Youkilis joins Epstein at Cubs

Former Red Sock, White Sock and Yankee, Kevin Youkilis has joined the Chicago Cubs as special assistent.

Youkilis who played for the Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japan last year, announced his retirement in October 2014.

Youkilis was drafted before Epstein was in charge but he got his call up in 2004 when he played 72 games for the Red Sox. One year later he only played 44 in the majors. His break through year was 2006 when he played 147 games with Boston and hit .279.

During the 2012 season, after a lot of turmoil inside the Red Sox organization, he was traded to the White Sox. In 2013 he spent the season with the Yankees.

In 2014 he went to Japan where he joined Andruw Jones with the Rakuten Golden Eagles. But his stint with the 2013 NPB champion wasn’t a succes, as he hit a lowly .214. At the end of the 2014 season “Youk” announced his retirement.

In Chicago he will join a familiar face from the Red Sox organization. It is not clear what his role of special assistant exactly means, but since he had a very good eye at bat, he may serve as an extra hitting coach for young players during Spring Training. His nickname was “Greek God of Walks” which implies how capable he was to read pitches.

Youkilis finished his ten-year career with a .281 batting average, a .382 on-base-percentage and a .478 slugging percentage.