Kevin Youkilis

[Cowtipper]

Kevin Youkilis has been in the big leagues since 2004. In his career, he has hit .288 with 130 home runs, 938 hits, a 127 OPS+ and a .389 on-base percentage. He has been an All-Star three times, he has won a Gold Glove and twice he has received MVP votes, finishing third and sixth in the balloting. He also won the Hank Aaron Award in 2008.

In the postseason, Youkilis has been solid overall, hitting .306 with six home runs and 17 RBI in 29 games. In the 2007 ALCS, he hit .500 with three home runs, seven RBI and 10 runs scored in 28 at-bats and in the 2008 ALCS, he hit .333 with two home runs and six RBI. He has one World Series ring to his name.

Youk led the league in sacrifice flies in 2006 and first baseman fielding percentage in 2007 and is second all-time in the latter category, behind Casey Kotchman. He is also 99th all-time in OPS and, among active players, he is 13th in OBP, 22nd in OPS and 22nd in OWP.

Statistically, the Greek God of Walks is similar to Trot Nixon, Bob Nieman, Marty Cordova, Richard Hidalgo, Andre Ethier, Leon Durham, George Selkirk, Ryan Zimmerman, Nick Markakis and Don Hurst. The Fan EloRater places him at #374, ahead of Jake Daubert, Ed Konetchy and Jay Bell, but behind Eddie Stanky, George Gore and Joey Votto.

Career projections, using Bill James' Favorite Toy:

1521 G
6434 PA
5396 AB
1001 R
1579 H
392 2B
28 3B
242 HR
955 RBI
52 SB
21 CS
825 BB
1196 K
.293 BA

What do you think about Kevin Youkilis? When he retires, should he be a Hall of Famer? Does he have Hall of Fame potential?

[GiambiJuice]

Maybe the Hall Of Fame of ugly batting stances, if such a thing exists.

[willshad]

If he manages to play about 1300 more games at his career level (pretty much impossible, since he seems to already be in severe decline, and is 33 years old), he would be like John Olerud, minus the amazing MVP type 1993 season. Needless to say, not HOF worthy.

[J W]

Youkilis is the kind of guy that Championship teams need who will unfortunately be largely forgotten a couple decades after he retires. Like Don Buford or George Foster.

[westsidegrounds]

you don't have to look very far up the alphabet from Youkilis to find a guy who was a heck of a lot better ballplayer & a heck of a lot better at strolling to first & has never been considered a HOFer.

[jjpm74]

Youkilis is the Howard Johnson of this era. A gritty player who puts up good numbers and overachieves, but is not a HOF talent.

[tag0519]

Youk is someone i'd like to see in the Hall, but I dont think its gonna happen. You never know - depends who he's grouped with.

[J W]

you don't have to look very far up the alphabet from Youkilis to find a guy who was a heck of a lot better ballplayer & a heck of a lot better at strolling to first & has never been considered a HOFer.

I'm assuming that would be "The Walking Man" Eddie Yost. In his prime, Youk has a higher average, much more power, and better defense. On the other hand Yost has nearly triple Youk's plate appearances and Youk is 33 years old. Which ties into the biggest problem for him regarding the Hall... his first full season in the majors was age 27, and that is too late a start.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Youks has had a HOF peak, but it's short. Had he won the MVP award in 2008, had he played 3B his entire career, he'd be a better candidate. He could still be a HOFer, but he'd have to break out of his slump and he'd have to have the kinds of years he had in 2008-10 for another 3 years, minimum, to even be a viable candidate. He's really started too late, and I'm not sure he'll stay at 3B all the way, so it's not lookng good.

[Second Base Coach]

His first full season was his age 27 season. You cannot wait THAT long to win a starting job and expect to make the Hall of Fame.

Bob Johnson of the Philadelphia A's comes to mind when thinking of those types and he finished strong (thanks to the War). So while Youk might have a good career I just don't see him anywhere close to the HOF. He is already 33 years old does not yet have 1,000 career hits.

Pass.

[Cowtipper]

Now is not the time to be struggling for a guy like Youkilis, who has just a thread, a thin thread at that, of Hall of Fame potential. But struggling is what he is doing and that hurts, especially now that he is exiting his prime.

[PVNICK]

At the risk of being considered a neanderthal it is pretty much impossible for a 1B/3B approaching the end of his age 33 season with career triple crown numbers of .284 145 602 to get even a vote.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Youks needs (A) to stay at third base, (B) to play as a regular to age 40, and (C) to not get hurt and miss any more time. He's a tremendous offensive player, and he can play a demanding defensive position now, but he won't go into the HOF as a 1B/DH no matter what he does. He needs to stay at 3B, and I'm not sure that can happen (or should happen).