Drew on board

[Cityofchampions33]

Good call, I mean Damons wearin out as well, and personally, if Coco regroups from last year, I call it money better spent.

[a700hitter]

I must have taken a long slumber last night, I though it was 2006, not 2009.

 

The Damon signing, and Drew signing, won't be determined mistake/non-mistake until they run their course (or someone goes out for substantial time). We'll see in a couple of years.

I disagree. This was a miscalcualtion of the market. It was also a mistake for them to be blind-sided by the Yankees. There is absolutely no factual or other basis to beleive that the oft-injured Drew is a better bet than Damon. It was a mistake if for no other reason than they had to pay dearly to restock the OF with a productive offensive player. We already had one. If Damon falls off a cliff and Drew finally reaches his potential it will be nothing more than luck. I don't think either of those things will happen.

[a700hitter]

Good call' date=' I mean Damons wearin out as well, and personally, if Coco regroups from last year, I call it money better spent.[/quote']How id Damon wearing out... by hitting a career high in HRs laqst year. Please save the Yankee stadium short RF argument, I watch almost every Yankee game and I saw almost every Damon HR. Yankee stadium gave him very few HRs-- certainly no more than 4.

[jacksonianmarch]

Good call' date=' I mean Damons wearin out as well, and personally, if Coco regroups from last year, I call it money better spent.[/quote']

 

Ignorance is bliss.

[Cocos Disciples]

Yeah he hit some upper deck shots. It wasn't all the Stadium.

 

But I think in a couple years we won't regret not signing him, or at least not as much.

[jacksonianmarch]

Yeah he hit some upper deck shots. It wasn't all the Stadium.

 

But I think in a couple years we won't regret not signing him, or at least not as much.

 

vs Coco? Dont forget, the sox had to give away a few guys to get Cocout while Damon was on the team already.

[a700hitter]

Yeah he hit some upper deck shots. It wasn't all the Stadium.

 

But I think in a couple years we won't regret not signing him, or at least not as much.

In a couple of years his contract will almost be over and we will still have to suffer through 3 more years of Drew.

[Beckett95]

I dont believe in these but heres Drew's PECOTA projection

 

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=48

 

.286/.395/.472 (.867 OPS.) 14 HR

[Cityofchampions33]

Ignorance is bliss.

 

Ahh shove it, if your going to disagree, at least make a point like a700, don't give me this "Ignorance is bliss" s***. HRs last year have nothing to do with how he's going to be next year or maybe the year after. Yeah, he can hit 20 HRs every year if he wanted to, he did it with us, but I and every other Sox fan should know he physically wasn't so red hot in 05 or 06 and his style of play won't serve him well if he wishes to play beyond 36.

[Beckett95]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-redsox-drew&prov=ap&type=lgns

 

says his contract contains clauses that could lower the value of the fifth year of the deal based on how much he plays in previous seasons.

[a700hitter]

Ahh shove it' date=' if your going to disagree, at least make a point like a700, don't give me this "Ignorance is bliss" s***. HRs last year have nothing to do with how he's going to be next year or maybe the year after. Yeah, he can hit 20 HRs every year if he wanted to, he did it with us, but I and every other Sox fan should know he physically wasn't so red hot in 05 or 06 and his style of play won't serve him well if he wishes to play beyond 36.[/quote']But he only has to play well until age 36 when his contract runs out.

[BoSox21]

Since it is just about official that JD Drew is a Red Sox, I will keep an open mind about him and give him the benefit of the doubt. Clearly, the market is such that $14 mil today isn't what $14 mil was as recent as 2-3 years ago

 

the 72 games he played in '05 is really an abberation when you look at his career numbers and he's been relatively healthy 2 out of the last 3 years. He's got decent power, great ability to get on-base and is probably as good as a 5 guy in the lineup as we could've hoped for

 

but like I said earlier, my perception of this deal hinges greatly on the outcome of this Manny thing

[rician blast]

I posted a few days ago that my projection for Drew, if he played the same # of games as last year, was 18HRs...a little better than the PECOTA projection someone linked to.

[Cityofchampions33]

If Damon wants to go ahead and hit HRs then thats fine by me, thats not his job, which is leading off. Last year he had a .285 average, his OBP was horrible for a lead-off guy at .359 , and those stats ahve been coming down sicne 04. Hell even Drew would be a better lead-off guy then him. If Damon wants to compete with Drew at HRs and RBIs, I choose Drew.

[a700hitter]

If Damon wants to go ahead and hit HRs then thats fine by me' date=' thats not his job, which is leading off. Last year he had a .285 average, his OBP was horrible for a lead-off guy at .359 , and those stats ahve been coming down sicne 04. Hell even Drew would be a better lead-off guy then him. If Damon wants to compete with Drew at HRs and RBIs, I choose Drew.[/quote']He's still got good speed and he almost never hits into a DP. He's a catalyst for the offense. He rarely hits into DPs so he doesn't kill too many rallies, and he sees a ton of pitches.

[jacksonianmarch]

Ahh shove it' date=' if your going to disagree, at least make a point like a700, don't give me this "Ignorance is bliss" s***. HRs last year have nothing to do with how he's going to be next year or maybe the year after. Yeah, he can hit 20 HRs every year if he wanted to, he did it with us, but I and every other Sox fan should know he physically wasn't so red hot in 05 or 06 and his style of play won't serve him well if he wishes to play beyond 36.[/quote']

 

Damon played hard in CF, something that Drew was not doing. The guy has questions about his work ethic. Damon played through injuries, Drew never did. Drew has been run out of 2 cities and pushed his way out a third. He has never stayed healthy for 2 seasons in a row. He has mediocre stats in LA and will be playing in an even worse lefty hitting park in BOS. He is no longer speedy, while Damon is still very fast.

 

How in the hell does a guy get 14mil a season when he will be hitting #5 in the order, yet he only hits 20HR in a full season. Damon gets 13 mil as a leadoff man and has the added bonus of hitting 20+ HRs.

[Cityofchampions33]

Not hitting into a lot of DPs isn't exactly hard for lead-off hitter when 1/4 of their ABs have no runners on. I'll give him the pitches part, but you coudl figrue Drew see's his share when he has his OBP 100+ points more than his average.

[jacksonianmarch]

actually, Charlie Steiner, the broadcaster in LA, says that a big knock on him is that he takes way too many 3rd strikes. His patience is a detriment at times.

[Cocos Disciples]

actually' date=' Charlie Steiner, the broadcaster in LA, says that a big knock on him is that he takes way too many 3rd strikes. His patience is a detriment at times.[/quote']

 

You're right. It was a horrible, horrible signing by us. How dare we try to compete. Talk to me when you pay $15 mil for a 14-13, 4.20 ERA, 1.44 WHIP player.

[jacksonianmarch]

You're right. It was a horrible' date=' horrible signing by us. How dare we try to compete. Talk to me when you pay $15 mil for a 14-13, 4.20 ERA, 1.44 WHIP player.[/quote']

 

Yeah, an ace pitcher who has one bad yr (actually one bad start to a yr) vs a guy who was a career underachieving pussy. I'll take the pitcher any day of the week.

[a700hitter]

Not hitting into a lot of DPs isn't exactly hard for lead-off hitter when 1/4 of their ABs have no runners on. I'll give him the pitches part' date=' but you coudl figrue Drew see's his share when he has his OBP 100+ points more than his average.[/quote']He hits into very few DPs comparative to other lead-off hitters, which is why he was such a big pickup for the Yankees. Jeter as a lead-off hitter was hitting into 3 times the # of DPs that Damon hits into. The only lead-off hitter that can hold a candle to Damon is Ichiro. He is one of the very few best in the business. Denying it is just foolishness. Drew, on the other hand, is not one of the few best.

[Cityofchampions33]

Hes not underacheiving he just ahs a laid back attitude, and his defense is superb. Maybe he takes too many 3rd strikes, but he makes up for it by getting those walks.

[example1]

As far as taking too many pitches, would it hurt to have drew bat 2nd or 3rd where that type of approach sets up ducks on the pond? What the Sox will need is for Drew to be swinging for the fences (or at least the gaps) to get Manny or Papi in.

[jacksonianmarch]

As far as taking too many pitches' date=' would it hurt to have drew bat 2nd or 3rd where that type of approach sets up ducks on the pond? What the Sox will need is for Drew to be swinging for the fences (or at least the gaps) to get Manny or Papi in.[/quote']

 

Drew is being paid to be a run producer and the sox dont have a surplus of those players. He will need to occupy a run producing slot.

[a700hitter]

Drew is being paid to be a run producer and the sox dont have a surplus of those players. He will need to occupy a run producing slot.

... and he will. That's Theo's plan for him.

[SCM33]

If Manny stays, I think its a great deal. 14M is alot, but what could you expect with this ridiculous market this offseason? Typical Sox/Theo type hitter.....can hit 300, get on base, solid OPS, walks a ton.

 

While this team probably wont put up quite as many runs as they did a few years back, they will have a solid lineup.

 

Things to look for:

Crisp having a season similar to those solid ones he had in Cleveland.

Varitek having a rebound season, he cant possibly hit worse than he did this year.

Lowell putting up solid numbers.

Lugo providing more offense we have gotten from the SS position since Nomar left.

ANY contribution out of 2B.

 

The infield defense takes a little hit, but the atrocious OF got a little better.

WMP coming of the bench to spell anyone is a better option than Gabe Kapler, although Id still like to have him back for defensive/baserunning situations.

[riverside sluggers]

I can dig it. I mean I know it's ludacris' date=' but as stated, the market is setting these trends, and supply and demand has taken over. I like Drew, hopefully he can last this contract and stay healthy, because when healthy he is one of the more talented OFs in the game.[/quote']

 

As of recently, actual health concerns havent popped up for Drew

 

2004- 145 games

2005- 72 games (missed time due to being hit by a pitch on the wrist)

2006- 146 games

 

Lugo & Drew within hours of each other really got my day going at work. In Drew, we are getting quite the upgrade over the dirt dog Trot. I really hope they keep Manny now, a 3-4-5 of Ortiz-Manny-Drew is pretty lethal on paper. He's also an underrated defensive player who can play both CF & RF. As I did with Lugo, welcome to Red Sox Nation JD Drew!! :thumbsup:

 

EDIT: Quick question here... Drew for all his major league career has worn one # and that is Trot Nixon's 7. Do the Sox please the fans and hold off from giving his # to his replacement, or please the free agent they just signed to a $$ contract?

[adam123]

i think this is a sighn that mannys going no where .. it was just a plow to keep him happy .

 

but jd drew man he could be something i ithink he knows mannys gonna stay

[adam123]

we need to get rid of willy mo pop up ..he has no glove and a stick with a hole in it

[schillingouttheks]

we need to get rid of willy mo pop up ..he has no glove and a stick with a hole in it

 

That's what happens when you're not given any time to mature in the bigs. He gets next to no playing time and never gets the chance to better himself. Give the guy a goddamn break.