Drew out for season?

[TheKilo]

http://www.courant.com/sports/baseball/redsox/hc-redsox0920.artsep20,0,3994533.story

 

J.D. Drew acknowledged that his lingering back problem could end his season. He hasn't played since mid-August and pain and stiffness remain because of a herniated disk.

 

"It's frustrating," Drew said. "It's getting close to the end. I know the training staff is scratching their heads. Maybe another epidural. One day it's going to get better. I don't know what day it's going to be."

 

Like him or not, this team is better with a healthy JD Drew in the lineup. This is a real unfortunate development, especially since we now have to go with 2/3 of Ellsbury, Crisp, and Kotsay.

 

Of course, we'll hear the idiots say "He should play!!!1!!" not acknowledging the severity of his injury.

[BoSox21]

im not gonna judge cause a back is a tough injury to deal with

[a700hitter]

The team needs him badly. Have they tried traction at all?

[NateGrey]

. it's only baseball, hope yo get better drew .

[a700hitter]

I guess he'll continue to average 110 games/season for the duration fo his $70 million Red Sox contract.

[BSN07]

I guess he'll continue to average 110 games/season for the duration fo his $70 million Red Sox contract.

 

The Sky is falling, the sky is falling........

 

By my count he avg. a shade under 130 games a season so far in his Sox Career. Granted its not 162, but not many reach that number, 145 would be nice.

 

Have you ever had a herniated disk? I'm 26 and had one and couldn't move for two months and it still bothers me till this day.

 

It's unfortunate, but you can tell he wants to be in there. When early on in his career he sat for questionable reasons. This is different, I think Drew really enjoys playing in Boston, and has changed his out look on the game. If he could be in there he would be.

 

So instead of kicking him while hes lying next to that dead horse you been beating since he signed that 70M contract, hope for a full recovery and be thankful with what he can contribute in the future.

 

 

He might not be in there in October, but if not for Drew, the Sox would not even be close to the Playoffs, he carried this team for a good 4-6 weeks.

 

 

In other news, does anyone have the details on Drews contract, maybe he won't hit his required games played and the Sox can opt out. Then maybe A700 can sleep at night.

[TheKilo]

Well, he played in 110 more games than Curt Schilling.

[a700hitter]

The Sky is falling, the sky is falling........

 

By my count he avg. a shade under 130 games a season so far in his Sox Career. Granted its not 162, but not many reach that number, 145 would be nice.

 

Have you ever had a herniated disk? I'm 26 and had one and couldn't move for two months and it still bothers me till this day.

 

It's unfortunate, but you can tell he wants to be in there. When early on in his career he sat for questionable reasons. This is different, I think Drew really enjoys playing in Boston, and has changed his out look on the game. If he could be in there he would be.

 

So instead of kicking him while hes lying next to that dead horse you been beating since he signed that 70M contract, hope for a full recovery and be thankful with what he can contribute in the future.

 

 

He might not be in there in October, but if not for Drew, the Sox would not even be close to the Playoffs, he carried this team for a good 4-6 weeks.

 

 

In other news, does anyone have the details on Drews contract, maybe he won't hit his required games played and the Sox can opt out. Then maybe A700 can sleep at night.

The Sox can only opt out if he misses games due to his shoulder condition. I think the guy is a great player, but he is fragile. He always has been fragile. He could win the Mr. Glass award. I would much rather have had Abreu, but the FO messed that up. He's a short term commitment and he plays every day. That's too bad about your back, but knowing about your condition I wouldn't sign you either.

[a700hitter]

By my count he avg. a shade under 130 games a season so far in his Sox Career. Granted its not 162' date=' but not many reach that number, 145 would be nice.[/quote']He's got 3 more years on his contract to drag down that average.

[BSN07]

He's got 3 more years on his contract to drag down that average.

 

Or bring it up. Your a glass half empty guy aren't you? LOL

 

Yes he has his fragile times. But if you know this then it should be expected and you should not be bothered or surprised by it.

[rician blast]

Yes he has his fragile times. But if you know this then it should be expected and you should not be bothered or surprised by it.

 

"Fragile at times" = fragile, period.

 

I will agree with your point regarding expectations. I had stated before that Drew is what he is, a 130 game per year guy who'll give you nice...not great...but nice numbers and play some defense and be professional on the field and off. I think I even said I'm ok with 130-140 games, and a line of .275, 20, 85.

 

I fear this latest setback could make him much less than that and at $14m per year, that aint good.

[jacksonianmarch]

Or bring it up. Your a glass half empty guy aren't you? LOL

 

Yes he has his fragile times. But if you know this then it should be expected and you should not be bothered or surprised by it.

 

back injuries like herniated discs are typically not a one shot deal. Guys in their early 30s with debilitating back issues typically have back issues for life. The question is how much he can deal with it. His history would show that he cannot.

[Dojji]

Drew has still, so far, played more games per season in his Boston years than one Christopher Trotman Nixon did in his. Go look it up if you don't believe me.

[BSN07]

Maybe he should think about surgery. I know back surgerys are risky, but RJ came back from one and hes over 40.

 

 

Also A700, Lowell has played 112 games in the first year of his new deal, I haven't seen you rip him. I mean you could have and I could have missed it. All I'm saying is you like to jump on Drew very quickly, when in truth, alot of Sox players have missed significant time this season.

[German_Sox]

jd is a clutch clutch bat ill miss him looking at these bums they try replacing him with

[rician blast]

Drew has still' date=' so far, played more games per season in his Boston years than one Christopher Trotman Nixon did in his. Go look it up if you don't believe me.[/quote']

 

I generally avoid the Drew vs. Nixon comparisons, I think they're fruitless, however in this case let's be fair and look at a little more detail:

 

Drew has been here 2 years. Assuming he's done for 2008, he'll have averaged 124 games per year. BTW, he's raked in $28m in base payroll in that time.

 

Nixon, from his first "full" season (1999) averaged 121 games per season. This incudes 2004 when he only played 48 regular season games. His base payroll take per The Baseball Cube for those 8 years was only $27m.

 

So it's Drew's 124 games per year over 2 years vs. Nixon's 121 games per year over 8 years. Minimal advantage to Drew in a very small sample size. I'm not impressed by this comparison, and one could argue that Nixon provided more value to the organization than Drew has.

 

If Drew plays 116 games or less in 2009, his average games per season in a Sox uniform will then be equal to , or less than, Trot's.

[a700hitter]

Maybe he should think about surgery. I know back surgerys are risky, but RJ came back from one and hes over 40.

 

 

Also A700, Lowell has played 112 games in the first year of his new deal, I haven't seen you rip him. I mean you could have and I could have missed it. All I'm saying is you like to jump on Drew very quickly, when in truth, alot of Sox players have missed significant time this season.

I'm not ripping Drew. He can't help that he is fragile and delicate. I am ripping the FO for paying this guy $70 million/5years when he has a long history of being fragile. Mike Lowell has no history of being fragile. He generally plays 150+ games every year. Drew has never played that much in a single season.

[BSN07]

The Sox can only opt out if he misses games due to his shoulder condition. I think the guy is a great player' date=' but he is fragile. He always has been fragile. He could win the Mr. Glass award. I would much rather have had Abreu, but the FO messed that up. He's a short term commitment and he plays every day. That's too bad about your back, but knowing about your condition I wouldn't sign you either.[/quote']

 

Abreu might have been ok, depending on what Philly wanted from the Sox. But his power numbers would be extremely low in Boston with RF being the HR killer it is. How does he play RF when hes in Boston? I never really paid much attention to him out there lol.

[a700hitter]

Abreu might have been ok' date=' depending on what Philly wanted from the Sox. But his power numbers would be extremely low in Boston with RF being the HR killer it is. How does he play RF when hes in Boston? I never really paid much attention to him out there lol.[/quote']He's a good OF. He has a good arm. He's not as good a fielder as Drew. He's a base running threat who steals bases. The biggest plus is that he plays 150+ games/year and puts up really good offensive stats. He's not a pure pull hitter, so what RF would take away, LF would give him. If the Sox had agreed up front to take all of his salary , the Phillies would have asked for very little. The Yankees essentially game up nothing for him.

[rician blast]

The Yankees essentially game up nothing for him.

 

Put another way, The Yankees were ok with having a $200m+ payroll so for them to eat salary was not as big of a concern as it might have been for the Red Sox.

[a700hitter]

Put another way' date=' The Yankees were ok with having a $200m+ payroll so for them to eat salary was not as big of a concern as it might have been for the Red Sox.[/quote']It was a hypocritical excuse used by the Red Sox as they made a much larger long term commitment to Drew in that off season than the Yankees made to Abreu. The Sox have a bigger financial commitment to Drew, and for the same money, I'd rather have Abreu.

[rician blast]

For similar money, I agree, I'd rather have Abreu.

 

However, there is a tendency to portray this as if the Sox were deciding between Abreu and Drew and that really isn't the case. Abreu was traded to the Yanks during the 2006 season. Drew opted out of LA in the offseason.

[a700hitter]

For similar money, I agree, I'd rather have Abreu.

 

However, there is a tendency to portray this as if the Sox were deciding between Abreu and Drew and that really isn't the case. Abreu was traded to the Yanks during the 2006 season. Drew opted out of LA in the offseason.

They were clearly in the market for a RF. They had the first shot at Abreu. Because they did not land Abreu, they pursued Drew.

[TheKilo]

My question is how much does Abreu cost for 2006, 2007 and 2008 vis a vis Drew from 2007-2011?

 

Isn't Abreu being paid like $20 mil per?

[rician blast]

They were clearly in the market for a RF. They had the first shot at Abreu. Because they did not land Abreu' date=' they pursued Drew.[/quote']

 

They had THE FIRST shot at Abreu? Not sure how we can be positive that the Sox had the first shot, there could have been talks with other teams before, during, after the Sox involvement.

 

They pursued Drew, and probably considered other options as well, because he was available and because they had a need...they did not pursue him specifically because they did not land Abreu.

 

I know what you're saying and perhaps we're talking semantics here...but IMO a true root cause analysis would say they pursued Drew because they did not re-sign Nixon.

[Mr Crunchy]

wow

anyone want to argue the fact hes fragile like crystal?

sometimes #s lie

games played isnt a stat that lends itself out to be misinterpreted,its as cold and honest as a bad back in the heat of a pennant race.

theres no doubt in my mind hes hurting

i simply dont give a f*** about his reasons for not being out there when we need him because this was entirely predictable when we got him.

[TheKilo]

Drew optimistic about return

[a700hitter]

Drew optimistic about return

They need him in the lineup.

[TheKilo]

They need him in the lineup.

 

For sure - IMO an effective Drew is the key to a deep postseason run.

[a700hitter]

For sure - IMO an effective Drew is the key to a deep postseason run.

Definitely.