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June 4, 2012 Out of Left FieldThe Red Sox Roster CrunchHow do you solve a midseason roster crunch? If there are two players for one position, there are a number of options. Trade one of the players, demote one, put one on the disabled list, or even sit one on the bench and play the hot hand. None of those solutions necessarily maximizes the team’s assets, but sometimes that is okay. If we are talking about two last-guy-out-of-the-pen types, then it isn’t of particular importance. Sometimes the stakes are higher. When the Yankees traded for Alex Rodriguez, they found themselves with two Hall of Fame-caliber shortstops and only one shortstop position (Joe Maddon hadn’t been invented yet). Demoting, trading, and the rest of the above list were not options. Sometimes there are too many babies for the bathwater. Nobody wants dirty babies. Eight years later, the Red Sox find themselves in a similar, if less star-encrusted, bind. After another midseason injury to starting third baseman Kevin Youkilis, the Red Sox called up 23-year-old Will Middlebrooks to keep the seat warm. Kevin Goldstein rated Middlebrooks a four-star prospect and ranked him as the third-best in the Red Sox system. Baseball America put him first. Middlebrooks hit .285/.328/.506 at three levels in 2011 and followed that up by crushing the ball at Triple-A this season, hitting .333/.380/.677 with nine homers in 100 plate appearances. Upon arriving in Boston, Middlebrooks did nothing to quiet the hype. In his first three games he had five hits, three of which went for extra bases. He posted a 1.156 OPS with runners in scoring position. One game, manager Bobby Valentine even hit him second in the order. In the 18 games Youkilis missed, Middlebrooks hit .297/.325/.581 with five home runs. This was the ascension of the next Red Sox third baseman, and we were all witnesses. Then Kevin Youkilis came back. Red Sox Nation collectively said, “Oh yeah! I totally forgot about that dude.” Normally the solution to such a situation is to slap the slugging 23-year-old on the back, tell him his time is soon, and send him back to the bus rides and Happy-Meal-level per-diems of Triple-A. Maybe that’s what the Red Sox should have done. But they didn’t do that.
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The other benefit to trading Youkilis, however,is payroll flexibility for this year. The Sox are up against the luxury tax threshold and have stated publicly they do not want to exceed it. Clearing the decks of $8m in 2012 payroll would give them a lot more flexibility to take on contracts at the deadline.
True, but again, where do you add pieces? It's only early June so there is plenty opportunity for needs to crop up and I'm sure the team will look to make moves based on need as the season goes on, but I don't see them not adding a significant piece because of payroll. I believe Larry Lucchino has said as much as well.
Trading Youkilis only clears payroll to the extent that the team trading for him is paying his salary. Very few teams can take on the $8M+ remaining on this year's contract, and I doubt anyone will pay him that and send Boston meaningful, cheap talent in return. They'll have to choose whether to clear payroll or get talent in a Youkilis deal - they're not likely to do both.
Dodgers. They can afford to pay him and can't afford to trade prospects instead.