Boston Red Sox Need to Trade Kevin Youkilis to Save Adrian Gonzalez

The dilemma between Kevin Youkilis, Adrian Gonzalez and Will Middlebrooks needs to end. Now.

There can no longer be games where Adrian Gonzalez starts in right field, Kevin Youkilis at first base and Will Middlebrooks at third base. Despite the fact that Gonzalez sometimes moves to first base late in the game while Middlebrooks exits, it just can't happen anymore.

Gonzalez needs to be playing first base every day if the Red Sox want to win. Whether it means that Middlebrooks has to be sent down to Triple-A Pawtucket or Youkilis has to be traded, some sort of action has to happen.

The more likely scenario is that Youkilis will be dealt sometime around the July 31 trade deadline. Let me tell you why this needs to happen first.

It’s obvious that Gonzalez isn’t putting up the numbers that he put up last season when he hit .338/.410/.548 with 27 home runs and 117 RBI.

Through 56 games this season he’s only hitting .263/.316/.406 with four home runs and 29 RBI. Any combination of on-base percentage and slugging percentage that adds up to around .700 is completely unacceptable out of your starting first baseman and “best” hitter.

Sure, he wasn’t playing well to start the season, but let me throw some numbers at you since Gonzalez first played the outfield this season during interleague play.

Since May 19, where he played in right field against the Philadelphia Phillies through Wednesday’s loss against the Baltimore Orioles, Gonzalez has been hitting .243/.239/.371.

In those 17 games since starting to play the outfield, he’s hit just one home run, driven in eight runs and hasn’t walked. Let me rephrase a part of that last statement. Adrian Gonzalez hasn’t drawn a four-pitch walk in 71 plate appearances.

Has playing the outfield gotten in his head? It certainly seems like it has. His lack of production over the last few weeks has caused managed Bobby Valentine to drop him in the lineup to the sixth spot.

If Boston wants to salvage Gonzalez’s production, Youkilis just has to go and has to go now.

There are definitely a lot of clubs that could be in the market for a corner infielder, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman.

If this is the case, why hasn’t Boston jumped at the first opportunity to deal him? He was injured and had minimal trade value. Now, he’s healthy and his trade value is back up. Deal him.

Unless for some crazy reason, Boston is going to give Kevin Youkilis an extension and trade Adrian Gonzalez, which they better not, they have to trade Youkilis.

For the sake of Adrian Gonzalez’s future with this team, trade Kevin Youkilis.