Toss up: Who do you want at first base, Snow, or Youkilis

[WildThing58]

Youkilis.

[god is a redsox FAN]

Yea, I think youk is kinda over-rated from what im seeing and hearing. I saw up there Snow has 6 gold gloves, that's pretty damn good. I mean sure Youlk may be good, but im thinking of Roger comes to Boston, this is the year we want to win it. No time to have someone develope.

[god is a redsox FAN]

Yea, I think youk is kinda over-rated from what im seeing and hearing. I saw up there Snow has 6 gold gloves, that's pretty damn good. I mean sure Youlk may be good, but im thinking if Roger comes to Boston, this is the year we want to win it. No time to have someone develope.

[example1]

amazing prospect? he is far from it. youk is an average player. if he hits .280 with 15-20 homers the red sox should be happy.

 

Don't you think its a little early to be judging him as an average player? He certainly wasn't average in the minors or in college. He may end up being average, if average is a

.395 OBP (which its not). He's also young enough where he can improve in many ways over the next few years.

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

He reminds me of Julio Franco. They both look the same when they hit. Both play decent defense and can get on base. Not a ton of power but probably between 15-25 depending on the year. Hitting in Fenway certain helps Youkilis. Of course there is no way Youkilis ever sustains a career like Franco has but I just think they are similar in style.

[jsinger121]

hes a good ballplayer but i would not call him amazing.....he has yet to play fulltime yet.

[example1]

Yea, I think youk is kinda over-rated from what im seeing and hearing. I saw up there Snow has 6 gold gloves, that's pretty damn good. I mean sure Youlk may be good, but im thinking of Roger comes to Boston, this is the year we want to win it. No time to have someone develope.

 

Its hard to have earned 6 gold gloves when you've been riding the pine the last few years, as Youk has. Its also hard to earn that many when you're only 26. When JT Snow was 26 he had a season that went like this: avg. 220, OBP .289, SLG. 345 in 61 games. I expect that Youkilis will do better than that.

 

When Snow was 37 (last year) he had a season that went like this:

AVG. 275 OBP .343 SLG .365

 

I think Youk can do better than that too. Youkilis is not about developing this year. He's about starting. He's been developing over the past two years. Now is his time to play, as the Sox have let him develop and like what they see. Francona has made this pretty clear and I think most of the Sox organization are looking forward to giving him the playing time.

 

This question seems like a no-brainer to me, as snow is really only valuable as a late-inning defensive replacement. Have you guys watched Youkilis hit? He tends to have really good at bats. For instance, the MLB leader in pitches/plate appearance last season was Bobby Abreu who averaged 4.39. In his short time with the Red Sox (343 plate appearances) Youkilis has averaged 4.60 p/plate appearance. That's a small sample size, but its not THAT small of a sample size. (compare with Snows career 3.94 p/pa).

 

If we want the sox to continue doing what they've done the last few years (draw walks, tire out starting pitchers by the 5th or 6th inning, score lots of runs) then we want Youkilis in the lineup, IMO.

[example1]

He reminds me of Julio Franco. They both look the same when they hit. Both play decent defense and can get on base. Not a ton of power but probably between 15-25 depending on the year. Hitting in Fenway certain helps Youkilis. Of course there is no way Youkilis ever sustains a career like Franco has but I just think they are similar in style.

 

I would hate to see Youkilis playing at the age of 55. that would just be sad.

[a700hitter]

He reminds me of Julio Franco. They both look the same when they hit. Both play decent defense and can get on base. Not a ton of power but probably between 15-25 depending on the year. Hitting in Fenway certain helps Youkilis. Of course there is no way Youkilis ever sustains a career like Franco has but I just think they are similar in style.

When Franco wa Youk's age about 20 years ago, he was a stud with great tools. If Youk reminds you of a 47 year old, that says alot about Youk.

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

If we want the sox to continue doing what they've done the last few years (draw walks, tire out starting pitchers by the 5th or 6th inning, score lots of runs) then we want Youkilis in the lineup, IMO.

 

Thats a good point. Most of you would also notice the amount of games JT has played the last several seasons. He hasn't played a full season since 2000. He is deffinitly older and for him to be effective I think he needs to come in later at certain points of the game. He is this years version of John Olerud, Doug Meintkeiwisndkf. His playing time will depend on the success Youkilis has...after this much time and effort on his part I'm sure he is ready for it.

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

When Franco wa Youk's age about 20 years ago, he was a stud with great tools. If Youk reminds you of a 47 year old, that says alot about Youk.

 

I wasn't paying attention to him back then but I wouldn't call him a stud. Rarely had an OBP over .400, was an error machine at SS, and would never hit more than 20 HRs in a season....huh??

 

I was really just talking about there approach to the plate. They both look the same. I could deffinitly see Youkilis having a season along the lines of Julio Franco...

 

He could hit somewhere between .285-.320 AVG...15-20 HRs.....360-390 OBP. He just won't make that many errors cause he is playing 1B.

[jlcrss9]

Youk. Snow is in the twilight of his career. Hes a more then capable backup and late game defensive replacement.

[TheMeanWalrus]

Folks the bottom line on Kevin Youkilis is that none of us are qualified to make a judgement on his future successes or failures because he has 250 (roughly) AB's in his career. Whether he has a good year in 06 or is a total flop, that statement will likely be true going into 2007 as well

[schillingouttheks]

Of course we aren't, but we prefer him at 1B because Snow isn't much more than a late inning defensive replacement, and from what we've seen out of Youk, we can only go with him.

[guapo34]

Folks the bottom line on Kevin Youkilis is that none of us are qualified to make a judgement on his future successes or failures because he has 250 (roughly) AB's in his career. Whether he has a good year in 06 or is a total flop, that statement will likely be true going into 2007 as well

 

I think theres enough information, both minor league success and an above average OBP through roughly 280 at bats in the majors to say at worst he's a suitable regular. Since hes done all of this and is only 26 and hasn't had a chance to play everyday I think theres reason for optomism that he can be better.

[Redguitar985]

I like J.T. Snow a lot, but this is Youkilis's time now. He needs to be a regular to prove himself. Snow should be a backup.

[example1]

Folks the bottom line on Kevin Youkilis is that none of us are qualified to make a judgement on his future successes or failures because he has 250 (roughly) AB's in his career. Whether he has a good year in 06 or is a total flop, that statement will likely be true going into 2007 as well

 

 

I think if you compare your post with mine above you'll find why Youkilis is potentially so valuable. You claim that he has had only 250 AB's in his career. That's true. Of course, in my post I mention that he's had 343 plate appearances in his career. Also true. Last year he walked nearly 15% of the time he came to the plate. The year before that he walked almost 16% of his plate appearances. That's pretty phenomenal. This is a guy who is going to continue to tack on 100+ points onto his OBP above his AVG thanks to his patience at the plate. That's what this team (or any team, for that matter) would be looking for: a guy at the bottom of the order who gets on base 40% of the time? I'll take that.

[Wells]

Youk deserves a starting spot in my humble opinion...

 

he's been on the club a little while now and gets on base which is all I can ask for (besides scoring runs.. haha)

 

I think Youk everyday will be ok even if his numbers aren't what you'd want coming from the 1B position

[eZ_d0eS_iT]

well i may have the only if not one of the few dissenting opinions on snow, but i absolutely never liked or was particularly impressed with him going back to his days when he came up with the angels. living on the west coast and going to angel and dodger games frequently gave me the opportunity to see him play in person. yes, he may have 6 gold gloves (in his prime...and at 37 is far from), but was barely medicore offensively.

 

outside of '04, he's never hit above .300, and even in '04 only managed to hit 12 HR. i maybe a little biased as he is a former giant, but IMO he was a decent to good player in his career, but at his age should come in for 'defensive purposes' or an emergency start as a second or third option. while i wasn't obviously overjoyed when he signed, i can only hope he can step in and be this year's olerud.

 

short answer - youk.

[god is a redsox FAN]

I guess we can only hope for the best. Both are good firstbase mens, but i want a first basemen who can hit the ball too. Losing Millar is a real shot to the face. He was pretty big, in my opinion, coming down the stertch for boston to even become a Wildcard team.And Losing Johnny Damon doesn't help either, so we need someone who can get on base.

[TheMeanWalrus]

Losing Millar is a real shot to the face. He was pretty big, in my opinion, coming down the stertch for boston to even become a Wildcard team.

 

 

 

Dude are you serious?

 

I'd like to give Millar a nice shot in the face

[Paradisecity]

Kevin Millar, he of the .272 avg, with 9 homeruns, 50 rbis, and pathetic defense at first base.

 

If the left field foul poul was 30 feet further left he'd be a hall of famer.

 

Its not.

[Mr Crunchy]

millar sucked pretty much always

he had a big mouth so lets give him credit there

 

has youk ever played 1st base?

has he ever hit over 5 hrs in a season??

can he go from 1st to 3rd on a single to right??

 

why does he deserve the job over snow,a guy with a decent stick and a great glove??

[Guns]

Snow could be good in the Fens. Age could be a factor, but the word is he can go to LF so maybe the Monster rejuvenates another career.

 

Youk is Mr. OBP. He gets a shot.

[TheMeanWalrus]

millar sucked pretty much always

he had a big mouth so lets give him credit there

 

has youk ever played 1st base?

has he ever hit over 5 hrs in a season??

can he go from 1st to 3rd on a single to right??

 

why does he deserve the job over snow,a guy with a decent stick and a great glove??

 

 

 

If you're saying you don't share John Meterparels opinion that Kevin Youkilis is the second coming of Jimmie Foxx then I whole heartedly agree with you.

 

250 ML AB's and he is "the answer" at 1B?

I hope I'm wrong but. . . . . .

[Mr Crunchy]

after the power performance or lack there of from our corners last year the last thing i want to see is a .280 hitter with no power at 1st

[Americal Man]

If you're saying you don't share John Meterparels opinion that Kevin Youkilis is the second coming of Jimmie Foxx then I whole heartedly agree with you.

 

250 ML AB's and he is "the answer" at 1B?

I hope I'm wrong but. . . . . .

 

 

give the boy a chance. where have I heard that before......

[Paradisecity]

C'mon Sean- we just lost our OBP guy in Damon- Youk will get on base. He's proven it.

 

I'm not into that conventional thinking that your leadoff HAS to be some crazy speedy guy, just that he has to get on so that your big boys can bring him in.

 

Youk fits well into the 1 or the 2, IMO. He gets on for the big boys to hit him in. WHat else do you want.

 

 

Here- take Johnny D's stats- 35 doubles, 18 SB's, and clal them 53 doubles in 624 AB's. Thats a double every 11.8 ABs

 

Youk hit 7 in 79ABs, 1 in every 11.2.

 

His OBP was .400 last year, 34 points higher than Johnny's. (He was also hitting a homerun in every 6-7 games in 2004, (one HR in every 29 ABs) the year when he got close to legitimate playing time).

 

You want a guy for Papi and Manny to bat in??- he's your man.

[Mr Crunchy]

we shall see tom

it appears to me we're annointing this guy as ""a leadoff type"" despite the fact that we dont know if he can field the position,run for s*** or hit major league pitching yet

 

anyone remember mark bellhorns obp from 2004?

 

wheres he playing this spring?

[Americal Man]

pc,

crisp would be the choice for lead off if he joins the sox -he is a switch hitter, has some speed and will go from 1st to 3rd an a single. youk is not speedy. I'd put him down in the 7/8 hole to start another leadoff role where gonzalez can move him over.