The New York Yankees have agreed to a one-year, $12-million contract with third baseman Kevin Youkilis, according to FoxSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal.

Youkilis, 33, batted a combined .235 with 19 home runs and 60 RBI for the Red Sox and White Sox last season. He will fill in at third for the injured Alex Rodriguez, who will miss the beginning of the 2013 season after undergoing hip surgery.

Youkilis spent the first eight-plus seasons of his MLB career with the Yankees’ archrivals, hitting 133 homers for the Red Sox. He owns a career .283 batting average and .867 OPS.

Source: #Yankees sign Youkilis, one year, $12M.—
Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 11, 2012

To clarify on Youkilis and #Yankees: Two sides in agreement, one year, $12M. Deal almost certainly pending physical.—
Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 11, 2012

Reports of the Yankees’ offer to Youkilis emerged during last week’s winter meetings. The team was also reportedly interested in Jeff Keppinger, who signed a three-year, $12-million deal with the White Sox.

The Indians, Phillies and Dodgers were also linked to Youkilis.

Free agent Mark Reynolds has signed a one-year, $6 million deal with the Cleveland Indians, MLB.com’s Brittany Ghiroli reported Sunday.

Reynolds has signed with Cleveland. One year deal. First reported by @jonheymancbs

— Brittany Ghiroli (@Britt_Ghiroli) December 10, 2012

CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reported that, like last season with the Baltimore Orioles, Reynolds will play first base for the Indians in 2013.

reynolds will play first base with #indians. was terrific at 1b for o’s last year.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) December 10, 2012

Earlier on Sunday, Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported that the Indians viewed Reynolds as a backup plan if they were not able to sign free-agent Kevin Youkilis. Youkilis has been offered a reported one-year deal by the New York Yankees, but has yet to sign.

The 29-year-old Reynolds has put up some big power numbers in his career with a consistently low batting average. He has hit .221 in each of the last two season with the Orioles. He had 23 homers last year in 135 games with Baltimore.

The Yankees reportedly offered free-agent third baseman Kevin Youkilis a one-year, $12 million contract. (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

The Yankees have reportedly made a contract offer to Kevin Youkilis, according to a report from ESPN. General manager Brian Cashman declined to confirm the offer, but sources said a one-year, $12 million deal was offered to the third baseman.

The Yankees are trying to lure Youkilis to replace Alex Rodriguez, who will undergo surgery on the labrum in his left hip in mid-January and is expected to need four to six months of recovery.

The Indians are also interested in Youkilis, a three-time All-Star. Youkilis made $12.3 million last season and hit .235 with 19 home runs and 60 RBIs in 122 games split between the Red Sox and White Sox.

The White Sox extended Jake Peavy for two years and $29 million. (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

The White Sox have announced a contract extension for pitcher Jake Peavy. It’s a two-year deal worth $29 million and includes an option for 2015.

Peavy recently hired agent Jeff Berry of CAA heading into the negotiations after contemplating representing himself.

Peavy, whose seasons with the White Sox have been diminished by injuries or ineffectiveness since being acquired in 2009, was a workhorse and anchor for Chicago’s staff in 2012. Peavy finished 11-2 with a 3.37 ERA while pitching 219 innings in 32 starts

In his 32 starts, Peavy did not fail to pitch at least five innings. He went at least six innings in 28 of those starts and at least seven innings in 16 of them.

The White Sox also announced that they have exercised the 2013 club option on pitcher Gavin Floyd, but declined 2013 club options on third baseman Kevin Youkilis and pitcher Brett Myers.

Youkilis was traded to the White Sox after a teary departure from the Red Sox in June. He hit .236 with 15 home runs, 46 RBI and 47 runs scored in 80 games with the White Sox.

Whether or not to part ways with Peavy, A.J. Pierzynski and Youkilis were just some of the tough decisions facing new White Sox GM Rich Hahn. Pierzynski filed for free agency on Tuesday.

The White Sox rescheduled their Sept. 25 home game for a Jewish holiday. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

The Chicago White Sox, who have a Jewish third baseman in Kevin Youkilis, will reschedule their Sept. 25 night home game against the Cleveland Indians because it falls on the Jewish high-holiday of Yom Kippur, according to Dan Hayes of CSNChicago.com:

Though it wasn’t the team’s original intention to move game time up from 7:10 p.m., the White Sox will gain the services of third baseman Kevin Youkilis, who would not have played.

“I guess that means I can play,” Youkilis said. “I know there was talk that there was something about maybe changing it for the fans on that day. But it’s a good thing for the playoff stretch. I haven’t played (in the past). No, it’s one of those things where I played the night after. But other than that, no.”

The first pitch will now take place at 1:10 p.m. on Sept. 25. The decision came after the team reportedly asked fans to call the ticket office with the request to change the game if they would not be able to attend. Sox manager Robin Ventura supports the decision and said the change will allow for not only Youkilis and fans to attend the game but also the team owner, Jerry Reinsdorf:

“It’s more about the fans too,” Ventura said. “There’s a lot of people that wouldn’t be able to come to the game and probably one of them is our owner so. That’s a big factor. That’s a good enough reason, just the fans. That’s good enough for me.”

The White Sox do not intend to pick up Kevin Youkilis’ $13 million contract option next season. (Layne Murdoch/Getty Images)

The Chicago White Sox likely will decline the $13 million option for next season on Kevin Youkilis, The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo reported Sunday. From Cafardo’s report (it’s buried near the end):

They like Youkilis but probably not enough to pick up a $13 million option on his contract. At least that’s the thinking now, according to one White Sox official. Youkilis entered Saturday hitting .246 with six homers and 22 RBIs since being acquired. Since the White Sox didn’t give up much and aren’t assuming much of his 2012 salary, they’re content with the rental.

The White Sox traded for Youkilis in late June from the Red Sox, in exchange for 25-year-old righty reliever Zach Stewart and 28-year-old utilityman Brent Lillibridge.

Youkilis has been hitting much better since the trade after an anemic start to the season with the Red Sox. He has an .864 OPS with the White Sox, compared with a .692 OPS with the Red Sox, this season. With the White Sox, has also already doubled his home run total from the Red Sox despite playing in nine fewer games.

The Chicago White Sox are interested in trading for pitcher Zack Greinke. (Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

The Chicago White Sox, who already landed third baseman Kevin Youkilis in a midseason trade, are interested in acquiring Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Zack Greinke, reports CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman.

The 28-year-old Greinke is 9-3 with a 3.57 ERA this season and may be the top player to move before the trade deadline. Greinke won the 2009 American League Cy Young Award while with the Kansas City Royals and went 16-6 with Milwaukee last season. Heyman reports that the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Angels, Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles are also in the running to acquire the pitcher.

The White Sox hold a 3.5 game lead in the AL Central. Starters Gavin Floyd and John Danks have both dealt with injuries this season, and the team lost veteran pitcher Mark Buehrle to the Miami Marlins in the offseason. The addition of Greinke could help the team hold off the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians in its division.

Greinke was scratched from his start on Wednesday, but there are no reports that a trade for the pitcher has been completed.

President Barack Obama got playfully booed at a Boston fundraiser Monday night, as he “thanked” Boston Red Sox fans for the trade of infielder Kevin Youkilis to the Chicago White Sox, CBS Boston reported.

Obama’s favorite team is the White Sox. He smiled as the crowd as Symphony Hall began to boo upon his token of appreciation.

“I’m just saying, he’s going to have to change the color of his socks,” Obama said. The crowd responded with more boos and chants of “Youk.”

The Red Sox traded Youkilis to the White Sox on Sunday in exchange for utilityman Brent Lillibridge and pitcher Zach Stewart. Youkilis was a member of the Red Sox’s 2004 and 2007 World Series-winning teams and became a significant fan favorite during his tenure with the Red Sox.

“I didn’t think I was going to get any boos out of here,” Obama joked. “I should not have brought up baseball. I understand. My mistake! My mistake! You’ve got to know your crowd.”

The boos quickly turned to cheers after one supporter yelled, “We still love you!” And overall, the crowd was pretty generous to Obama. Tickets for the fundraiser ranged from $250 to $2,500.

Kevin Youkilis was traded to the Chicago White Sox yesterday after an emotional farewell in Boston. (Winslow Townson, Getty Images)

Kevin Youkilis’ trade from the Red Sox to the White Sox was preceded by a curtain call. Fenway Park rose to give the two-time World Series champion a standing ovation, giving a ceremonious end to a contentious exit from the Rex Sox organization.

Then, within hours of the trade, the Red Sox promoted tickets for his return.

According to a report from USA Today, the Red Sox sent an email to fans promoting Boston’s upcoming series with the White Sox as the return of Youkilis to Fenway Park. The email was sent 16 hours after the trade was made official.

The Red Sox have sold out every home game at Fenway Park for the past nine years, but tickets remained for the White Sox series in July. Boston has struggled this season, and are currently 5 1/2 games out of the lead in the American League East.

After the Boston Red Sox traded infielder Kevin Youkilis to the Chicago White sox, longtime teammate David Ortiz took to Twitter to send off his friend.

Goodbye to one of my good teammate and friend K. Youk it was a honor being your teammate bro….. Good luck….34

— David Ortiz (@davidortiz) June 25, 2012

With Youkilis now gone, Ortiz is the only Red Sox player remaining from the 2004 World Series-winning team. Youkilis was dealt to the White Sox on Sunday in exchange for pitcher Zach Stewart and utility man Brent Lillibridge.

After Youkilis hit an RBI triple in his last at-bat as a member of the Red Sox on Sunday in their 9-4 win over the Atlanta Braves, Ortiz urged him out of the dugout to accept a curtain call from the fans at Fenway Park.

Nick Punto, a first-year teammate of Youkilis and good friend for nearly 10 years, told the Boston Herald after the game that he was excited for Youkilis to get a fresh start.

“You feel for him, the way it went down. Actually, I’m excited for him. I think he’s going to be happier, being closer to home (Cincinnati). He’s having a baby. He can clear his mind and start fresh.”

UPDATE (5:35 p.m. ET) – Youkilis had officially been traded to the Chicago White Sox, per tweets from the Boston Globe‘s Nick Cafardo and CBS Sports‘ Jon Heyman. Heyman and others also report that the deal includes pitching prospect Zach Stewart, utility player Brent Lillibridge and about $5.5 million in cash in exchange for Youkilis.

Heard stewart and lillibridge go to red sox in youk deal—
Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) June 24, 2012

#redsox send a bit over $5.5M to chicago to complete youkilis deal. #chisox—
Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) June 24, 2012

Earlier reports from today’s Boston Red Sox game against the Atlanta Braves made it clearer than ever that third baseman Kevin Youkilis would be traded away from Beantown. After hitting a triple in the bottom of the seventh inning, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine called pinch runner Nick Punto on to replace Youkilis. The result was a Fenway Park curtain call for the man that has spent his entire eight-year career with the Red Sox, chronicled in a series of tweets from the Boston Globe‘s Pete Abraham.

Youkilis leaves the game for a runner (his friend Nick Punto) after a triple. Big opvation from the crowd.—
Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) June 24, 2012

Bobby V pointed Youkilis out of the dugout for a curtain call.—
Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) June 24, 2012

Sure seems like Youkilis just got traded. Scoreboard now showing highlights of his career.—
Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) June 24, 2012

Youk saluted the crowd, blew a kiss, hugged everybody. If he's not traded now it'll sure be strange—
Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) June 24, 2012

The signs of an impending Youkilis trade continued after the game ended with a 9-4 Red Sox victory.

Nameplate gone from Youk's locker.—
Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) June 24, 2012

Signed lineup card was put in Youk's stuff that is being shipped to him.—
Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) June 24, 2012

Youkilis started this afternoon’s game after being benched for the Red Sox’s last several outings in favor of rookie Will Middlebrooks. Youkilis hit 2-4 and had one RBI in what would end up being his last at-bat in a Red Sox uniform.

Kevin Youkilis has been benched by Boston, but could be on a new team before long. (Winslow Townson, Getty Images)

A trade for the so-called “Greek god of walks” could happen well before the July 31 MLB trading deadline. According to multiple reports from the Boston Herald, Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis is on his way out of Beantown, with an inside source claiming such a trade could happen “sooner rather than later.”

Youkilis has struggled so far in 2012, batting .225 with a .311 on-base percentage, down from his career averages of .286 and .388, respectively. The Red Sox have benched Youkilis for the past three games in favor of rookie Will Middlebrooks. According to another report from the Boston Herald, the benching decision hasn’t sat well with Youkilis.

“There was no conversation. And I’ll leave it at that,” Youkilis said. “I don’t want to start up anything. There was no conversation, that was it. It has been addressed. I’m just coming in here, getting my work done, if I need to pinch hit and play the game, I’ll come in and play.”

The Chicago White Sox are understood to have the best chance of landing Youkilis, although the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, and Los Angeles Dodgers have also shown interest in the three-time All Star.

The Chicago White Sox appear to be the favorite in negotiations to land Boston Red Sox infielder Kevin Youkilis, but the Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates are also making a strong push to land him.

CBS Sports’ Scott Miller reports that a “handful of clubs” continue to be interested and in negotiations with the Red Sox, including the Pirates and Dodgers. The Pittsburgh Tribune Review‘s Rob Biertempfel reported on Twitter that the Pirates also remain a player in the negotiations.

I’ve heard from multiple sources that Youkillis talks moving very fast today and#RedSox are still talking with #Pirates and couple others

— Rob Biertempfel (@BiertempfelTrib) June 23, 2012

Youkilis sat on the bench for the second day in a row on Friday, as he continues to be less and less in the Red Sox’s plans and the urgency to deal him picks up. The 23-year-old Will Middlebrooks has emerged as the team’s primary option at third base, as he is batting .319 with a .916 OPS in 39 games. While battling injuries for much of the year, Youkilis is batting only .225 with a .670 OPS.

Miller reported that the Red Sox will have to take on almost all of the money owed to Youkilis for the rest of the contract, in order to get rid of him.

Meanwhile, Youkilis is already being asked about his best memories with the Red Sox, The Boston Globe‘s Peter Abraham reports:

Youkilis when asked about his memories with #RedSox: “I’m still here. I’m not dead.”

— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) June 23, 2012

With the Boston Red Sox apparently renewing efforts to trade third baseman Kevin Youkilis, ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets that a handful of teams are in discussions with the Red Sox, and that one team may be in the driver’s seat.

A handful of teams involved in Youkilis talks; one official involved believes that White Sox might be best positioned for a deal.—
Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) June 23, 2012

Olney later added that Youkilis would replace the struggling Orlando Hudson in the Chicago lineup:

If White Sox are leaders to get Youkilis, as some execs suspect, he'd replace O-Dog, who is hitting under .200. baseball-reference.com/players/h/huds…—
Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) June 23, 2012

It’s unclear what the Red Sox might be able to get from the White Sox, but Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe wrote that Boston will probably have to pay most of the rest of Youkilis’ 2012 salary and the $1 million to buy out his 2013 option. If that’s the case, the Red Sox might still be able to extract a mid-level prospect.

Kevin Youkilis could be flipping to a new uniform soon, as trade talks have intensified between the Boston Red Sox and several clubs. (Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

The Boston Red Sox could soon trade third baseman Kevin Youkilis as talks have picked up steam recently, Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi reported Monday night. One National League executive said Youkilis is being shopped “everywhere.” From the Fox Sports report:

The Red Sox have made clear that (a) Youkilis is available and (b) they are willing to include cash to facilitate a better player return. In response, a number of clubs have indicated that they have interest in acquiring the three-time All-Star. …

The Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians and Pittsburgh Pirates are among the teams with varying levels of interest in acquiring Youkilis, sources say.

The 33-year-old Youkilis is posting easily the worst numbers of his career this season, though he has been hampered by a lower back strain for most of the year. He’s hitting just .213 with a .301 on-base percentage. He has four homers and 13 RBI in 39 games. He is currently mired in a dreadful 1-for-21 slump.

Fox Sports reported that Youkilis is still due about $7 million this season. He has a $13 million club option for next season. Or his next team could buy out his contract next season for $1 million.

One team to which Fox Sports says he won’t be traded: his hometown Cincinnati Reds. Third baseman Scott Rolen was activated from the disabled list on Monday, and 26-year-old third baseman Todd Frazier had also been playing well while Rolen was out of the lineup.

Despite the rumors, Kevin Youkilis is not being traded after all, said the Red Sox general manager. (Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Kevin Youkilis is no longer on the trading block, according to comments Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington made on Wednesday as a guest on WEEI Sports Radio Boston. In the report from Kirk Minihane of WEEI, Cherington said the trade talk is outdated:

Cherington acknowledged the emergence of Will Middlebrooks and the contractual status of Youkilis makes for a “perfect storm” of trade talk but denied that the club is intent on moving the veteran infielder.

“The reality is that there’s nothing going on,” Cherington said. “We’ve talked to several teams about several things, and teams have called to check in on Youk. That was a while back, probably right before he went on his rehab assignment. Right now we’re focused on getting Kevin going, he’s an important part of the team and we know that when he’s clicking and feeling good he makes our lineup very tough to pitch to.”

On June 1, the Red Sox reportedly told teams they definitely intend to trade Youkilis, according to a tweet from Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com. According to Minihane, the Pirates and Dodgers were among the teams interested in Youkilis, who has struggled this season batting .219 for the Red Sox.

The Boston Red Sox are telling other teams they plan to trade veteran infielder Kevin Youkilis, reports CBS Sports senior baseball writer Danny Knobler. 

Red Sox are telling teams they definitely intend to trade Youkilis.

—
  (@DKnobler) June 01, 2012

The 33-year-old Youkilis has struggled the past two years. In 27 games this season, he is hitting only .250 with four home runs. Nicknamed “The Greek God of Walks” in the book Moneyball, Youkilis’ on-base percentage has also plummeted to .318. He has walked only eight times this year.

In 2011, Youkilis made the All-Star team but had his worst season since his rookie year. He hit .258 with 17 homers.

The Boston Red Sox have placed third baseman Kevin Youkilis on the 15-day disabled list with a lower back strain and promoted promising youngster Will Middlebrooks to fill his roster spot, according to Ian Browne of MLB.com.

Youkilis’ move to the DL is retroactive to Sunday, so he will be eligible to return on May 14. He’s optimistic he’ll be ready by that date.

“I’ve just had an irritated joint or whatever in the back that has been happening for a little bit of time now,” Youkilis said. “Basically, what we’ve done is, the last couple of days have been bad, and we’ve tried to get through it, and we’ve made great strides from yesterday to today.”

Youkilis has had a bad start in 2012, partly attributed to the groin injury he battled earlier this season. He’s hitting .219 overall with two home runs and nine RBIs.

Middlebrooks, 23, is widely considered the top prospect in the Red Sox’ system. He was hitting .333 with nine home runs and 27 RBIs at Triple-A Pawtucket.

“You know, he’s been hot in Triple-A and played very well in spring training,” Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said. “He definitely adds a little interest and hopefully gives us a little something we can look forward to.”

Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine reportedly apologized to star third basemen Kevin Youkilis today, according to ESPN. Valentine had told WHDH-TV’s Sports Xtra Sunday that he didn’t think star third baseman Kevin Youkilis was “physically or emotionally into the game.”

Valentine expressed to reporters today that he “totally apologized,” but that he wasn’t sure if Youkilis accepted it. “It was sincere,” he said.

Youkilis told reporters earlier today that Valentine’s comments confused him.

“I’m more confused than anything, because I think everyone knows I go out and play the game as hard as I can,” the third baseman said. “That’s just my style of play. I never was blessed with the raw tools … so I’ve always had to use playing the game as hard and with full effort my whole life. I don’t know any better, so that’s just the way I play.”

The Red Sox are currently 4-5 this season, and have won their past three games in a row. Youkilis is off to a slow start, hitting .200/.265/.233 with just one extra-base hit.

Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said yesterday on WHDH-TV’s Sports Xtra that he didn’t think star third baseman Kevin Youkilis was “physically or emotionally into the game.” Youkalis told reporters today that his new manager’s comments confused him.

“That’s not what I see,” Youkilis said, according to WEEI.com. “I go out every day and play as hard as I can. I take every ground ball in the morning, take every at-bat like it’s my last. I don’t think my game has changed at all. I still get upset with myself and still get mad. That’s just not how I go about my game of baseball. Never have, never will.”

“I’m more confused than anything, because I think everyone knows I go out and play the game as hard as I can. That’s just my style of play. I never was blessed with the raw tools … so I’ve always had to use playing the game as hard and with full effort my whole life. I don’t know any better, so that’s just the way I play.”

Valentine took over as the Red Sox manager this season after the team failed to make the playoffs in 2011, despite a massive increase in the franchise’s payroll. Several reports emerged following the club’s late season collapse that certain members of the Boston roster had lost focus during the year. Many viewed the hiring of Valentine, known for his feisty personality, as a move to remedy that problem.

The Red Sox are currently 4-5 this season, and have won their past three games in a row. Youkilis is off to a slow start, hitting .200/.265/.233 with just one extra-base hit.