Woth remembering that the Sox did still have the suck-year in '06 while "the kids" (Youk, Paps, Lester, Delcarmen, Hansen, Wily Mo, Pedroia) settled into their new roles or started the process of playing their way out of Boston.
To be fair, Lowrie already allows us to do that, presuming a healthy Lugo. Still, the versatility of a guy like Youks can play a huge role in little pieced here and there. It's easy to underestimate but it definitely adds up.
Considering that there are 30 everyday first basemen, you were basically saying he sucks. About that...
Seriously -- Youk is a huge asset to this team. A skilled 3B and a GG 1B with solid offense.
Not sure I trust this breakout year as an indicator of future performance, but for a guy who can do what Youk does with the glove both at first and third I'll take a ~.800-.850 OPS.