FanGraphs: What Is Kevin Youkilis Worth?

Kevin Youkilis is 33 years old, he’s slumping, he’s recently been injured, and he’s effectively been replaced in Boston by rookie Will Middlebrooks. Recently, the Red Sox denied that they were looking to move Youkilis in a trade. Then, Monday night, Fox Sports passed along rumors that Youkilis was being shopped aggressively to anyone and everyone. The most sensible thing would be for the Sox to be shopping Youkilis, so it stands to reason that they would be doing that.

So that kind of answers the question of “is Kevin Youkilis available?” That doesn’t answer the question of “how much is Kevin Youkilis worth?” We turn to FanGraphs and Chris Cwik:

Youkilis will be owed roughly $6 million the rest of the season. For the Red Sox to get something significant in return, they’d have to eat a large chunk of that salary. There are certainly teams in the race that could use help at third — namely the Chicago White Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks and Cleveland Indians — and Youkilis would represent an upgrade over their current options. There’s also the Los Angeles Dodgers, which could finally rid themselves of James Loney and put Youkilis back at first base.

Even if those teams are desperate for help at their corner infield slots, they shouldn’t have to give up any significant prospects for Youkilis. Middlebrooks’ play has made Youkilis redundant. If the Red Sox continue to play Youkilis at third, they’ll do so at the expense of Middlebrooks. And since the Red Sox already have better players at first and DH, the Red Sox don’t have a lot of leverage. If the Red Sox were to cover most — or all — of Youkilis’ remaining salary, it’s possible they could receive a low-level impact player. Maybe a reliever or a good bat off the bench. But right now, there’s no reason for a team to break the bank on Youkilis.

That’s most of the conclusion, and I didn’t quote the analysis that led there. Click through for that. Basically, Youkilis is getting up there in years, his health is a bigger question than it’s ever been, and he was a productive bat as recently as last season. That’s why Youkilis would be desirable, and that’s why Youkilis would come pretty cheap. Of course, all it takes to drive up a player’s price is an active market, and Youkilis would have more than one suitor, but don’t look for the Red Sox to cash in. This isn’t the core of a blockbuster. Unless a blockbuster with other good players is built around Kevin Youkilis somehow.