Kuzul

The Los Angeles Dodgers have been rumored by CBS Sports to be very interested in acquiring Kevin Youkilis.

The Boston Red Sox are shopping the 1B/3B/DH to what some have speculated to be upwards of 10 different teams, including Los Angeles, Arizona and Philadelphia to name a few.

Of all the teams rumored thus far, the Dodgers seem to make the most sense as a landing spot for Youk.

Their starting third baseman, Juan Uribe, is on the DL. Their starting first baseman, James Loney, is a defensive, and offensive, liability, to some regard.

Youkilis could easily transition into the Dodger lineup, especially with Matt Kemp on the shelf, to help bolster the offense. Kemp has missed 19 games for the blue so far this season, which has left a lot of pressure on players like Andre Ethier to produce constantly.

The Dodgers are just 4-6 in their last 10 games, most of which missing Kemp. The addition of Youkilis to that lineup would likely increase the team’s odds of winning those close games.

Of the six the Dodgers dropped, three were one-run games and one was a two-run game. I’m not saying Youk guarantees a run scored or RBI per game, but he would increase their odds over Loney or Uribe.

In turn, the Red Sox need pitching. That’s pretty obvious.

Daniel Bard has been designated for assignment in Triple-A Pawtucket. Daisuke Matsuzaka took 31 pitches to get out of the first inning of what many believed would be his last rehab start in Pawtucket tonight. Things look somewhat dim in that regard.

However, the Dodgers have pitching. Plenty of it. Enough so they could comfortably trade one of their starters and not be hurt all that much, if at all, with the depth they possess. 

That is where Aaron Harang comes in.

Harang is 4-3 in 11 games with a 3.90 ERA and a 1.345 WHIP in 64.2 innings of work this year. He has only allowed six home runs this year while striking out 56.

To put that in perspective, he has a more wins than Jon Lester and a better winning percentage than Josh Beckett.

Beckett is the only Red Sox starter with a lower WHIP (1.232), and only Felix Doubront has more strikeouts than Harang.

Moreover, Harang has surrendered less home runs than Doubront, Beckett, Lester or Buchholz.

Red Sox fans will call for Clayton Kershaw. Dodger fans will scoff at that.

Cooler heads will prevail and realize that this could be an ideal situation. The Dodgers get a versatile first baseman that can boost their offense. The Red Sox get pitching they so desperately need.

Everybody wins.

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Ever exemplifying the pure definition of the term “journeyman,” Boston Red Sox center fielder Scott Podsednik has played for seven different teams in his 11 years as a professional baseball player.

Before being signed by Boston, Podsednik had not played a game in the MLB since 2010 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He had spent most of his time bouncing around the Philadelphia Phillies’ minor league system for the past two years, most recently playing for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

The numbers he put up there made Nick Punto look like Alex Rodriguez.

The Red Sox saw through it all and made a move to bring in the 36-year-old from West Texas. Upon arriving in Pawtucket, in nine games Podsednik caught fire. He ripped off 10 hits in 31 at-bats, posting a .323 average driving and six RBI.

His OBP went from just .282 in Lehigh to an impressive .371 for the Paw Sox. His quick production and subsequent injuries to the major league roster allowed for a speedy return to the big leagues in Boston.

Since receiving that opportunity, he has not looked back.

He has now played in eight games for the Red Sox, posting a .391/.391/.609/1.000 batting line off of nine hits in 23 at-bats.

He has driven in three RBI while managing three extra-base hits: two doubles and a home run. On the base paths, he has lost a step from his league-leading 70 stolen-base days of 2004, however, he is 2-for-2 on the season, adding that additional threat for the Sox.

With Jacoby Ellsbury still on the shelf, the addition of Podsednik’s surprising production is certainly a welcome commodity for a Red Sox team that is in transition, fighting for its true identity.

If Podsednik can keep up the pace, the Red Sox are blessed with good fortune. If he does cool off, fans should be grateful for the production he’s been able to provide at little cost to the bottom line.

General manager Ben Cherington certainly deserves credit for his willingness to take a gamble on Podsednik, a player that many believed to be all done.

Some things just are not always what they seem.

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What can you really say about the whole Roy Oswalt signing with the Texas Rangers scenario other than thank God its over?

The rich certainly got richer in this case.

The Rangers already own the best record in the American League and are second only to the Los Angeles Dodgers in all of baseball. The addition of Oswalt bolsters their pitching staff as they continue on their voyage to make it to their third consecutive World Series.

So how exactly does this signing impact the Boston Red Sox?

The obvious answer is the fact that adding pitching depth for nothing more than money is now off the table. If the Sox are interested in adding an outside arm they will be forced to make some type of trade in order to do so.

That is, of course, unless Roger Clemens or Pedro Martinez walks through that door…I’m kidding.

That brings us to the list of truly viable pitching options that will be available at the trade deadline. There are of course the top tier players that the Red Sox will likely not touch: Cole Hamels and Zack Greinke. The cost to obtain either of these guys would be too high for what could result in just a short-term rental arm.

The next tier would fall to players like Chicago Cubs Ryan Dempster or Houston Astros Wandy Rodriguez.

Sure, Dempster might be 0-3, but he has a 2.14 ERA and a 1.061 WHIP after eight games, proving that he just doesn’t get offensive support. Rodriguez is also having a fine year for himself, with a 4-4 record with a 2.49 ERA and 1.161 WHIP.

Unfortunately, both Dempster and Rodriguez would likely require a larger return package than what the Red Sox are willing to give up for their services.

This brings me to Kevin Millwood.

No, this is not the same Millwood that was lights-out in the late-90s and early-2000s for the Atlanta Braves. That said, he is having a solid season for the Seattle Mariners. He currently owns a 3-4 record with a 3.56 ERA and 1.286 WHIP.

By itself, that comes across as decent numbers for a starting pitcher. However, the true merit to that stat line is what Millwood has done over his last four outings. He has recorded a 3-0 record with a very impressive 0.66 ERA and a 0.747 WHIP, recording 20 strikeouts in 27 innings of work.

Its entirely worth noting that those stats came against the New York Yankees, Colorado Rockies and the Texas Rangers twice.

With that in mind, Millwood is only making $1 million in 2012 for the Mariners. He is only signed for the 2012 season. The Red Sox could potentially offer up a mid-level prospect, two at best, and could likely get their hands on Millwood.

It may not have been in the original plan, but this is one contingency plan the front office should certainly entertain.

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The running assumption shared by fans and media members alike is the fact that the Boston Red Sox will be trading Kevin Youkilis in fairly short order.

It is a solid assumption considering his contract status, age, and the production of his replacement, Will Middlebrooks.

While Youkilis has been proving his worth through solid play over the past several days, the Red Sox have been forced to look at a few different needs than they assumed would exist at this point in the season.

The outfield is a mess. The pitching staff is in need of help, and the bullpen will likely need some relief in short order if the starting staff cannot maintain pitching six or more innings per outing.

That said, here are five players that the Boston Red Sox should have on their radar as the trade deadline grows closer.

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Desperate times call for desperate measures.

So it would seem in Boston.

Gold Glove first baseman Adrian Gonzalez has been relegated to playing right field as a result of another Gold Glove-winning first baseman coming back from his stint on the disabled list. Kevin Youkilis was activated today, and, as some expected, the move pushed Gonzo to the outfield.

The move may come across as irresponsible to some. After all, in his 1,059 career games played, Gonzalez has played the outfield exactly five times. Once in 2005, twice in 2011 and twice in 2012.

Now, Gonzo is a healthy veteran ball player, so it would make some sense to have the man play in right.

Even though Youkilis has played 22 games in the outfield (two in right versus 20 in left) during his 929 career games, returning to the lineup from a back injury would imply somewhat limited motion as he continues to adjust and return to ball playing form.

Back injuries are nothing to take lightly. Certainly, Boston Celtic fans from the end of the Larry Bird era know the devastating effects that can occur and break down a once great player.

I am in favor of leaving Will Middlebrooks at third base. The kid has been red hot for the Sox, and it would be counterproductive for the team to send him and his .297 batting average, 22 hits (11 of which for extra bases) and 16 RBI in just 18 games back to triple-A.

If he were to keep up that production over 162 games, Middlebrooks would finish with 198 hits, 45 home runs, 144 RBI, 18 stolen bases and 108 runs scored. In other words, he could develop into an MVP-caliber player for Boston.

The kid needs to stay at third and further his development. Youkilis, therefore, needs to play first base. It is a position that requires less range than third base and will return him to a position of comfort.

It is no secret that the Boston Red Sox will trade Youk. While having Adrian Gonzalez in the outfield is not the idea situation, the team has been hamstrung with injuries to Carl Crawford, Jacoby Ellsbury, Ryan Sweeney, Cody Ross and Ryan Kalish. 

No rational fan would sit Gonzo in favor of Daniel Nava.

Hopefully, the experiment is short, as a slow Gonzalez trolling right field is not a sound defensive option (not to mention it increases the risk of injury to your marquee player); it is the most logical move the team can make at the moment with a recovering pitching staff.

The offense is needed; therefore, Gonzo is needed to take one for the team, whether he likes it or not.

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At 36 years of age, David Ortiz is having the type of season that rivals his 2005, 2006 and 2007 seasons, at ages 29, 30 and 31 respectively.

In each of those seasons, Ortiz finished second, third and fourth in the American League MVP voting consecutively.

This season, he is absolutely raking for the Boston Red Sox. I must eat crow, I wanted him out of town during the winter and I was wrong.

Not only is Ortiz leading the Red Sox in most offensive categories, he is at the top of the MLB leaderboards in most categories as well.

I know it is hard to imagine anyone but the Texas Rangers Josh Hamilton winning the award right now, but think about it, Ortiz isn’t all that far behind Hamilton in many categories.

Ortiz is third in batting average at .353 behind only Derek Jeter and Hamilton. That being said, his career-high average came in 2007 when he finished the year batting .332.

His OBP is sitting at .417, again, third best in the AL behind Paul Konerko and Hamilton. That would be second to only his .445 OBP in 2007, which led the American League.

Hamilton is running away from everyone in slugging at .852, but Ortiz is second with a .633, which is about .040 points higher than next in line, Adam Dunn. Only in 2006 at .636 did he have a higher career SLG.

Ortiz ranks second in OPS as well, with a 1.050 to Hamilton’s 1.310. They are the only two players with an OPS over one right now in the AL. Only in 2007 did Ortiz have a higher OPS with a 1.066.

In terms of extra-base hits, Hamilton comes across as having more impressive numbers. He does have 18 home runs after all, which leads the AL. Ortiz, however, has 15 doubles, which leads the AL. Ortiz has eight home runs while Hamilton has five doubles. Neither has a triple to their credit, which means both have 23 extra base hits this season.

Jeter does lead all AL batters in hits with 55, with Hamilton in second at 52 and Ortiz in third with 49.

After having a closer look at the raw numbers, Ortiz really isn’t that far off. The season is still young enough to allow for a few hills and valleys for both Ortiz and Hamilton to have to overcome.

Whatever the outcome may be, one thing is for sure: Ortiz is making a strong case for a new two-year agreement for himself in Boston at the end of the season.

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The Boston Red Sox have managed to string together five wins in a row.

Over the course of the last several games, the team has only allowed eight runs, while scoring 34 of their own, showing that the offense is clearly clicking at the right time as well.

While I think it would be a bit premature to say that the team is set to tear up the rest of baseball, there are still some positives that can be drawn from the performance of the pitching staff.

The obvious positive is what we saw from Jon Lester. His complete game, one-run performance was impressive.

The next obvious positive was seeing Josh Beckett come out and throw seven scoreless innings against the Seattle Mariners, striking out nine.

The blemish on the record comes at the hands of Clay Buchholz. While he did not pitch poorly, and the Red Sox were able to win, he did give up four runs in 6.1 innings in a game that the team needed to put up seven runs to win.

What is truly inspiring is the team ERA over the past five games: 1.40. 

If you look at just the past four games, the starters have only allowed three runs in 28 innings of work, which translates into a 0.75 ERA. In other words, they’re getting it done.

As much as Josh Beckett has frustrated Red Sox Nation, right now he is showing that he can still perform, having dropped his ERA from 5.97 to 5.02 after his fine performance against the Mariners.

What the team needs to do now is string together a few runs through the rotation with similar results. Once they manage to do that, then perhaps we can assume a new leaf has been turned.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers new ownership group has two golden opportunities to make a mark on the new era of Dodger baseball.

And…well, they’re gonna wait to make that statement until the season is over.

Free agent to be, Andre Ethier, has made it known that he would have no issue discussing a contract extension during the course of the season.

According to Fox Sports Ken Rosenthal, Stan Kasten wants to hold off and be sure that Ethier can put together a fully healthy, productive season before moving forward with any negotiations.

According to Bill Shaikin via Twitter, Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti has stated that nothing will be negotiated with Clayton Kershaw on the extension front either until the winter rolls around.

Both of these notes provide an interesting prospective on the team’s mindset.

I do like that they are waiting and being cautious with Ethier, even though I do ultimately think he’ll be back. By holding off, should Ethier get injured or slump, the Dodgers will have money to throw at players like Josh Hamilton or Nick Swisher, should they decide to part ways.

The idea of waiting for Kershaw makes sense as well. Yes, the big man is underpaid for his ability. However, waiting for the winter to extend him makes the news seem much grander overall.

Imagine one day the team announces the re-signing of Ethier followed up a couple of days later with the extension of Kershaw?

More so, imagine they make those moves and then sign another big free agent, just to really accentuate their mark on the team. It could get pretty interesting.

That being said, I can’t wait to see what happens in town; besides, at least we know Matt Kemp will be around for a long, long time.

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The debate is raging all over Boston: When Kevin Youkilis returns to the Red Sox lineup in the next couple of weeks, what will the team do?

Will they move Will Middlebrooks and his .381 batting average, .409 on-base percentage and .953 slugging percentage back down to Triple-A Pawtucket?

With that, Middlebrooks should probably take his three home runs (one of which being a grand slam) and nine RBI with him, right?

The fact of the matter is that Middlebrooks has proven himself to be a solid player in his short time in Boston. Whether you are in the Youth or Youk camp, you surely can see the forest for the trees: Youkilis will not finish the 2012 season as a member of the Boston Red Sox.

True, the Sox may very well be forced to send Middlebrooks back down for a spell to increase the Youk’s. Right now, his stock is pretty low, so in that scenario, at least both players will be allowed to play every day.

However, what if Middlebrooks steadily keeps up this production for the next couple of weeks? How then does the front office justify moving him down?

Presumably ownership is already placing calls to gauge interest for Youk, and there are three teams that appear to make sense as trade partners.

Oakland Athletics

Yes, I’ve read and seen Moneyball, too. 

Oakland appears to be the sexy pick that everyone assumes because of the whole Moneyball logic. While I’m sure Billy Beane would gladly accept Youkilis on his team, it would be at an incredibly discounted rate.

More of the same ol’ thing—the Red Sox eating contracts.

However, right now the A’s have Brandon Inge playing third for them and Daric Barton playing first. Youk could serve either position for the A’s and re-align himself with his best buddy, Manny Ramirez, who will be DH’ing for Oak-town.

Frankly, though, I see this as the least likeliest scenario.

Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies, like the Red Sox, are in need of offense.

Unlike the Red Sox, though, the Phillies actually have the pitching.

Chase Utley and Ryan Howard are on the shelf right now. The Phils have Ty Wigginton at first and Placido Polanco at third. 

While both players have been serviceable, they have combined for a .277 average with 16 RBI and two home runs. That is not exactly ripping the cover off the ball.

Youkilis could provide the team with a bit more stability and offense if he indeed is healthy.

Cincinnati Reds

Everything in life is cyclical, right?

Youkilis could return to his home state and play for the local nine. With Scott Rolen batting a measly .179 at third for the Reds, Youkilis could serve as an immediate improvement for the team.

Just imagine that middle of the lineup with him in Cincinnati: Youkilis, Joey Votto then Jay Bruce—scary, right?

This is the scenario that I see making the most sense. The Reds are a team that has been on the balance beam for the past couple of seasons, and they need just a slight edge to put them over the top.

Youk can provide that little tip.

Whatever should happen, the next couple of weeks in Boston will be flooded with trade scenarios and chatter.  

Might as well strap in, because things will be getting interesting.

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Of all the stories that have surrounded the 2012 Boston Red Sox, the Adrian Gonzalez saga has seemingly flown under the radar for the most part.

Saga, you say?

Well, that might be a bit dramatic. The problem is, Gonzalez has yet to truly perform in Boston in 2012. You can even make a solid argument that his numbers in 2011 were faulty due to the fact that he never produced in the clutch.

Think about that for a second.

When is the last time you saw Gonzalez come up with a big hit in the clutch for the Boston Red Sox? If you can’t think of one it is for good reason, there are none.

The Red Sox emptied their wallet to lock up Gonzo long term and thus far, he seems to be just OK for the Sox. While big-money contracts have flown around surrounding first basemen, it feels like an appropriate time to examine just where Gonzalez stands in comparison to his American League peers this season.

Those peers are as follows:

Paul Konerko, Chicago White Sox

Michael Young, Texas Rangers

Chris Davis, Baltimore Orioles

Billy Butler, Kansas City Royals

Prince Fielder, Detroit Tigers

Carlos Pena, Tampa Bay Rays

Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins

Mark Teixeira, New York Yankees

Albert Pujols, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Adam Lind, Toronto Blue Jays

Justin Smoak, Seattle Mariners

Casey Kotchman, Cleveland Indians

Kila Ka’aihue, Oakland Athletics

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