Youkilis Trade Appears Imminent

Kevin Youkilis' days in a Red Sox uniform are dwindling and a number of teams appear to have some degree of interest in acquiring his services.

Most reports have narrowed the teams interested in Youkilis to the Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Dodgers. The White Sox and Pirates appear to be the two most serious suitors.

Youkilis has been made expendable by the performance of rookie Will Middlebrooks. Middlebrooks has homered in 3 of his last 4 games and has 9 total for the season (Youkilis has 4). The Red Sox are 17-1 in games that Middlebrooks has recorded an RBI.

Youkilis has struggled in recent seasons with a multitude of injuries and numerous trips to the DL. His performance on the field has dipped and he doesn't appear to be the same player that hit 29 and 24 HRs in 2008 and 2009.

Youkilis is owed $12 million for 2012 and his contract runs out at the end of the season (the Red Sox do have a $13 million option that they are certain to decline, at a cost of $1 million). Any trade will almost certainly require the Red Sox to eat a large portion of what is owed to him.

The White Sox seem to be the most interested and the most logical destination for Youkilis. Brent Morel, their starting 3B, is on the DL. Prior to injuring his back he was hitting .177. Fill-in Orlando Hudson hasn't been much better, hitting .160 with the White Sox. Even though Youkilis isn't playing particularly well he'd almost certainly be an upgrade for a team that is 0.5 games out of the lead in the AL Central.

The Pirates also seem to have a serious interest in Youkilis. The Pirates are once again having a solid season and could use an additional veteran presence in their clubhouse. Their current 25 man roster has 8 infielders listed who have a combined 24 years of Major League service. A veteran like Youkilis might help the Pirates young roster from collapsing like they did in 2011. The Pirates were tied for their division lead on July 25th last season before collapsing and finishing 24 games out in the NL Central. The Pirates have shown a willingness to take on slumping veterans with expensive contracts, providing the team they are leaving pays a large chunk of that contract. In February the Pirates acquired AJ Burnett from the Yankees. Burnett was owed $31.1 million over two seasons. The Pirates managed to get $18.1 million of that off Yankees. Burnett is 8-2 for the Pirates.

The Indians, Braves and Dodgers have all contacted the Red Sox but do not seem to be seriously interested.