There have of course been rumblings since Will Middlebrooks ascended on Fenway Park, but this report from CBS Sports' Danny Knobler is the strongest one yet. He's heard that the Red Sox are shopping Youk around.
Jon Heyman includes the Dodgers, Phillies, White Sox, Reds, and Diamondbacks as potential destinations. Cincinnati is the most popular speculated team because they play in Youk's hometown...but that's pretty lazy guesswork if you ask me.
The Red Sox' biggest issue in trading Youkilis -- other than getting fair return, which is a whole different issue -- is finding an appropriate landing spot. He'd be most ideal on an AL team that has a rotating DH spot so he could be spared in the field, but do the Sox really want to have to face him? Teams are generally averse to that.
I think Cleveland is a pretty logical place. Lonnie Chisenhall and Casey Kotchman man the corners; an upgrade over either would be nice. The Dodgers remain pretty likely considering Jerry Hairston, Jr. plays 3B, and they just lost Matt Kemp for a month. They might be the only team with real urgency to make a move.
And really, there should be some urgency. For a team to get their money's worth, they should look to acquire Youk now, for a couple of reasons. For one, there's more time left in the season (obviously) the sooner you make the move. For another, his trade value isn't particularly high at the moment, coming off injury and generally not having played well this season. He's still talented, though, and I fully expect him to play better. Each good game probably adds to his value. If I were the Dodgers, I'd be working to get this done.
From the Sox standpoint, it will be interesting to time it correctly. One the one hand, each day you play Adrian Gonzalez in the outfield is a day when you're asking for misplays or injuries. On the other hand, you don't want to risk selling low -- either in paying too much of his salary or not getting anything of value back. This trade will likely be one of the biggest for Ben Cherington's early career. No pressure, Ben.
