"If Youk returns in a week and is ready to go, he plays third base. He's been here. It's great that Will has come up and done a good job and we like him a lot and he's a big part of our future. But Youk's on the DL and he didn't lose his job because he got hurt." -- Ben Cherington

Walk me through this, because I'm missing something.

Will Middlebrooks -- with an OPS of 1.070, four home runs and 13 RBI in 10 games -- is going to be sent down to Pawtucket because Kevin Youkilis got hurt again? That's how it works in professional sports? 

If that's true, I have a new appreciation for Drew Bledsoe. I mean, if every athlete keeps his job when he comes back from an injury, I guess Bledsoe must've won Super Bowl XXXVI. Not sure why that Brady guy was so emotional after the game.

Look, this obviously isn't Brady vs. Bledsoe, redux. What we've seen over the last couple of weeks could turn out to be the peak in the career of Will Middlebrooks. And Kevin Youkilis could come back, stay healthy the rest of the season and produce at a level he did a couple of years ago.

But does anyone really believe either scenario is going to happen?

Right now, the Red Sox are a better team with Middlebrooks in the lineup and Youkilis on the bench. We've been told by Those Who Know for a couple of years now that Middlebrooks is very much the real deal, and for once it seems they are right. He pounded Triple-A pitching before his May 2 recall -- .677 slugging percentage, nine homers -- and hasn't stopped since he showed up at Fenway. Another homer on Sunday and Middlebrooks now has nine-extra base hits in 10 games. This has all the signs of a ready-for-prime-time player getting his chance and taking full advantage of it.

And his reward for being the most productive hitter in the lineup at a time when the Sox desperately needed it? May I interest you in Pawtucket, the birthplace of silent film star Ruth Clifford and former "Good Morning America" host David Hartman? 

Kevin Youkilis is 33 years old but seems trapped in a 50-year-old body. This is his fourth straight year with at least one DL stint, and he's coming off perhaps his worst season as a regular. And, P.S., he's been terrible in an admittedly small sample size this year, a .219/.292./.344 split in 18 games after looking like a "Win a chance to be a Red Sox!" contest winner in spring training (and don't put that dopey idea past NESN for next year). 

It's time for a change. When you eliminate things like ego, salary, trade value and previous history, it only makes sense. Sending Middlebrooks back to Triple-A is a waste of his time and his talent. And keeping Youkilis around in a prominent role is delaying what has become increasingly obvious.

But this is the real world, and ego, salary, trade value and track records matter a great deal. Kevin Youkilis is saying all the right things today, but it'll be a different song if he comes back and sits behind Middlebrooks. And there isn't a shot in hell that John Henry is going to pay Youkilis $12 million to watch Middlebrooks play third base. 

(And for the record, I'm OK with Cherington dismissing any idea of moving Middlebrooks to the outfield. It's another example of the hideous miscommunication that exists between the manager and the front office -- Bobby Valentine talked about Middlebrooks as a possible option in the outfield and Cherington shot it down right away hours later; where else does stuff like this happen? -- but it makes sense. Middlebrooks is a third baseman, there's no reason to mess with that right now. Just throwing a guy in the outfield sounds great until the guy actually is in the outfield.)

And I suppose it's possible that if Youkilis comes back and hits for a couple of weeks another team might be interested in a deal, provided the Sox eat some salary. Possible, if only because there's always a GM ready and willing to make a panic trade. And that's what the Sox would be banking on, that's why they are going to take Middlebrooks out of the lineup once Youkilis returns. 

Youkilis is now miscast. He should be a designated hitter, not an everyday third baseman. But that's really not going to happen here, and there's zero shot of Youkilis at first base. So the Sox are, seemingly, stuck for the moment. If Youkilis stays healthy -- even if he continues to looked cooked, continues to hit .230 -- he's going to play and Middlebrooks will continue to be wasted in Pawtucket, though perhaps you and I disagree on the significance of winning the North Division of the International League. And that's only because Youkilis is making $12 million; if it was $1.2 million he'd already be gone. Bizarre logic, but that's how it works in pro sports: Teams will admit mistakes only if those mistakes are cheap. The bigger the bust, the better chance he sticks around longer.

Will Middlebrooks isn't perfect, not by the longest shot. He's struggled in the field, has a disturbing habit of not exactly busting his ass up the line on routine ground balls, and has been out of the lineup a couple of times with hamstring issues. But this clearly is a big-time hitter, and he's the best option today, tomorrow and the rest of 2012 at third base. Forget the future, Middlebrooks should be playing every day right now.

But he won't, and it's because Kevin Youkilis has been hurt and unproductive.

And I'm still missing something.