Is Moving Youkilis to 3rd Defensvily Feasible?

[TheMino007]

Both Youkilis and Lowell declined in their defensive play at 3rd this year. Lowell's decline was drastic and obvious to the eye, and the numbers bear this out (8.0, 15.6, -9.8 UZR/150s in the last three years). The decline certainly has something to do with his hip surgery the past offseason, as the drop in UZR was entirely due to decreasing range. He seemed to both get better as the season went on, and as he got more rest at the end of the season, so there is hope that his defense could improve relative to last year's if he continues to recover, though he will be a year older, and improvement from -9.8 will still yield a bad defensive 3b performance from Lowell. Youkilis, on the other hand, didn't decline nearly as drastically as Lowell did. At 1b, UZR actually has him increasing in performance relative to 2008 (10.3, 4.0, 7.8 UZR/150s the last three years) largely because he was more surehanded (a small increase in RngR, a larger increase in DPR and ErrR). Youkilis declined at 3b (6.9, 22.6, -3.7) to a level which was still better than Lowell, but still disappointing. Again, his decrease was due to decreasing range (0.8, 4.6, -2.8 RngR the last three years).Fielding numbers are notoriously subject to sample size/individual interpretation, and some people really only like to look at them over three season blocks. However, the numbers match my own observations that Youkilis wasn't as good at 3rd this year, while looking fine at 1st. If there is a decline, it could be due to bad luck (in which case he'll be good at 3rd again next year), declining skills (he won't, though I don't really have an explanation as to why a player of Youkilis' age declined so drastically in one year), or some other factor. He might also improve at one position by playing there more regularly, since he split time almost equally between 1st and 3rd this year. Is Youkilis' decline at 3rd real, and if so, does the benefit of having him at a more valuable defensive position outweigh the loss in defense? If you think it's real, does he continue to decline next year, or does he have a bit of a bounceback? Should the team be giving up defense for offense in the first place? Most importantly, should the team really consider moving Youkilis to 3rd full-time and going after a 1bman, or should they instead go after a 3bman, and use Youkilis more as he was used in 2008 (occasional games at 3rd to give the 3bman days off)? Should the Sox just stick with Youk at 1st, and sign somone like Figgins or god forbid someone like Adrian Beltre to play 3rdbase? Could the Sox then sign a big bat and put them at the DH spot, pretty much ceasing Ortiz's AB's next year? Can Lowell be traded for something worthwhile or should we simply hang onto him for the last year of his contract?

[Keeper]

Similar thread:

 

http://www.talksox.com/forum/talk-sox-forum/13173-youkilis-defensive-3b.html

[I love Chocolate rice]

who cares, if we get the offense youk-o-sauris-rex produces at 3b, it basicaly makes the defense good.

[TheMino007]

oh, sorry. This can be closed or deleted, or w/e