Kevin Youkilis

Youkilis had his second straight season cut short because of injury and eventually underwent surgery in October for a sports hernia. He also played with a hip injury and was on the DL early in the season because of his back. He's played a lot of hard innings in his career, and enters his age-33 season with durability questions, but with Adrian Gonzalez at first and David Ortiz returning as designated hitter, Youkilis is locked in at third base. Youkilis plans to train differently this offseason, emphasizing flexibility over power. A healthy Youkilis has been a consistent middle-of-the-order bat and will be protection for Gonzalez.

Youkilis' 2010 season was cut short by a thumb injury that required surgery. He's reportedly done with his rehab and can work his usual offseason routine to get ready for spring training. It's hard to project how those injuries to hands (or wrists) linger the following year, but Youkilis is an iron man. He grinds every inning and every at-bat, while playing 140 games a season, prior to 2010. His on-base success is legendary, and he's added the type of power production befitting a corner infielder. Aside from the health of his thumb, it appears Youkilis will need to adjust to a new position. Boston added Adrian Gonzalez, which will force Youkilis to move from first base to third. Fortunately, that's the position he played coming up through the minors, and it shouldn't be too much of an adjustment.

The last two seasons, Youkilis has established himself as an elite producer from the first-base position. He launched 56 homers and drove in 209 runs the last two seasons and remains a top on-base guy. With third baseman Mike Lowell's health a question and offseason talk of Boston adding a corner infielder -- Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres is often mentioned -- we may see Youkilis playing more third base in 2010. Youkilis is a competitor who plays hard every inning, but has averaged 143 games played since becoming a full-time starter four seasons ago. He had one DL-stint in 2009, but played through several minor injuries. As he enters his 30s, those injuries may take a bigger toll, but in the here and now, health should not be a huge concern.

Youkilis made huge improvements in his production last season. One of the worst things you could have said about his fantasy value -- that he doesn't hit homers like a corner infielder -- is no longer valid. His 29 homers and 115 RBI shattered previous career-bests. Furthermore, he reversed another negative -- Youkilis didn't experience the second-half drop off. His offseason work at the Athletes Performance Institute in Arizona seemingly paid off. He will come back as Boston's starting first baseman with a chance that he plays more third base (where he now qualifies in most leagues), pending free-agent acquisitions and/or Mike Lowell's health. Youkilis will no longer come cheap at fantasy auctions.

Youkilis had a breakout year in 2007 and established himself as one of the AL's top first basemen. While he doesn't possess the power of the AL's other big boppers (16 HRs), Youkilis has established himself as one of the top OBP men in the American League (.390), ranking behind only Carlos Pena among AL first basemen. More important, Youk has improved in nearly every statistical category each year of his career, a trend that bodes well for 2008. Our only concern is his relative dropoff in the season's second half. Still, Youkilis could be available cheap.

"The Greek God of Walks" finally lived up to his ballyhooed potential in 2006. Youkilis posted an impressive .381 OBP, and his .810 OPS ranked higher than that of such luminaries as Ichiro Suzuki, Eric Chavez, and Ivan Rodriguez. Youkilis even showed some pop, hitting a better-than-expected 13 home runs from the leadoff spot. While his strikeouts (120) were higher than we would like, much of that can be chalked up to 2006 being his first year as an everyday player. We expect Youkilis will only get better in 2007, especially as he moves to the No. 2 hole in the lineup behind the newly signed Julio Lugo.

Youkilis has done everything Boston has asked of him in the last two years, which includes countless trips between Pawtucket and Boston. He learned to play first base in 2005 and will have to find at-bats there after the Red Sox acquired gold-glove third baseman Mike Lowell. He figures to be the right-handed portion of a first base platoon with J.T. Snow. Either at first base or as infield depth on the major league roster, Youkilis probably won't need to take the Route 95 Express anymore.

Youkilis made his major league debut last season and was pressed into duty when Bill Mueller missed some time. His role for 2005 is up in the air, but Youkilis still has the promise of a prospect. Youkilis knows the value of the walk and can hit for gap power, but is not a home run hitter. With Bill Mueller returning in 2005, Youkilis will have a backup role in Boston this season. A trade would improve his fantasy value.

Youkilis will begin the season at Triple-A Pawtucket and mostly likely remain there all year, unless the Red Sox move Bill Mueller to second base. He can draw the walk and has unreal on-base percentages, but not much power at this point.