Kevin Youkilis is the perfect 2013 Yankee.
He’s brittle, battle-tested and willing to work year-to-year.
He easily could blend into a strong clubhouse and help get the Yankees back into the playoffs. Or a year from now, we easily could be saying, “Remember when the Yankees gave Kevin Youkilis $12 million? Yeesh.”
Either way, with Alex Rodriguez’s future in limbo — even A-Rod doesn’t know precisely when he will return — this was a necessary risk for the Yankees to take. It’s a good risk, given Youkilis’ pedigree and the way he performed for the White Sox following his ugly departure from Boston in June.
And there’s reason to think that returning to The Rivalry, albeit on the other side, only will sharpen Youkilis’ baseball senses.
“I think that brings out a lot in every player,” new Boston manager John Farrell told The Post yesterday in Union Beach, N.J., where he took part in a clean-up endeavor near his native Monmouth Beach. “Living on both sides of it, it’ll give him a unique perspective.’’
Farrell spoke before Youkilis had said yes to the Yankees’ high-dollars, low-years offer. The Indians had offered the corner infielder two years and about $18 million, but that possibility came off the board when Cleveland signed veteran Mark Reynolds to play first base.
Upon joining the White Sox, Youkilis put up a .346 on-base percentage and .425 slugging percentage in 80 games, hitting 15 homers and eight doubles in 292 at-bats. Those numbers looked startlingly similar to the 2012 production of … A-Rod, who tallied a .353 OBP and .430 SLG in 122 games with the Yankees, knocking 18 homers and 17 doubles in 463 at-bats.
So if that’s the Youkilis the Yankees are getting, then that will do. It will be a rough replication of A-Rod, and if A-Rod makes it back as hoped, then the team will have another weapon for third base, first base and designated hitter.
If it’s something closer to the guy who recorded a .315 OBP and .377 SLG in 42 games with the Red Sox, getting just four homers and seven doubles in 165 at-bats as Bobby Valentine pushed him aside for talented rookie Will Middlebrooks, then this new relationship won’t go smoothly. This is a good point to note that the Red Sox players, fueled by a virtually instant dislike of Valentine, rallied around Youkilis when Valentine publicly ripped him, yet the fiery Youkilis wasn’t quite Mr. Popular among his teammates prior to that.
The Yankees clubhouse has very strong leadership, however, and you count on the likes of Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and CC Sabathia to guide Youkilis.
In Jeter (who has a player option for 2014), Rivera, Andy Pettitte, Hiroki Kuroda and Youkilis — with Ichiro Suzuki likely to return and perhaps Raul Ibanez, too — the ’13 Yankees will have an army of veterans playing with free agency on the immediate horizon. Youkilis, who turns 34 in March, is the youngest of the bunch, but he hasn’t aged well. His 122 games played in ’12 marked his highest total since 2009 (136).
Given the current market and their self-imposed financial restrictions, the Yankees weren’t going to do any better than Youkilis here. That he knows the terrain should make you slightly more optimistic that this shotgun marriage can succeed.
kdavidoff@nypost.com