With all the talk about first baseman Teixeira last year, and Gonzalez this year (among others), I had been wondering what does Kevin Youkilis have to say about switching back and forth between 1B and 3B. His ability to play both positions, and play them well gives Terry Francona a lot of options when filling out his line-up card before every game. I would imagine some divas players would piss and moan about being a ping-pong ball, but Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald caught up with Youk's agent Joe Bick, who had this to say about the situation:
“I really don’t have any career-related concerns about whatever happens, because I know Youk won’t let it affect him under any circumstances. Wherever they tell him to play, that’s what he’ll do without bitching about it, and he’ll be damn good there. As always, Kevin indicated his preference would be a full-time spot somewhere, but that he had no problem flip-flopping if that’s what the Sox needed him to do. He loves playing third the most so, naturally, that would be his first choice.”
Bick reveals that Youk has a preference for playing 3rd base, and with 2010 being Mike Lowell's last year in his current contract, it is quite possible that Youk will move back to 3rd base full time in 2011, if not sooner.The list of 2011first basemanfree agents does not have anyone under the age of 30 enteringthat season, so look for Theo to make a trade for a first baseman with heavy lumber somewhere down the line.
I always wondered what Youk thought of his situation, and nowwe know.
FenwayWest.com 12.20.09
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