"Like many players, Kevin Youkilis always heard that being able to field more than one position would hasten his path to the majors. So, during four seasons in the minor leagues, he played his natural third base and occasionally moved across the infield to first.

Turns out, such versatility proved as valuable to the Red Sox as it did to Youkilis.

If not for Youkilis' ability to transition smoothly back to third base after establishing himself as an All-Star at first, general manager Theo Epstein likely wouldn't have been able to trade for slugger Adrian Gonzalez two months ago. But Youkilis' comfort at both positions — and his willingness to move — were as central to the deal as the Red Sox' deep farm system and financial wherewithal to presumably sign Gonzalez to a nine-figure contract extension.

"I know that for Theo it's a big deal having somebody that can do that," Youkilis said by phone yesterday. "Because one year you can get a third baseman, like last year it was (Adrian) Beltre, and then this year, it's Gonzalez (to play first). If you can have more of those players on your team, it definitely helps out knowing they have a lot of different scenarios. (Epstein) has a little more leeway to have players that can play around at different positions."

Youkilis, 31, does more than play around at different positions. Since 2008, his .964 on-base/slugging percentage ranks second in the majors behind only St. Louis Cardinals star Albert Pujols (1.074). And despite coming up as a third baseman, he won a Gold Glove and set a major league record for first basemen with 238 consecutive errorless games, a streak that spanned 2,002 chances.

Returning to third base, where he played for nearly 500 innings as recently as 2009, doesn't figure to be much of an adjustment. Youkilis said he has added more throwing to his offseason routine, and he intends to be more cognizant of taking care of his arm during spring training."