Just over a month removed from inking second baseman Dustin Pedroia to a 6-year, $40.5 million deal, the Boston Red Sox secured another young piece of their future puzzle by coming to terms with first baseman Kevin Youkilis on a four-year, $41 million contract extension.
Youkilis (who turns 30 in March) finished third in the AL MVP voting in 2008, hitting .312 with 29 homers and 115 RBI and a .390 on base percentage in his third full season in the bigs.
The deal runs through 2012 and includes a $13 million option for 2013. Boston retains a $1 million buyout to avoid that option year.
Youkilis‘ agent initially said last month that he didn’t expect any long-term deal to be done this season and would go to arbitration with the team. The deal comes on the cusp of the arbitration deadline, something GM Theo Epstein hasn’t dealt with regarding any player in his reign.
If Youkilis can maintain his 2008 numbers, the deal looks to be a steal for Boston as they avoid his arbitration years and a potential year of free agency. For Youkilis, he would be just 34 years old when the contract runs out, meaning he has the potential to earn another big contract before entering the twilight of his career. The contract is also very tradeable if Epstein was ever so inclined.
And just for conversation’s sake, look at the combined years and value for Pedroia and Youkilis (10 years, $81.5 million) as compared to Teixeira (eight years, $180 million). Even if you split Teixeira’s contract in half, he will earn $49 million more for the same amount of time. Think he’ll be worth twice the money?
– Some important decisions regarding the baseball postseason were made today at the MLB owners’ meetings in Arizona:
– All postseason games will be played to their conclusion, meaning the ‘official game’ cutoff that exists during the regular season will not be applicable during any playoff game. Games affected by weather or another natural disaster (think the earthquakes during the Oakland/San Francisco World Series in 1989) would be suspended and resumed at the earliest possible date.
– When determining home-field advantage for tiebreaker games in both Divisional and Wild Card races, the head-to-head record will determine home field advantage.
Sure, these changes should have been made decades ago, but who’s counting, right?
Now about that All-Star game, Bud…
Josh Nason – josh [at] smallwhiteball [com] – is the publisher and main writer of Small White Ball, an all-encompassing sports blog that began in 2007. You can also read on mixed martial arts, boxing and pro wrestling at brother site RopesRingandCage.com. If you’re using any part of this post, please link back to http://www.smallwhiteball.com. Thank you!
Labels: Kevin Youkilis; Kevin Youkilis contract extension; Major League Baseball; Bud Selig; rules changes
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