Peter Gammons is reporting that Sox first-baseman Kevin Youkilis has signed a four-year pact worth over $40 million, or over $10 million per year. The deal includes an option for a fifth year.
Youk was slated to be a free agent after 2010. This keeps him in Sox red (presumably) until at least 2012.
It’s quite a deal considering Youkilis has outproduced Mark Teixeira (yes, it’s true, according to an GM and some metrics) the last two years.
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Youk for $10 million per is a bargain. I thought he’d get closer to 12 or 15 so this is great. The thing that needs to happen though is Lowell will probably have to be moved before the end of his contract since Lars will likely be ready by 2010 at the rate he’s progressing.
What a great signing. For those who might be thinking that this is a better deal than Teixeira’s for the Red Sox (which it clearly is if taken out of context), just remember, it was never Youk or Teixeira. It was always Youk and Teixeira.
Now would they have still been able to lock down Youk and Pedroia along with fill in the depth they have recently if they had signed Teixeira? We’ll never know.
Interesting to see how Papelbon plays out and if they lock Bay in while the market is depressed.
Scooped!
Nice work Evan… I’ve been waiting for news on this all week.
Bottom Line: If Lars becomes everything he’s craked up to be, this gives the Sox the option to slide Youk to 3B when he’s ready… I’m assuming of course that Lowell will be gone by then.
“I love it when a plan comes together!”
This is just another example of the Plan, that Theo has. I didn’t think the Tex fit into the plan the entire time. It seemed strange to me in there pursuit for him. As the bottomline pointed out Lowell being signed through the 2010 season, gives the sox the ability to keep Lars in the minors till he is fully ready to make an impact. While Youk and Lowell continue to produce now, and when Anderson is ready and Lowells contract is expired, Youk will then move to third while Anderson takes over at first. Youk is a team player and will gladly shift over (I’m assuming when Anderson is ready)This allows no drop off and it makes a clear transition period over the next 4 years. Also this signing creates a solid nucleus for the sox hopefully over the next 5 to 10 years
This is a great move because it keeps us away from ugly arbitration cases. Youk is true grit and certainly earned this contract. Next up paps
I dont know how you get to that conclusion of Youkilis outproducing Teixeira.
Per Fangraphs:
Value Wins: 2007 2008
Youkilis 3.9 5.6
Teixeira 4.0 6.8
Now i would love that deal from the Sox’s perspective and i would rather they sign Youkilis for 40 mill than Tex for 180 mill but you have to be fair and recognize who the better player is.
Where’s Gerry? I can’t believe he wasn’t first commentor on this one. Must be slacking ;). Anyways I agree this is another solid move by Theo and the FO. Youk should still be a solid player at 34 and the discount we got him at is a very nice plus. The transition from Lowell to Lars will be a big key in our continuing success over the next few years. And having Youk locked in for that period should ease the stress on that somewhat. Good move.
not begrudging Win Values, but who’s to say that’s the best stat to look at?
Stark on what a GM said: “Teixeira gets his money because he produces AND he looks really good doing it. But if you look at the last two years, the guy who has outproduced him is Youkilis.”
I wrote:
“Teixeira has a reputation as a fine fielding first baseman, and he was just that in 2008. Previous years tell a different story, though. Here are Teixeira’s Ultimate Zone Rating numbers (considered the best metric as of present day to value fielding) by year, starting in 2003 and ending in 2008: 7.7, 8.8, -2.5, -1.8, -3.5, 11.7.
Now we see why Teixeira’s “actual” value exploded so much in 2008: the fielding carried the day. Historically, he’s not this good a fielder.”
Youk’s career UZR is 13.8.
This, along with Papi’s wrist feeling fine, might be the best news of the winter (to me). When the talk of the FO and Youk’s agent not coming to terms on his value I was thinking Youk was demanding over 15 mill each year. 4 for 40 is more than worth it.
Well maybe that GM was Jim Bowden or Ned Colletti or Brian Saeban LOL. Anyway, i wasnt trying to take a shot at Youk, being compared to Tex is being very good already.
I just dont think that he has outproduced him for the past 2 years. Show me something other than a quote from a GM.
Best news since Dustin signed. I would have been surprised, in this market, if Youk commanded $12-15 for two reasons: few players are signing for what they are worth in this economy; and even though I see Youk as just entering his prime and getting better, some see 2008 as his best year and anticipate regression. . . an argument that could have dictated a lower $ amount. Everyone wins.
THE PLAN seems to include phasing in a large cast of cost controlled stars like Buchholz, Bowden, Masterson, Jones, Bard, Tazawa, Hagadone, Anderson, Reddick, Kottaras, Brown, etc. over the next few years, allowing Theo to adequately reward the core of Youk, Dustin, Lester, Papelbon, Lopez, Delcarmen now, and the young ones later. IMO, we will be chasing fewer Teixeiras and more Smoltz, Penny, Saito’s in FA, because we won’t need to. We are about to become the high end Rays.
Dollar for Dollar Youk is clearly the better bargin and buy! And he shows true grit something that Texeira doesn’t have and would never have, Youk is just about the opposite of Tex, when it comes to personality Tex is more of a permaddona while Youk is dirt dog
Here you have other stuff:
OPS+ 2008 2007 2006
Youk 143 117 106
Tex 151 150 126
+/-
Youk +6 +10
Tex +24 NR
Again, i love the deal but this stuff about grit and hustle is totally absurd. Cmon if you produce wins for my team i dont care what your name is and how you look producing those wins.
Please, maybe we should sign Eckstein and create the guttiest grittiest team ever. The fact that they have different personalities doesn’t make Youkilis a better player, performance is what matters. On the flip-side of all of Youk’s “grit” is that it pisses off everyone including his own teammates sometimes.
That said, I love Youk for the way he produces and the fact that we’re controlling him through what should be his best years at only $10 million per. The other stuff is overrated, and I think it takes away from the players actual performance. For example, Pedroia isn’t valuable to the Red Sox because he’s “gritty” he’s valuable because he’s a good baseball player, saying otherwise just diminishes the perception of him as excellent.
Good day at the office, Theo.
Youk is a fan favorite because he’s a dirt dog… but I agree that Teixeria has the better numbers overall.
That said, I pulled the stats for the past two years over on The Bottom Line. Youk was closer over all that I expected, so it’s clear that the Red Sox are getting a steal at $10M / year… but there was one stat that suggest Youk is more than just a better value, he’s just plain better when it matters most…
http://bottomlinesox.com/2009/01/kevin-youkilis-signs-4-year-40-million-deal-red-sox.html
You’re getting a bargain IF Youkilis continues to produce at last years levels which were entirely out of line with his career stats.
You are right that it’s about playing good baseball. But the fact that Youk and Pedroia, Lowrie and Ellsbury, Papelbon and Kotsay . . . good players all . . . are willing to run through walls to get the job done somehow make them better, more interesting, more exciting, more committed than someone who doesn’t get his uniform dirty. Baseball should be neither sterile, nor overly organized, or it becomes boring. And it was Manny who objected to Youk’s intensity. I wonder why?
I for one don’t feel as though grit is overrated, the baseball season is a real grind, and over the 162 games there are times when some guys may let up, and it seems as though Pedroia, and Youkilis want to always be in the lineup and always want to be playing no matter what. I’ve read stuff in the past about Teixeria being a premaddona, and although Youkilis may have the “worse” numbers I feel this signing is great for the Sox, they control there core, and they continue to spend there money wisely instead of just throwing money at Teixeira and having to loss Lowell.
So over the next 4 years is Teixeira worth 44 million more than Youkilis?
Saying a player is gritty is the least revealing thing to say about them. David Eckstein somehow keeps finding jobs because he’s “gritty” even though he does nothing well on a major league baseball field. Good players are called gritty and it masks the fact that they are simply good (Pedroia, Youk).
I guess I hate the idea so much because I’m a huge basketball fan. In basketball, “gritty” means white and undertalented, you know not like those African American players who don’t work hard. It’s a subtly racist construct.
Obviously in baseball the term has different racial connotations, it’s partly just my perception I guess. Then again, how many of the “dirt dogs” were/are non-white players? It’s all about perceptions. When non-white players behave the way that Youk or Paul O’neill do, they’re villified or feared (Think Jim Rice) when a white player does it they’re celebrated and people call them gritty competitors.
Ahh, the money issue. Teixeira ($180M), CC ($160M) and AJ ($82.5M) over the lives of their contracts totalling $425.5M, something on the order of $67M per year.
What did the Sox get for their $67M? Youk PLUS Pedroia, Lowrie. Smoltz, Penny, Saito, RRammirez PLUS Beckett, Matsuzaka, Lester, Wake, Papelbon, Okajima, Delcarmen, Lopez, Masterson. PLUS Baldelli, Kotsay, J.Bard. In case you are worried about uber-talent, this list includes 10 All-Stars, and several future All-Stars.
Teix lovers and the Yanks can have those three, of which, IMO only CC is tough and gritty enough to be one of the super-talented Boston Junkyard Dirt Dogs. This train (kennel?) has left the station, and it’s time to enjoy the ride.
In my wildest dreams I never thought of applying gritty in a racial way. Paul Pierce is every bit as gritty as Larry Bird. David Garrard is every bit as gritty as Tim Tebow. Mark Teixeira (Portuguese) and AJ are not nearly as gritty as Mike Lowell (hispanic), Dustin Pedroia (hispanic), Ellsbury (Navajo/Dene), Youk (Greek), Daisuke (Japanese), Lester (caucasian) or CC Sabathia.
Gritty means tough, willing to get down and dirty to get the job done, more concerned with winning and hustling than with clean uniform and coiffed hair. Great baseball players have historically been a gritty bunch, including Jim Rice, Yaz, Williams, Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays.
Not technically true, Youk just carried his 1st half thru his 2nd.
Although i feel as though Grit is part of Youk’s game I don’t think that, that is the end all be all of him as a player. I used grit as Gerry Posted above as
” Gritty means tough, willing to get down and dirty to get the job done, more concerned with winning and hustling than with clean uniform and coiffed hair.”
This is what i feel is the distinct and obvious difference between Kevin Youkilis and Mark Teixeira.(YOUK! HAS IT!) I feel as though Tex was going to the team that offered the most money, not neccessary the team that had the best chance of winning. As Youkilis took a below market deal to stay in the Boston Spotlight were every game is seen as the world series and playing in front of a packed house.
Nice grammar. No surprise from Boston I guess…
hey idiots read this, jesus red sox fans are blinded by their players goatees.
http://riveraveblues.com/2009/01/open-thread-tex-vs-youk-6962/
I definitely wasn’t implying that anyone is racist, I would never do that. The term definitely has had a racial connotation though, especially in college basketball where underathletic white players who put in max effort (Hansbrough, JJ Reddick, Adam Morrison) are celebrated while underathletic black players who do the same (Jeff Adrien) recieve much less attention.
Also no dig, but Pedroia is Portugese and Youk is Jewish and apparently not greek in any way (bummer because Greeks are always a good time).
although Bar Mitzvahs rock. Can’t decide what I like more, Greek Weddings now or Bar Mitzvahs when I was a kid
“Obviously in baseball the term has different racial connotations, it’s partly just my perception I guess. Then again, how many of the “dirt dogs” were/are non-white players? It’s all about perceptions. When non-white players behave the way that Youk or Paul O’neill do, they’re villified or feared (Think Jim Rice) when a white player does it they’re celebrated and people call them gritty competitors.”
With respect to baseball, the term “gritty” has no racial connotation. It merely represents a hard-nosed, tough player who does everything he can possibly do to ensure that his team comes up on the winning end. It’s that simple. Let’s not make it in to something more than it is.
This is slightly off topic, and perhaps my Carolina bias is showing, but how is Hansbrough underathletic?
Well i dont know about you. But to me if “gritty” means helping your team win then there is no “grittiest” player than Alex Rodriguez.
He’s a player who is good not because of athletic skill or size, but because he puts in consistently more effort than other guys on the floor. That and he travels a lot and never gets called on it.
Jack,
Way to represent Yank fans.
Youk isnt greek.