Might offer 2nd-tier guy if they get lots of cash in deal If any team is really contemplating giving up a top prospect or taking on much cash, they need a new front office. Boston has to get rid of him before they have to release him. I don't think any team can be that dumb. I'm sure anything they have been offered is fairly similar. Willing to take his money or a big portion of it or willing to give a top prospect, and this deal would have already been done.

QUOTE (Baron @ Jun 23, 2012 -> 12:06 PM) Its either us(more likely) or the Dodgers at this point. I think the Red Sox throw that out there to try to get others involved. I still think Pittsburgh and Arizona are possibilites since the cost shouldn't be much. I think all offers being the same, they would prefer to have Youkilis on a team that is not an AL playoff contender just in case he rediscovers his performance. I'd love the Sox to upgrade wherever they can, and even bad Youk is probably an upgrade at 3b, but I won't be bummed out if he winds up somewhere else.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Jun 23, 2012 -> 12:00 PM) Youk's contract, FWIW: 12:$12M, 13:$13M club option ($1M buyout) I think he winds up in the NL. While its always exciting the Sox may upgrade from a guy like the ODog, if Youkilis doesn't come here, even if the price was close to nothing, its really not a big deal.

Youkilis has really gone downhill since injuring his thumb in 2010. He's not going to be a savior.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jun 23, 2012 -> 11:42 AM) They played Dunn in LF in the NL parks. Heck, Dan Johnson is killing the ball at Charlotte, he absolutely deserves a chance with the way the offense has been performing. Conor Jackson too. AAA numbers for guys like Jackson and Johnson are meaningless. Dan Johnson hasn't hit over .200 in the major leagues in 5 years. Josh Fields is hitting .331 in AAA after hitting .365 in AAA last year before stinking up the joint in Japan. Why don't they just pick him up? He can play LF equally as bad as he plays 3B.

QUOTE (Cali @ Jun 23, 2012 -> 11:32 AM) Beckham just tweeted "Yolk!" about 10 mins ago FYI I'm guessing he's eating breakfast at Yolk.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 23, 2012 -> 11:15 AM) As of now, I'd give Escobar a shot. I am not willing to mortgage the future who is rapidly deteriorating. If it costs no more or just slightly more than what it would cost to bring in a recently released player, giving Youkilis a shot is worth it. Anything that costs the Sox significant money or significant prospects for Youkilis would be awful.

I think the Red Sox are more interested in dumping Youkilis ASAP more because they will probably just have to release him when Ellsbury and/or Crawford come back instead of the distraction his situation has become.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jun 23, 2012 -> 11:12 AM) Impossible to tell either way. Trading for Greinke strengthens an already good rotation, but creates a hole in an already questionable lineup. The Sox have limited opponents to 2 runs or less 27 times and are slightly above .500. I agree with you, dumping offense isn't going to propel the Sox to the playoffs.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jun 23, 2012 -> 10:54 AM) How good do they project to be with Viciedo? Oddly, the Sox are in the same trading position as teams with full farm systems. They can give up a Viciedo and it won't make a difference. Pretty good. They are currently a half game out of first with their opening day starter on the DL, their #4 guy really struggling and their #5 guy stinking up the joint.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Jun 23, 2012 -> 10:45 AM) viciedo has a .285 on base percentage. yes he's young and has power, but lets not act like hes a young frank thomas He's 23 and we've seen flashes of what he can be. You don't give that up for a rental. KW wouldn't give him up anyway. He's a bigger fan of Viciedo than anyone on this board.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jun 23, 2012 -> 10:34 AM) Yes, deplete the offense by trading away a young power hitter. If Grienke had a couple years left on his contract, I could see it, but trading Viciedo for 2 months of Grienke is the type of move that gets your team very bad for a very long time. I'd give up a couple prospects. I'd see if they had any interest in Floyd. The days of giving up your top young players for 2 month rentals are either ova or very close to it. If some team was willing to give Milwaukee Viciedo equivalent players, you wait until the winter and see if you can sign him.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Jun 2, 2012 -> 09:57 PM) Well clearly he hasn't. Regardless 1.3 whip and under 3 era last year. Point stands. Clearly not hot garbage. He's been hot garbage since your post.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 21, 2012 -> 10:39 PM) Aside from being outspoken, Ozzie Guillen is well respected throughout baseball. Who is on all the TV shows during the postseason? Ozzie Guillen is one of the top five managers in baseball. Greg, first let me point out your Ozzie love doesn't bother me like it bothers others. I think its misguided, but I'm sure a lot of things I support, you would not particularly have a high opinion. Snooki and the Kardashians make millions from TV shows. It has nothing to do with respect, just the dumbing down of the country. Fox doesn't bring Ozzie on for intelligent baseball discussion. You also stated last year Ozzie was going to Miami to win championships. His players are arguing with him on the field, he made comments about Castro that went over in his new community like JR announcing there would be no more beer sales at USCF and concession stands were going all vegan would go over with White Sox fans. He brags about getting drunk after every game. An article comes out where his coaches do all the work, he sits in his office an plays games on his IPad. After a loss this week he said he's going to have 7 beers and a take a sleeping pill. The team is looking like the past few editions of the White Sox. Its not going as planned in Miami. We know it isn't going to end well, but its starting to appear its probably going to end even uglier than imagined. It will also probably end much sooner than imagined. Ozzie isn't a miracle worker. After recent articles, one may have a hard time saying worker and Ozzie Guillen in the same sentence. I don't know if it was Oney or whatever it was, but Ozzie has lost his way. He's about Ozzie. That doesn't work long term.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jun 23, 2012 -> 09:33 AM) Who knows how long it will be again until the Sox have two starters pitching like Sale and Peavy at the top of the rotation. They need to maximize this, problem is they probably won't have enough to trade for the best starter on the market, whoever that will be. I don't know how it would work out withe AJP, but Greinke is a guy the Sox should think about if the Brewers make him available. They should be able to hang with the other offers Miwaukee would receive considering its theoretically a 2 or 3 month rental. If he doesn't re-sign in Milwaukee, I wouldn't be surprised he's a White Sox target during the offseason, especially since it appears the Yankees and maybe the Red Sox will be out of that discussion.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jun 23, 2012 -> 09:19 AM) There's not much point in upgrading 3B if they don't get a SP. If Danks comes back healthy, and Humber returns healthy and his struggles were related to his elbow, the rotation is easily good enough to win the Central. Without these 2 and Floyd pitching like he belongs in A ball most of the year, they are 1/2 game out. Sox pitchers have limited opponents to 2 runs or less already 27 times this season.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jun 23, 2012 -> 09:13 AM) Exactly, the Red Sox want him off the roster now and just want to get something for him rather than release him. That might be some salary relief or a marginal prospect, but they aren't getting a legit prospect for him. As everyone has mentioned on here, he's been awful this year, the Red Sox have a terrific replacement, he not much of a bench guy, and he's had his clubhouse issues this year. Teams know the Red Sox want him gone, so unless a bunch of teams are fighting for him, they have very little leverage IMO. As for the White Sox, I'm shocked how many people are ripping this move. We all know how bad Youkilis has been this year, and people love to point out he's actually been worse than ODog this past month. Fair enough. However, people saying he's been trending downward the past few years are somewhat missing the point here. From 2008 to 2010, Youkilis had an OPS of .958 or higher each year. That's elite level production and it obviously wasn't going to last forever. Then last year he had his "down" season and only put up a .833 OPS. While not elite, that's still a fantastic number. I guess my point here is that Youkilis hasn't just suddenly lost all his talent. He's getting older and his performance is declining, but the impact should be more gradual than what we're seeing this year. Obviously his back has been hurting him this year and we know he's had his clubhouse issues this year. I'd like to see how he responds to a new set of trainers and a fresh new clubhouse. IMO, the guy can still be an .800 OPS player if healthy. I know trading for Youkilis has risks, but what's more important to me is the downside. If we don't have to trade anything of value or eat most of the deal, then what do we have to lose? There's not a lot of other options at 3B. We can't spend this money on prospects. The move would be a gamble, but one with no long-term consequences. The one thing I do know is we can't win with ODog at 3B. So we can either take a chance on Youkilis or die a slow death. I was reading an article that contained several scouting reports basically saying his body is breaking down and he's done. But you're right, as long as it doesn't cost much and doesn't impair the Sox from making other moves, its probably worth a shot considering the Sox 3rd base situation now and for what looks like the rest of the season. Especially considering it looks like Morel isn't going to be much of a help this year.If this is the Sox blowing their entire load this year just on him, its should be a fireable offense if the most likely happens and it doesn't work out.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jun 23, 2012 -> 09:08 AM) Youk will be a bigger help than a lot think, but in the bigger picture it's about getting a starter. Just thinking out loud is their plan Youk at third Danks/Jackson in left and Viciedo as the main trade bait to get a SP? No chance. If the Sox get Youkilis, its going to cost very little in terms of money and/or talent. Unless King Felix is in the picture, Viciedo is going nowhere, and he shouldn't.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Jun 22, 2012 -> 10:48 PM) Latest I hear, Sox would be interested if Red Sox would pick up 'most' of the salary. I don't think there is a team out there where that isn't a requirement. If there is a team that will take his contract and the Red Sox haven't moved him yet, they need a new GM.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Jun 22, 2012 -> 10:40 PM) I think it's a risky move, but I have a gut feeling that Youk will thrive with the change of scenery. Just my opinion tho. I disagree, but a lot stranger things have happened. His body is breaking down.

If the Sox have to give up a legit prospect or take on a decent amount of cash, it would be a worse move than paying a steroid free Manny $4 million for a month. I hope and think if the White Sox really are involved, neither is the case.

They said on the pre game that Humber was actually playing catch today. I think his stay on the DL will be minimal.