Do you ever wonder if beat writers troll? Kevin Youkilis was in the Yankees clubhouse today. Here's what LoHud thought worth quoting:

Youkilis said he flew a red eye from California and landed in Tampa at 6:30 this morning. He essentially went straight to the minor league complex to work out. "You got to get acclimated," Youkilis said. "I had enough sleep. Starbucks does you well. It was fine. It's like a normal season

Meanwhile, over at ESPN, Wallace Matthews' story on same, ran under this link: "New Yank Youkilis: ‘I'll always be a Red Sock.'" Naturally, the story itself does not suggest that Youkilis is pining for Boston, but rather that he was stating a fact:

"I'll always be a Red Sock," Youkilis said. "To negate all the years I played for the Boston Red Sox, and all the tradition, you look at all the stuff I have piled up at my house and to say I'd just throw it out the window, it's not true.

"Those were great years in Boston. One bad half year doesn't take away from all the great years I had there."

So, Youkilis did actually play for Boston, had success in Boston, just like Wade Boggs before him. Not much of a story there, and the emphasis on it serves to bury a nicely humble response from the third baseman on the problem of replacing Alex Rodriguez: "Alex Rodriguez is one of the best hitters of all time. I'm not going to be that same guy. But I can be a good major league player who can help the team win."

That should be enough. If he does that, who cares who he used to play for?