There is no doubt Kevin Youkilis has benefitted from the trade that sent him from the Red Sox to the White Sox.

Going into play Wednesday, Youkilis is hitting .319 with four home runs and 18 RBIs in just 18 games with the White Sox. The 18 RBIs are four more than he had in 42 games with the Red Sox.

Youkilis, of couse, wasn’t just given to the White Sox for free. Boston got two players in return in Brent Lillibridge and Zach Stewart. Unlike Youkilis, however, these players have not flourished with a change of scenery.

Lillibridge originally joined the Red Sox, but was sent down to Pawtucket earlier this week, joining Stewart to make room for the return of Carl Crawford.

In 10 games with the Red Sox, the utility man was just 2-for-16 and Pedro Ciriaco’s impressive play made it difficult to find a spot for Lillibridge in the lineup.

Lillibridge wasn’t exactly on fire with Chicago either, hitting just .175 in 49 games.

Stewart, meanwhile, was sent directly to Pawtucket and has made four starts with the PawSox. The right-hander is 1-1 with a 3.74 ERA and the 25-year-old does have some upside, as he was the Blue Jays top prospect just a few years ago.

Obviously the White Sox are the ones that have made out the best in the trade thus far and it certainly raises the question of whether or not the Red Sox could have gotten more for Youkilis?

The answer to that questions is yes, but not at the time.

At the time of the trade, Youkilis was hitting just .233 with four home runs in 42 games, while Will Middlebrooks was in the midst of going on a tear, hitting .316 with six home runs in the month of May alone.

Inserting the struggling Youkilis into the lineup was hurting the team. It either forced Middlebrooks out of the lineup, or caused players into unfamiliar positions like Adrian Gonzalez in right field.

Youkilis playing in games was not putting the best lineup on the field and with that a deal needed to be made.

Middlebrooks has cooled off a bit since the trade, but still has been a formable third baseman putting up impressive numbers in his rookie season.

Gonzalez is back full time at his natural position of first base. That could have something to do with his recent play at the plate. He has recorded hits in 21 of his last 22 games going into last night.

With the way Youkilis is playing now, the Red Sox could have gotten more in return, but there is little evidence to suggest he would have put up the same numbers if he had stayed with Boston. He wasn’t going to be playing everyday and he just wasn’t happy anymore in Boston.

There should be no second-guessing this trade, it needed to be made and it needed to be made at the time that it did.

Ortiz to DL

David Ortiz will be placed on the 15-day disabled list after injuring his right Achilles while rounding the bases after Adrian Gonzalez’ home run Monday night. The second opinion Ortiz received on the injury was in line with the initial tests.

Mauro Gomez was called up from Pawtucket and manager Bobby Valentine said to WEEI radio that he will take a “mix and match” approach to the DH slot over the next two weeks.

Crawford to Miami, Hanley to Boston?

USA Today and FOX Sports reported that outfielder Carl Crawford has been offered up in trade talks to the Miami Marlins. Hanley Ramirez and Heath Bell were mentioned as two players that the Red Sox would receive in return.

The Red Sox strongly denied that Crawford was being shopped.