"Kevin Youkilis won a Gold Glove playing first base in 2007 and has become one of the best players in baseball at that position. But in his heart, he has always been a third baseman.

So the news that the Red Sox acquired Adrian Gonzalez to play first base was welcomed.

"This is definitely a cool thing for me,'' said Youkilis. "I'm ready to play third base. I've wanted to play third base for a while."