Former players in talks to join NESN booth

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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so this might not happen until 2023.
Optimist.

The post-Remy world is going to suck, but I think we also need to keep in mind that it's a really hard job. It seems easy -- good guys make it seem that way. But it's not, I don't think.

I think there's a learning curve and guys will get better. I didn't think Burks was great, for example, but I thought he got better. Same with Gomes. If they treat it like a real job and want to get better, I think they can. If they just show up and think "well, I'll just talk," then that won't work.
 

YTF

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Yeah, he'd need to tone it down to last a year.

It's important to keep in mind that all these guys are candidates for part-time roles. Eck is still going to be the primary guy.

My guess is that assignments would break down to:

80-100 for Eck (most home games and AL East coast road series)
30-40 for Youk (mostly road series that Eck won't do)
10-15 for Millar (road weekends to minimize conflict with IT)
10-15 for Mazz (home weekends to minimize conflict with 98.5)

Assuming a full season of games, so this might not happen until 2023.
This is probably close to what we might be looking at. Traditionally Eck does roughly 80 games and he's stated that he's no real interest in doing more than that, but given the circumstances perhaps he would do a few more. Millar is based out of Texas. I know he's been doing IT from his home during the pandemic, so it seem a natural fit for him to do Astros and Rangers games. As far as I know, Youk's in the California Bay area, so Cali road trips are in his back yard and maybe he goes up to Seattle and then perhaps between the two of them they split most of the remaining non east coast series. I also think that Millar might be afforded a bit of leeway from his regular gig to allow him some games from Fenway. He can pretty much do IT from any remote location and I would think that Youk wouldn't mind coming back to Boston for a series or two as well. I also wonder if 98.5 cuts Mazz a bit of slack as far as doing home games. Him being in the NESN booth can't be a bad thing for F&M.
 

strek1

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Did you read the article that you posted?

Massarotti...
“Have we had contact? Yes. Have I done an audition? Yes. Do I think it went well? Yes. Where does it go now? I don’t know.
“It’s complicated. I have a full-time job. I’m not looking to leave my full-time job. I think they know that and I think they’ve been open-minded about that. So we’re going to keep talking and see if we can figure out something that works for everybody.”

“I thought it went pretty well,” Massarotti said. “And we’re still talking. I’d love to tell you that this is a done deal, but I don’t know that yet. I think there’s still some things that have to be figured out. “I’m flattered to even be considered for it. It’s not something that is normally done, to pull someone out of the media to put in — to potentially put in — the booth to do games. “I’m flattered, I’m honored, and I give the Red Sox a lot of credit, because I’ve beaten the crap out of them for about 20 years, if not longer. Hopefully this can work out.”

A NESN spokesperson acknowledged that Millar, who worked briefly for NESN in 2010 before taking higher-profile jobs at Fox Sports and MLB Network, is in the mix, and said, “I can confirm we are in active discussions with booth talent, but our plans have not been finalized.”

Yes I read it and the second paragraph (That you skipped over) says this.......

"Former Red Sox players Kevin Millar and Kevin Youkilis and 98.5 The Sports Hub host Tony Massarotti will be in the rotation of color commentators for the Red Sox this season, per a report by WEEI’s Alex Reimer."

So if Alex Reimer is to be believed NESN has made their choices. It sound likes there's the just the matter of "legaleze" to be ironed out..That's why the conflicting info. about it not being over the finish line yet.
 

YTF

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Yes I read it and the second paragraph (That you skipped over) says this.......

"Former Red Sox players Kevin Millar and Kevin Youkilis and 98.5 The Sports Hub host Tony Massarotti will be in the rotation of color commentators for the Red Sox this season, per a report by WEEI’s Alex Reimer."

So if Alex Reimer is to be believed NESN has made their choices. It sound likes there's the just the matter of "legaleze" to be ironed out..That's why the conflicting info. about it not being over the finish line yet.
Yes, I read the second paragraph and beyond. I read where both Mazz and NESN state that discussions are still being had and nothing is finalized. It's OK to say, "Yes, you may be right. Though it's not yet a done deal, it appears that Mazz will be one of the new guys."
 

MuzzyField

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I don't think there is any need to finalize anything with new employees for this season, as in offering contracts and getting them signed, until there is confirmation a season will actually be played.

NESN does have a well earned reputation as being a leader in frugality and distant trailer in production quality.
 

Van Everyman

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NESN does have a well earned reputation as being a leader in frugality and distant trailer in production quality.
Not really when it comes to broadcasters though. They have had the best day-to-day guys in the league for 20 years, by a lot in my opinion. I’d rather NESN put their resources into that than, say, their other programming.

(I also think that they probably paid DOB good money to stay with them – some may quibble with him but I don’t think the issue with Don was over him being too expensive)

At any rate, I’m with @DennyDoyle'sBoil: it will really come down to how hard the guys they pick work at it. It’s hard to remember now but Remy wasn’t very good when he started. The difference was, neither was the team so he was able to learn on the job. The new guy(s) won’t really.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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At any rate, I’m with @DennyDoyle'sBoil: it will really come down to how hard the guys they pick work at it. It’s hard to remember now but Remy wasn’t very good when he started. The difference was, neither was the team so he was able to learn on the job. The new guy(s) won’t really.
Very good point about Remy when he started. He really got to grow into the job. Though I think he benefited as much if not more from NESN being a premium channel that didn't have nearly the household penetration it has now. His second year on the job was the Morgan Magic year, so the team was okay. He also didn't have significant shoes to fill as Bob Montgomery's backup and then replacement.

Even if they thought the audience would have the patience to grow into the job like Remy did, that's not what NESN is looking for. They're looking for plug-n-play guys who will hit it off with the audience and help ratings. Hence popular former players like Youk and Millar, and a potentially polarizing, contrary personality like Mazz. IMO, giving a shot to someone like Lenny Dinardo (just as an example of someone who's shown a little competence in the job) would be the way to develop the next long-term color analyst. That's not instant gratification enough.
 

Yo La Tengo

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Youk? I'm not going to write him off yet but yesterday's never ending recap explaining Yelp reviews of his brewpub? It was the worst. Too much talking.

The tone of Massarotti's voice was really noticeable, but, I thought his commentary was pretty good. I'm guessing we'd get used to listening to him.

All of it makes me appreciate Eck even more.
 

YTF

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Youk? I'm not going to write him off yet but yesterday's never ending recap explaining Yelp reviews of his brewpub? It was the worst. Too much talking.

The tone of Massarotti's voice was really noticeable, but, I thought his commentary was pretty good. I'm guessing we'd get used to listening to him.

All of it makes me appreciate Eck even more.
I'm not a fan of Mazz due to his role as Felger's toady and general asshattery on F&M. That said, I think he's been fine so far doing commentary. Like you said that voice is going to take some getting used to, but I think he's been well prepared, works well with OB and from what I've seen to date he's got a decent grasp on the recent history of the team and it's players.
 

InsideTheParker

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I don't watch the post-game, but I think a bit of the problem with Youkilis is that the PBP guy has been trying to present Youkilis as a personality. That will fade as the season goes on. I am fond of Youkilis, mostly because of his career with the Sox, when he was one of my favorite players.
I can never get used to Mazz's voice. It is like listening to sandpaper.
Unlike almost everyone else, I am getting tired of Eck's schtick, with the repetition of "Pair of Shoes" etc.
Most of the time, I have the sound on low, and only pay attention to the commentary now and then, when I need some elucidation.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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I don't watch the post-game, but I think a bit of the problem with Youkilis is that the PBP guy has been trying to present Youkilis as a personality. That will fade as the season goes on. I am fond of Youkilis, mostly because of his career with the Sox, when he was one of my favorite players.
I can never get used to Mazz's voice. It is like listening to sandpaper.
Unlike almost everyone else, I am getting tired of Eck's schtick, with the repetition of "Pair of Shoes" etc.
Most of the time, I have the sound on low, and only pay attention to the commentary now and then, when I need some elucidation.
Just want to chime in to say I agree with you on all counts, including Eck. Some of his act wears thin, and not just the Eck-isms. It's the tone of wonder, surprise, and amazement at things that are not all that wonderful, surprising or amazing. I loved him with Remy, but when he's on his own with DOB, I don't enjoy him as much. But also like you, I'm not paying a ton of attention to the commentary most of the time. It's background noise, so none of them annoy me to the point where I don't want to watch.
 

curly2

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The Red Sox need to have Dave O'Brien work with these new guys to tell them what works and what doesn't. DO'B wasn't there the last couple of days to rein in Youkilis, who talks way too much and needs to stop openly rooting the way he does.

Last night, he said "GET OUT!" on a 270 foot flyout by story. And today the way he's just rooting on the Bogaerts double was bad.


Remy needed time to come into his own. He was helped by working first with Ned Martin, who was a minimalist and knew on TV that you can let the picture tell the story. I think Ned and especially Sean McDonough new when to bring Jerry out. But Remy knew you could let the game breathe and didn't have to describe every foul chopper. Silence between pitches is OK on TV. And Remy didn't step on his play-by-play man. By the time Orsillo arrived, he had a Remy who had been broken in nicely.

It's not just Youkilis who does it. Ellis Burks is the same way. Cameron Maybin is brand new on Yankees broadcasts this year. I think he can be good, but he needs to let the pictures tell the story sometimes. Of course, to me the worst offender of never shutting up is Tony Romo, but I know a lot of people love him.
 

YTF

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The Red Sox need to have Dave O'Brien work with these new guys to tell them what works and what doesn't. DO'B wasn't there the last couple of days to rein in Youkilis, who talks way too much and needs to stop openly rooting the way he does.

Last night, he said "GET OUT!" on a 270 foot flyout by story. And today the way he's just rooting on the Bogaerts double was bad.


Remy needed time to come into his own. He was helped by working first with Ned Martin, who was a minimalist and knew on TV that you can let the picture tell the story. I think Ned and especially Sean McDonough new when to bring Jerry out. But Remy knew you could let the game breathe and didn't have to describe every foul chopper. Silence between pitches is OK on TV. And Remy didn't step on his play-by-play man. By the time Orsillo arrived, he had a Remy who had been broken in nicely.

It's not just Youkilis who does it. Ellis Burks is the same way. Cameron Maybin is brand new on Yankees broadcasts this year. I think he can be good, but he needs to let the pictures tell the story sometimes. Of course, to me the worst offender of never shutting up is Tony Romo, but I know a lot of people love him.
As we used to say back in the day, SSS. Youk's four games in and only has 2 regular season games with OB under his belt. By his own admission, Remy wasn't very good when he started out. This may take a while folks.
 

curly2

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As we used to say back in the day, SSS. Youk's four games in and only has 2 regular season games with OB under his belt. By his own admission, Remy wasn't very good when he started out. This may take a while folks.
Yes, definitely. I'm not writing Youk off. He needs some guidance, like I believe Remy got from Ned and Sean.

I just hope the opening rooting is not what the powers that be want. After all, they've been known to make questionable decisions with broadcasters. :)
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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As we used to say back in the day, SSS. Youk's four games in and only has 2 regular season games with OB under his belt. By his own admission, Remy wasn't very good when he started out. This may take a while folks.
Exactly. NESN clearly isn't interested in bringing in anyone with any kind of polish (the last experienced guy they brought in was Steve Lyons). They don't want to pay what it would take and it appears they're dead set on finding someone or a few someones that have ties to the city and/or team. So there are going to be growing pains as guys learn on the job and the best of them emerge.

The one advantage that Mazz has had so far is his years of experience on the radio, which is why I think reviews have been positive for him so far. While it's not exactly the same thing, hosting a talk show and doing color commentary requires one to be good at speaking extemporaneously. As a result, he comes across as smooth and prepared and professional behind the mic. Youk on the other hand knows the game well and is passionate about it, he's just not as well practiced at saying what he's thinking concisely and precisely. So he rambles a bit and acts more like a fan than a broadcaster sometimes. He'll get better.
 

CarolinaBeerGuy

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The Red Sox need to have Dave O'Brien work with these new guys to tell them what works and what doesn't. DO'B wasn't there the last couple of days to rein in Youkilis, who talks way too much and needs to stop openly rooting the way he does.

Last night, he said "GET OUT!" on a 270 foot flyout by story. And today the way he's just rooting on the Bogaerts double was bad.


Remy needed time to come into his own. He was helped by working first with Ned Martin, who was a minimalist and knew on TV that you can let the picture tell the story. I think Ned and especially Sean McDonough new when to bring Jerry out. But Remy knew you could let the game breathe and didn't have to describe every foul chopper. Silence between pitches is OK on TV. And Remy didn't step on his play-by-play man. By the time Orsillo arrived, he had a Remy who had been broken in nicely.

It's not just Youkilis who does it. Ellis Burks is the same way. Cameron Maybin is brand new on Yankees broadcasts this year. I think he can be good, but he needs to let the pictures tell the story sometimes. Of course, to me the worst offender of never shutting up is Tony Romo, but I know a lot of people love him.
He also yelled for Bogey to go home on Dalbec’s grounder to third in the 9th. He would have been out by 40 feet had he gone. He’s just not good at the announcing thing.
 

pokey_reese

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He also yelled for Bogey to go home on Dalbec’s grounder to third in the 9th. He would have been out by 40 feet had he gone. He’s just not good at the announcing thing.
Yeah, I like hearing him talk about how a hitter approaches an AB at the plate, but that's not the same as being a good announcer. Doesn't mean that he can't improve over time, but at the moment he has some shortcomings.
 

CoffeeNerdness

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Silence between pitches is OK on TV. And Remy didn't step on his play-by-play man. By the time Orsillo arrived, he had a Remy who had been broken in nicely.

It's not just Youkilis who does it. Ellis Burks is the same way. Cameron Maybin is brand new on Yankees broadcasts this year. I think he can be good, but he needs to let the pictures tell the story sometimes. Of course, to me the worst offender of never shutting up is Tony Romo, but I know a lot of people love him.
I think you're pining for an era of announcing that doesn't really exist any longer. Non-stop chatter is what the brass wants. Engagement, baby!

He also yelled for Bogey to go home on Dalbec’s grounder to third in the 9th. He would have been out by 40 feet had he gone. He’s just not good at the announcing thing.
Pretty sure he was rooting for the ball to get through the infield, no? That's what it seemed like to me anyway. I'd begin to question his long and successful baseball career if he actually thought sending the runner was the play there.

I do agree with the point that the mid-play rooting is awful.
 

jon abbey

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I'd begin to question his long and successful baseball career if he actually thought sending the runner was the play there.
Just a quibble about the word 'long' here, almost all of his value was between ages 27-32 and he was out of baseball by 34. He was very good for those six seasons though.
 

KingChre

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Just a quibble about the word 'long' here, almost all of his value was between ages 27-32 and he was out of baseball by 34. He was very good for those six seasons though.
He played parts of 12 seasons in the majors. I don't believe the point of "long" is "how long his peak was."
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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This study was 15 years ago, but I can't imagine the numbers have changed significantly: the average MLB position player's career lasts 5.6 years. Fair to say anyone who is above the 50th percentile had a long career.
 

jon abbey

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InsideTheParker

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Fine, just saying the first thing I think of with him is how abruptly his career seemed to fall off a cliff.
I blame that on the Adrian Gonzalez trade. At that point in his career, Youkilis was perfect for first base. He seemed to struggle after being moved back to third. But I haven't researched that, so I may be wrong. It is just the way I remember things playing out.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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I blame that on the Adrian Gonzalez trade. At that point in his career, Youkilis was perfect for first base. He seemed to struggle after being moved back to third. But I haven't researched that, so I may be wrong. It is just the way I remember things playing out.
It may have played a part, but the strange thing about his last couple seasons is how little he played 1B. He was traded to the White Sox who played him primarily at 3B (78 out of 80 starts), but they did have Konerko at the time. Then he went to the Yankees and made 20 of 28 starts at 3B (Lyle Overbay got the majority of 1B starts as Teixeira was injured). He was exclusively a 1B when he played briefly in Japan before getting hurt and calling it a career.

Ultimately his hitting fell off a cliff after 2011, and that is what ended his career. I think if he had maintained a reasonable level at the plate, he no doubt would have found work somewhere as a 1B into his mid/late 30s, even as a journeyman.
 

Milktoast

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Just a quibble about the word 'long' here, almost all of his value was between ages 27-32 and he was out of baseball by 34. He was very good for those six seasons though.
Steve Buckley once dedicated a whole WEEI Baseball Show to "Kevin Youkilis is going to the Hall of Fame" during a prime year.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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I think that Youkilis is fine. I like the passion, much like I like Eck’s passion. I thought Burks had potential too. But the thing is, I think it’s Dave O’Brien, he doesn’t do a great job of interacting with his partners, especially the ones that are new to the profession.

“As a hitter, what are you thinking of in this situation, Youk?”
“Ellis, what do you think of the outfield alignment?”

When they—and I’m including Eck in this too—do bring up something, O’Brien ices them more than half the time. He never follows up with what they said, so it’s just two monologues. Two guys in the same booth talking past each other.

That’s why Orsillo (and Martin and McDonough) was good with Remy because they understood that being a color commentator is hard. Especially for an ex athlete and they need a person who bring them along.

D OB is so concerned about describing something that we’ve just seen, he doesn’t converse. He’s a good radio guy, but on TV he’s a dud. I will say that maybe he needs to work with one guy for 150+ games for a year or two to get familiar IDK.

But this revolving color guy thing is not doing anyone any favors.
 

jon abbey

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Youks played for the Yanks? Holy shit, I had completely blocked that out, no doubt to protect my sanity.
You didn't miss much, NY paid him $12M on a one year deal to play 3B but he spent most of the year injured and only had about 100 ineffective ABs before his season ended with herniated disc surgery in late June. The whole experience was pretty odd for Yankee fans too.
 

section15

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One thing, I may have said before in here. Many of today's play-by-play people (but fewer and fewer) had a chance to learn their craft and make their mistakes at small radio stations - the "1000 watt graveyards" - calling high schools, colleges, minor league baseball - and they make their mistakes, and get over them, and are mentored by senior staff either where they work, or by emulation and observation.

Jerry Remy was a lucky dude as he was able to latch on to NESN at its inception - he had some great guys to show him the ropes - Ned Martin, Jim Kurtz, and eventually, Sean McDonough. IMHO Jerry had "arrived" by the time he and McDonough were paired. But in his early days - with only 20,000 NESN subscribers and many of them asleep by the time the games began - he had a chance to learn on the job.

Not too many guys or gals get that chance today.
 

IpswichSox

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You didn't miss much, NY paid him $12M on a one year deal to play 3B but he spent most of the year injured and only had about 100 ineffective ABs before his season ended with herniated disc surgery in late June. The whole experience was pretty odd for Yankee fans too.
Don't know why, but I thought it was interesting that Youkilis earned $56.2 million in his pro career, not counting post-season shares and the year in Japan. Good for him.
 

Ale Xander

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I see he put up a .219/.305/.343/.648 line while sucking up that $12 million of payroll.

When SoSH does a thread about the most effective embedded Red Sox/Yankee, Youks will merit a mention.
Ellsbury in a walk no?

edit: what Abbey said
 

Heating up in the bullpen

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You didn't miss much, NY paid him $12M on a one year deal to play 3B but he spent most of the year injured and only had about 100 ineffective ABs before his season ended with herniated disc surgery in late June. The whole experience was pretty odd for Yankee fans too.
The Reverse Embedded Yankee!!! (I guess you MFY fans would call that the Embedded Red Sock.)
 

rhswanzey

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Not sure if anyone heard the couple of appearances he made in the radio booth in spring training, but Rich Hill is someone NESN should approach in the future (if he doesn’t have another twenty years of pitching in him).

Heck, Joe likes him so much that maybe it’s WEEI who will call first.
 

billy ashley

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I blame that on the Adrian Gonzalez trade. At that point in his career, Youkilis was perfect for first base. He seemed to struggle after being moved back to third. But I haven't researched that, so I may be wrong. It is just the way I remember things playing out.

Yeah, I recall this being a narrative, but it doesn't make hat much sense to me. Sure he couldn't play 3B well, anymore at that point. However, his entire offensive profile fell apart, and as JA put it, the fall was sudden and dramatic. over 3 seasons.

I think more likely, Youk was a guy who overperformed his tools by a good bit. He clearly had at least 50-60 hit and power skills offensively during his peak, but I suspect that he maxed out the performance you could expect from those tools. He was never a huge bat speed guy, or a launch angle guy, etc. But he put up competitive at-bats at every stage of his amateur and professional career.

My guess is that his 2011 decline, in which he was still very good (he played 112 games at 3B, with a wRC+ of 126) was a product of his tools physical tools eroding with age and injuries. The total impact of the decline was masked a good bit by the fact that he was always an incredibly smart hitter. The next season saw yet another 20-point drop in wRC+, followed by yet another 20-point drop in his last season with the Yankees.

He was always seen as a guy who outplayed his physical tools. That only worked for so long, though and as he neared is mid 30's, no amount of skill at the plate was going to overcome the skill gap between himself and the rest of the league. Dude put up a career 127 wRC+ despite never being seen as athletic, or being described as having much potential. Just a remarkable career.
 

YTF

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Yeah, I recall this being a narrative, but it doesn't make hat much sense to me. Sure he couldn't play 3B well, anymore at that point. However, his entire offensive profile fell apart, and as JA put it, the fall was sudden and dramatic. over 3 seasons.

I think more likely, Youk was a guy who overperformed his tools by a good bit. He clearly had at least 50-60 hit and power skills offensively during his peak, but I suspect that he maxed out the performance you could expect from those tools. He was never a huge bat speed guy, or a launch angle guy, etc. But he put up competitive at-bats at every stage of his amateur and professional career.


My guess is that his 2011 decline, in which he was still very good (he played 112 games at 3B, with a wRC+ of 126) was a product of his tools physical tools eroding with age and injuries. The total impact of the decline was masked a good bit by the fact that he was always an incredibly smart hitter. The next season saw yet another 20-point drop in wRC+, followed by yet another 20-point drop in his last season with the Yankees.

He was always seen as a guy who outplayed his physical tools. That only worked for so long, though and as he neared is mid 30's, no amount of skill at the plate was going to overcome the skill gap between himself and the rest of the league. Dude put up a career 127 wRC+ despite never being seen as athletic, or being described as having much potential. Just a remarkable career.
For the uneducated, can you explain the highlighted? If one "overperforms his tools by a good bit" for as long as Youk seemed to have wouldn't that mean that his "tools" were likely better than credited?
 

Van Everyman

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The narrative around Youk was that the move back to 3B when they let Adrian Beltre go and traded for Adrian Gonzalez put too much strain on his body and that he broke down. I’m not sure whether that was actually true or not but the numbers def. coincide with it.
 

pantsparty

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I've been enjoying Youk lately. He's loosened up a bit and I think he does a good job mixing fun banter with actual analysis - I think he does a particularly good job breaking down hitting.
 

ookami7m

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I've been enjoying Youk lately. He's loosened up a bit and I think he does a good job mixing fun banter with actual analysis - I think he does a particularly good job breaking down hitting.
Literally had come here to say the same thing. He’s really improved a ton over the last few weeks. Definitely better than Millar and most of the others.
 

YTF

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I've been enjoying Youk lately. He's loosened up a bit and I think he does a good job mixing fun banter with actual analysis - I think he does a particularly good job breaking down hitting.
Actually I though he was TOO loose earlier on. Thought he was much better, but still finding his way during ST and once the regular season started he got WAY too chatty about stuff other than what he should be chatting about. The past few games he seems to be fitting in better.
 

Heating up in the bullpen

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Pittsboro NC
I've been enjoying Youk lately. He's loosened up a bit and I think he does a good job mixing fun banter with actual analysis - I think he does a particularly good job breaking down hitting.
Agree with you on Youk's analysis of hitting. As a player he could hit. As an ex-player, he can talk about hitting -- mechanics and thought-process. As a former youth baseball coach I really enjoy those deeper insights.