Kevin Youkilis Rumors: Dodgers Fit for Red Sox Slugger

There’s plenty of motivation for the Boston Red Sox to trade veteran slugger Kevin Youkilis sooner than later, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Rosenthal believes the Los Angeles Dodgers represent the best fit for Youkilis. Beyond the Dodgers, the Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants and Cleveland Indians have all been tied to Youkilis.

Rosenthal believes the Red Sox would rather trade Youkilis sooner than later in order to avoid distraction. Boston would also prefer to stop shifting regular first baseman Adrian Gonzalez around defensively, which they’ve been doing in order to keep Youkilis’s bat in their lineup.

While the Red Sox may prefer to complete a trade sooner than later, Rosenthal says potential suitors are not as motivated to move early on Youkilis. Clubs want to see Youkilis stay healthy for an extended period first. The 33-year-old has played well since being activated from the Red Sox disabled list, but this has only been over a span of 10 games.

Rosenthal calls the idea of the Diamondbacks taking on the remainder of Youkilis’s 2012 salary "problematic", while he considers the Dodgers to be the "more obvious fit". Rosenthal adds that LA would look to use Youkilis at third base while having Juan Rivera and James Loney platoon at first.