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Youkilis on fire

Email|Link|Comments (2) Posted by Nick Cafardo, Globe Staff May 10, 2008 07:33 PM

Kevin Youkilis has homered in the second inning off lefty Glen Perkins. The man is on fire. He has now homered in six of his last seven games with 13 RBIs.

In my national baseball notes column tomorrow I'll tackle the issue of why the Red Sox haven't extended Youkilis with a multi-year deal while so many teams have tied up their young players. Youkilis should benefit by not signing long-term as some of the following players have elected to do: (The list is based on extensions since Jan. 1):

Name-Team-Service time-Extension Terms
1B Miguel Cabrera Detroit 4+ 8 yrs., $152.3M
1B Justin Morneau Minnesota 3+ 6 yrs., $80M
OF Alex Rios Toronto 3+ 7 yrs., $70.7M
SS Troy Tulowitzki Colorado 1 6 yrs., $31 M
3B Evan Longoria Tampa Bay 0 6 yrs., $17.5M
OF Curtis Granderson Detroit 2+ 5 yrs., $30M
OF Chris Young Arizona 1+ 5 yrs., $28M
2B Ian Kinsler Texas 2 5 yrs., $22M
2B Robinson Cano New York (AL) 2+ 4 yrs., $30M
2B Brandon Phillips Cincinnati 3+ 4 yrs., $27M
C Yadier Molina St. Louis 3+ 4 yrs., $15.5M
P Adam Wainwright St Louis. 2+ 4 yrs., $15M
P Fausto Carmona Cleveland 1+ 4 yrs., $15M
2B Aaron Hill Toronto 2+ 4 yrs., $12.8M
P James Shields Tampa Bay 1+ 4 yrs., $11M
P Manny Corpas Colorado 1+ 4 yrs., $8 M
1B Carlos Pena Tampa Bay 4+ 3 yrs., $24.13M
OF Michael Cuddyer Minnesota 4+ 3 yrs., $24M
OF Brad Hawpe Colorado 3+ 3 yrs., $17.4M
P Ian Snell Pittsburgh 2+ 3 yrs., $8.7M
P Rafael Betancourt Cleveland 4+ 2 yrs., $5.4M
P Matt Capps Pittsburgh 2+ 2 yrs., $3.06M

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2 comments so far...

That James Shields contract is looking awfully good for Tampa Bay right now...

Posted by Mitch May 10, 08 07:50 PM

Youk still has two more years of arbitration left before free agency. He probably does not want to give the Red Sox a hometown discount since they had him on the Pawtucket shuttle for years and delayed his ability to get MLB service time. RS management has consistently downplayed his value. Fortunately for him, his statistics (both offensive and defensive) are excellent and getting better each year and he will get to exploit the arbitration process for the next two years. It is hard for the RS to justify Lugo's and Drew's contracts and not pay Youk a market rate.

Posted by dd lang May 10, 08 10:34 PM