Yankees go for Youkilis
AS THE WINTER meetings wrapped up Thursday, the Yankees were pursuing former Boston star Kevin Youkilis and also met with the agent for Mark Reynolds.
AS THE WINTER meetings wrapped up Thursday, the Yankees were pursuing former Boston star Kevin Youkilis and also met with the agent for Mark Reynolds.
The Yankees have been quiet, watching as catcher Russell Martin agreed with Pittsburgh last week and backup third baseman Eric Chavez went to Arizona during the meetings. Wanting to get under the $189 million luxury tax threshold in 2014, the Yankees are being cautious.
As the meetings ended, general manager Brian Cashman had made a $12 million offer to Youkilis, who would play third base while Alex Rodridguez recovers from hip injury.
The Cleveland Indians are another option for the 33-year-old free agent. Youkilis hit .235 with 19 home runs and 60 RBI for Boston and the Chicago White Sox last season while making $12.25 million.
In other news *
Reliever Koji Uehara has reached an agreement with the Boston Red Sox, pending a physical. The 37-year-old righthander spent the last two seasons with Texas, and Rangers GM Jon Daniels said that he had tried to re-sign him before Uehara decided to accept Boston's offer.
* Free-agent first baseman James Loney and the Tampa Bay Rays completed their $2 million, 1-year contract.
* Reed Johnson, the top pinch-hitter in the National League last season, rejoined the Atlanta Braves with a 1-year deal.
* The Arizona Diamondbacks completed 1-year contracts with free agent Eric Hinske and catcher Wil Nieves. A veteran of 11 major league seasons, Hinske, 35, spent the last 3 years with the Atlanta Braves. He will fill a bench role for the Diamondbacks. Nieves, also 35, wasn't tendered a contract by Arizona last week. He batted .306 with a home run and three RBI in 16 games for the D-backs in 2012.
* The Minnesota Twins agreed to terms with righthanded reliever Jared Burton on a 2-year, $5.5 million contract that includes a club option for the 2015 season. Burton, 31, had five saves and a 2.18 ERA in 62 innings with 16 walks and 55 strikeouts in 2012, his first season with the Twins.
* The uniform Don Larsen was wearing when he pitched the only perfect game in World Series history has sold for $756,000. The former Yankees righthander achieved perfection in Game 5 of the 1956 Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. The pinstriped uniform with No. 18 on the back received 22 bids in an online auction on Steinersports.com. The winning bidder was Pete Siegel, CEO of GottaHaveIt.com. Larsen said he was auctioning off the uniform to pay for his grandchildren's education.