I know, that wasn't the point. I don't think the economy had to do something with his decision. As you said, "he looked at the FA market", but what he saw was Mark Teixeira getting an AAV of 22.5 million on this market.
Youk accepted for the same reason every young player accepts a team friendly deal, he took the safe money even if it was less. He knows he might regress, and he wants to stay with the Sox.