The closest Kevin Youkilis has ever come to touching the Yankees’ hallowed pinstripes is every time he took a menacing step to the mound after another Joba Chamberlain pitch got away.
But Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano doesn’t think that would be a problem should Youkilis choose to take New York’s one-year, $12 million offer and play in the Bronx next season.
“I’ve gotten a chance to talk to him, and he’s a nice guy,” Cano said, according to Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe. “I’ve had a chance to meet him at the All-Star game, and he always seemed cool in talking with everybody. There’s some guys that, the way they play the game, you say this guy is not a nice person. But he’s a great person.”
Thoughts of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry, which include a long history of Youkilis bringing the best of his fired-up game against New York, didn’t seem to mean much to Cano. Even the 17 times Youkilis has been hit by a Yankees pitch — the best of them from Chamberlain — didn’t dissuade him from thinking Youkilis would fit in fine.
“I don’t think [Chamberlain] ever hit him on purpose,” Cano said. “I would tell you that he would be the first guy who would be happy to see him on our team because we know he’s the kind of guy who would help us a lot because he’s been in a situation like that before.
“He can hit, and he plays the game the right way.”
Youkilis is also weighing a two-year, $18 million offer from the Indians in an offseason where he’s had plenty of attention.
