Sorry, but really not seeing why you are so annoyed by this.

Any comments any player's family make (be it via blood or wedlock) are an irrelevance and not worth taking notice of. We all have a family member or two who are inclined to say things we don't like/get embarrassed by and we can't judge one person by what another person says or does.

Youk was paid to play for us. The Red Sox weren't his "family" so he hasn't shit all over it as you put it. He was paid very well to do a job for us and in all his time with us he always gave his all, and that is what we should expect of our players, nothing more, nothing less. They no more owe loyalty to their employers after they have left than anyone else does in any walk of life.

He is a player nearing the end of his playing career who is vastly diminished in terms of what he can produce and he has been made a frankly ridiculous offer financially considering his level of talent now, an offer that no one else was going to match and he took it.

Now I seriously doubt 99% of people when coming near to the end of their working career (as it may be for Youk as not all players end up in media or coaching and many struggle to adapt post playing career) would turn down an offer of work from a rival company to one they used to work for when the money on offer is realistically way more than they could get anywhere else.

I could see you being annoyed if Youk had turned us down to go to the scum (a la Damon, who went for the longer contract and who we still wanted to keep) but the simple fact is we had already got rid of him deeming him to not be worthy of his contract (rightly I hasten to add) and of no further use to us.

So despite us dumping him off for a couple of worthless players (already gone) he is supposed to think about how some reactionary fans may feel at seeing him in pinstripes further down the road ??

Sorry but unless you think he should still be with us (and if you do then attack the front office not Youk) I don't see how we have the right to dictate what is and isn't a suitable destination for a former player of ours.

Look at it this way. You can easily argue he is actually doing the best for us all as Red Sox fans as he is taking a lot of money that could have been spent on making them a better side and actually not making them better but worse.

Personally I am glad he is screwing them for as many dollars as possible when he is to quote you an "old, injury prone, can't-play-for-shit anymore third baseman".

Him spending a year in New York shouldn't diminish his legacy with us one iota. We want to be the classy fans of the AL East ? Well, let's be classy and honour the career he had with us and look on and laugh at the Yankees overpaying to gain nothing.

I don't know about you but other former players we deemed not of use to us/not worth the money etc by our owners, and who then went to the Yankees didn't alter my perception of their playing careers one bit, nor should it.

Do I want our old players playing for them ? No. But I accept players are trying to earn as much as they can to give not only their children but their grandchildren the best start in life they can and I am not going to punish them for looking after their own family first.

I will still honour Youk's contribution to us in the future. I will boo him like any Yankee next season, but no more or less than others.
 

Nice try, Youk!
 

lol
 

Mom here.

But he could have played for Tito again!
 

The Indians offer was rescinded when they signed Reynolds a couple of days ago and Youk never got the opportunity to actually say yes or no to it as he and his agent were still fielding offers from teams at the point when the Indians withdrew their offer.


 

hey jere, i'm on your side. my 9 year old is devastated. he has a youk poster on his wall. my fantasy baseball blue jays fan of a husband doesn't agree........but i don't think you can explain this to anyone who didn't grow up as a sox fan....just sayin'
dewey & co. (the magnet winners)
 

mom back, Rich.
In my line work I have an agent, too. I can override her. Youk should have gone with Cleveland the minute the offer was made. His agent knew it was coming and would have been prepared to stop fielding if he wasn't a moral pygmy. Fans are a part of the business.
ps. Goodbye--the Stones!!!
 

Youk is looking to get the best payday he can get in his job, no more than al;most anyone would do in any other line of business.

Much as we may want to live in a world where fan's wishes are relevant to where a player goes we don't.

For the record Youk had the offer from the Yankees first and waited to see if he could get better elsewhere.

Ridiculously unfair to expect players to turn down a better payday when we wouldn't do the same. And if anyone is going to tell me that if I say I am a big fan of a previous employer of yours so you shouldn't join a company that is in business against them out of respect of my fandom when that company has just offered you way more than you would get anywhere else... well let's just say that is ridiculous.

We are fans, we have no rights to dictate where players go and have no entitlement to criticise them for doing something that we would do if the two companies weren't called the Red Sox and Yankees (or indeed any other sporting businesses).

I have been a Red Sox fan for almost forty years now and certainly am no glory chaser and whilst I hate it when fan faves join the Yankees I am not going to criticise a player who a) gave his all and who b) was not wanted by us anymore.

Frankly found the likes of Tiant, Boggs and Damon joining them harder to take than this.

All things change eventually and as fans we hold on to memories and it is up to us if we chose to let something that happens alter our memories. I am sorry for those who feel Youk's legacy is now tarnished, but if you look in the cold light of day and actually treat him like anyone else looking to do the best for his family in a harsh climate across the globe then you should see that nothing is tarnished as we got the best of Youk by a long way.

Youk is basically taking their money and giving nowhere near value back in return and I thank him for that.
 

Jesus Christ, man, Kevin Youkilis is on the fucking Yankees. Get mad! And DON'T tell me what I would do. YOU and lots of others would sell your soul to the highest bidder, but there are many of us who would not. Ever. Fuck Youk's grandkids who will grow up thinking money is the most important thing in life. They already had enough money anyway. And your earlier comment about us being "classy." Wasn't it classy enough how we gave the guy a hero's welcome when he came back in another uniform. All that stuff, the sendoff, the welcoming home--it meant nothing to that big phony.
 

I just hate when people say "we ALL would do x." On the Fan the other day a host said how "every single person in the audience has been in the situation where they've gotten in a car having had too much to drink." Well guess what? I've never had a drink!
 

Sigh, I originally said 99% rather than all and meant to say the same again but in a rush mistyped. I knew that would be the crux of the counter argument and is misleading as my original post didn't say all and apologies for it coming across differently on my reply above.

One thing I have realised reading blogs etc from the US is that you have some truly awful tv talk shows and radio shows so all I can say is of course Jere you are right in regards of the example of "On the Fan". No idea if that is radio or tv (guessing radio) but most of what is spouted on these shows is designed to get a reaction as that equates to getting listeners and/or viewers which encourages advertising which is what keeps them all going. Oh and for what it is worth I have never driven a car and rarely drink :-)

Anyway I digress :-)

All I would ask is will you all boo Youk AFTER his career is over and he comes back now ?

If yes, then do you also boo Tiant and Boggs when they come back ? If not why do they get preferential treatment and Youk won't ?

If you do boo them then I am clearly wasting my time here and have given way too much credit ;-)

I won't get mad at Youk being on the Yankees simply because he is screwing them for their money and weakening them as a team. We discarded him when he was no longer of use to us (something everyone seems to think is ok) yet he isn't allowed to discard us in the same way ? Double standards methinks.

Ah well, been fun but will leave it at that as clearly we are going around in circles and frankly if this is really the most important aspect of what is going on with the Sox right now then we are clearly going to be crap again in 2013 as this should be a long way from a priority for us right now I would have hoped :-)

Been fun though (genuinely). Maybe see some of you around Fenway when I get over to the States next season.
 

Mom back, Rich.
Youk took the one-year deal with the toiletheads when he could have had two years with his old manager who had a great deal to do with his success. But he decided to gamble. Take one year with the toiletheads and do really, really well and then get a new contract worth millions. But here is where fans figure in, I believe: he had problems in his last year with the Sox and we kept cheering our brains out for him and dying with him as he struggled and never gave up on him. I wonder how his new team's fans will react when he's in a slump or as Jere would say, shitting the bed. I don't think they'll will him back and shore him up with their faith in him. I wonder if Boras knows the effect of fans' loyalty on the way a player performs. I don't know how you'd qualify that--someone call up the Original Father of Stats who I think still works for us, or Billy Bean--and then do a study and find out what the data might show.
 

I agree with Rich G. Also, it would be stupid to choose Cleveland over the Yankees. Cleveland has no chance of going to the world series. The reason the Yankees continually draw top players is because they put a good team on the field that can challenge and make the play offs.