Whether they make any of these moves or not, they should NEVER carry 13 pitchers. They should have the extra bench player instead of having guys sit for three or four days at a time.

It was fairly obvious from his play in April that he was having difficulty getting to balls to his left.

It’s gonna come down to who makes the team better in the field and in the lineup, and at the moment I don’t think there is any doubt who that is.

I don’t think Youk has much trade value with the existing injuries and the likelihood of the Sox picking up his option are fading with each act of awe that Middlebrooks performs.

Of course, things could change for Middlebrooks when he faces SP’s for the second time. We’ll see, but everything the scouts and observers were saying about his evolution as a player of the last 12 months seems to be dead on.

I think, they’ll send Middlebrooks back down to the minors when Youk’s healthy and maybe quietly shop him around. If not, Youk is out next year (I believe he’s in the last year of his contract) and Middlebrooks starts at 3B next year.

I’m on the fence. While I’d love to see Middlebrooks stick around, Youk has been a fixture for years and was so productive during that time. It’ll be a little sad to see him leave but man I like what I see out of Willy Middle…

Middlebrooks looks so good its ridiculous. Reminds me of when Jacoby came up and lit the park on fire.

I love the way Youkilis plays, but his intense personality obviously causes problems in the clubhouse, and his inability to stay healthy or be productive only makes him more of a liability.

Trade him while he still has SOME value. Middlebrooks is the future. Time to blow up this dysfunctional team.

Youkilis is still a valuable player; his injury in 2010 was bad luck; his injury last year was just an injury. He was hitting when he was healthy. The Red Sox will send Middlebrooks back to the minors before they will trade Youk at low tide….that is almost certainly what will happen. There’s no point in having him sit on the bench. But Youk is the regular for 2012, and the commenters assuming otherwise couldn’t be more wrong. Watch.

Youklis is 33 years old, and is coming off a career worst 3.7 WAR season. He might bounce back to his regular 5 WAR self, or he may spend a lot of time on the DL. A middle reliever is a great piece to give up for a guy who can step into Beltre’s or Young’s roles if they get injured, or just straight up overtake Mitch Moreland. The Rangers are stacked offensively, but if oft injured Hamilton goes down, Napoli starts being LAA Napoli again, and Cruz continues to underperform, it isn’t that scary of a lineup. I think this is a chance the Rangers would be wise to take take, and find a new 7th inning option out of the pen.

JK. Anti assholism. Youk wont’ be put on the waiver wire, but he won’t serve as a backup either. He has plenty of value as a first base prospect or a DH, and occasional 1st baseman. I call him a prospect, as that is now what he has become. A big ole maybe. The Sox are likely already making calls and taking offers. They’d have to pick up a lot of salary. The West is full of holes at third and 1st. The Giants make a lot of sense to me. A team with playoff aspirations, with a temporary need at 3rd, and a longer, but still temporary need at 1st. They aren’t happy with Belt, and Huff should have been DFA’d already. James Loney is a failure. The Rockies have the worst 3rd baseman in the league.

I think he is a Ranger though. The Sox need pitching. Starting and relieving. Ogando could do either, and Youk is an upgrade over Moreland. It’s usually tough for potentail playoff teams to make deals during the season, but I think this helps each enough to get the deal done. Youk helps the Rangers enough to part with a middle reliever. Ogando helps the Sox enough to part with a RH bat off the bench.

The only thing I’m certain of is that Youk’s days as a regular starter on the Red Sox are over.