What to Make of the Whole Youkilis-Bobby V Situation

A report today by Ken Rosenthal and 98.5 The Sports Hub said that “[Bobby] Valentine wanted Youkilis out as far back as spring training, viewing him as a liability.” It has also been publicized that instead of coming up to join the Red Sox for this weekend's series in Philadelphia (which was the plan initially), Youkilis will stay in AAA and play third base for Pawtucket this weekend.  It should be noted that Youkilis was 1-2 with a walk and a double in his most recent game for the PawSox on Wednesday.  Meanwhile, the Red Sox are in last place and Will Middlebrooks has cooled down quite a bit, having gone 0 for his last 9, with 7 strikeouts.  Although the Red Sox have won 6 out of 7, it's safe to say there is still plenty of tension in the clubhouse. 

First off, I'll say that I don't in any way think that this situation was handled properly.  Maybe I'm stuck on the Terry Francona mindset, but I don't believe that the manager should ever publicly speak out about wanting to get rid of his players. However, given the way the situation has unfolded, something has to be done.  You might say that this is just a report and that it might not be true, but with the comments that Valentine made about Youkilis earlier in the year, and the fact that he's not calling him up at a time when Middlebrooks could probably use a break, it's pretty clear to me that Valentine came into Boston with a plan to run Kevin Youkilis out of town.  Is this the right way to go about managing? It's not how I would do it, but the fact is that the management hired Valentine and now they need to support him. John Henry and Larry Luchino brought in Valentine to change the culture of the clubhouse.  For that reason, you can't expect the new manager to do things the way that the older manager did them, otherwise Francona would still be here. This is how Bobby V manages his team. He ran Todd Hundley out of town when he coached the Mets, and he came in with an agenda to do the same to Youkilis. Whether it's right or wrong, it's the way it is. The manager has to be supported and with the way he does things.  Youkilis has to go before this becomes an even bigger problem.


Who could the Red Sox get in exchange for Youkilis?  Sending Youkilis to Cincinnati (where he grew up and went to college), might be a good trade for all parties.  The Reds are just 2.5 games out of first place in the NL Central, and could use some help at third base.  Starting pitcher Bronson Arroyo (2-1, 3.25) and relief pitcher Logan Ondrusek (3-1, 2.76) could be good pickups for Boston.