Do you think that the ATL fans would steal the “YOUK” chant?

I think there’s a huge difference between the Sox acquiring Tex and the Dodgers or Angels acquiring Tex. Here’s why:

First, Kevin Youkilis is a much better player than either Kotchman or Loney right now. Youk is currently hitting .314/.381/.552, which happens to be much better than Teixeira’s current line of .271/.373/.484. Regress that to each’s career line, and Tex is hitting a little worse than his career, while Youk is obviously having the best season of his career. But while it’s certainly probably that Youk isn’t this good, it’s also probable that he’s better than his career line of .286/.383/.457. What’s important is that for the remainder of this year, Tex isn’t guaranteed to be definitively much better than Youk will be. Meanwhile, Kotchman is currently hitting .282/.325/.427 and Loney .291/.351/.446 (Kotchman is more or less at his career average, while Loney is underperforming a little). It’s important to note that both are appreciably younger than Tex and Youk, and are more or less in their first full starting season. Again though, what’s important from the first point is that for this season, Youk > Kotchman or Loney.

Second, a Boston Red Sox lineup with Youk is already f’ing fantastic. The three headed monster of JD Drew, Youk and Manny have VORPs of 32.9, 31.7 and 31.5, respectively. And that’s not even counting the contributions of David Ortiz. Loney, meanwhile, ranks third (not counting potential out-for-year Furcal) on his team in VORP at 15.4. Currently, the only true threat in the Dodger lineup is Russ Martin, only he and Ethier are in double digit HRs. Similarly, Kotchman represents the Angels’ 4th best player with a 10.8 VORP, and they only have 3 players id double digit HRs (Vlad, Hunter, Napoli). The Red Sox, meanwhile, have 5. The bottom line is that the lineup the Sox constructed is a championship-winning one (obviously proven, as they won last year). The Dodgers lineups and Angels lineups are not. The Sox have a considerable power punch in their lineup; the Dodgers and Angels do not. It’s possible that Loney and Kotchman will turn out to be great sluggers soon, but both the Dodgers and Angels have the potential to get to the WS this year. A strong middle of the order bat like Tex puts them much, much closer.

Third, the management philosophy of the three teams are completely different. The Sox have been willing to do creative things to improve the team (Moneyball management, if you will), and aren’t afraid to shake things up if they know it to be necessary. In that sense, they’re “ahead of the game.” That’s why they’re not in a position where they need to trade for a bat like Tex. The Angels and Dodgers, meanwhile, have been willing to overspend in free agency but unwilling to trade their prospects for a top-notch slugger. And it’s hurt them. In the Angels case, some of them never quite panned out (McPherson, Mathis, Kotchman to an extent), while in the Dodgers case, their shift in management philosophy from DePodesta to Coletti meant that their young stars were ready to play but management was unwilling to give them the opportunity (the yoyoing of Matt Kemp being the strongest example). Both teams seemingly have the pieces in place but still need the “next” or “final” piece to get to the WS. Again, Tex could be that needed piece for them. The Sox aren’t in the same position.

The final question is whether a Tex for Kotchman/Loney (with either first baseman as the primary piece) trade would be beneficial to the Braves. I think it’s clear that Tex would help either team. I’d be more than happy to take Loney back. First of all, he’s a year younger than Kotchman and is already a better player. I would be more hesitant to take Kotchman on, as I simply don’t think he’s that good.

Now see, if that’s right (which I assume it is), I think I’d rather have the draft picks and either find a cheap free agent 1B or try Throman (yikes…)

Picks would be nice, but prospects are a gamble to some degree in that they take years to develop, and sometimes (often even) they don’t pan out as planned. Just because a guy is a first-round pick doesn’t mean he’s going to be a superstar like Heyward, if Heyward ends up having the ceiling that you say he does. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t take the picks, but if the right deal is there, I’d like to see us go for it than gamble with prospects.

With the ability to pick up two first-round picks, we’re certainly not going to be in a hurry to trade Tex, I wouldn’t imagine. It would have to be the right deal to help us not only right now, but also in the future. Youk fits the bill perfectly in that he can play now and play well, and he’s locked up till 2010, so he’s good for the future too.

...we could draft a complete bust. Or two complete busts. You make it sound like it’s a piece of cake scoring a solid 1st rounder like Heyward, when that could not be further from the truth. For every Jason Heyward there’s a Trevor Crowe…sometimes several. It might be best to maximize or return to trade for established major leaguers/prospects.

we got lucky getting Jason Heyward where we did. It was pretty inexplicable that he fell as far as he did. I’m not saying we wouldn’t get good talent at the 15th pick again, but heyward was a top 5 talent.