This decade and right field

[Dojji]

Please post your reasonings.

 

 

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/N/Trot-Nixon.shtml

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/D/J.D.-Drew.shtml

 

Personally, I was surprised looking back to see that Nixon's peak years, when he was the player we think of as Trot Nixon, really only lasted about 3 seasons from 2001 to 2003. They were a great three seasons, but still there were only 3 of them.

 

We talk a lot about JD Drew's injuries, but Nixon was probably out of the lineup way more on average than Drew. if you set the standard at 130 games, which means a month of days missed over the course of the year, Nixon had three seasons where he exceeded that. Drew has 5. Also, and probably more damning to Nixon, it was very probably the injuries that forced him out of the league, while Drew has been able to perform around his missed days.

 

Trot's final career line (barring a comeback is rather uninspiring as well, .274/.364/.464/.828.

 

Also worth consideration: even with Drew's struggles in 2007, (.797 OPS) his performance was an upgrade over Nixon's from the previous season (.767 OPS)

 

Why did I start this thread? It's just something I've been thinking about. We kvetch a lot about JD Drew, but I think it's pretty obvious that Theo made the right move to bring him here. What's not so obvious, but is IMHO true, is that he upgraded the overall talent and even the durability of our situation in right field by bringing in Drew over the incredibly fragile Nixon. Even if the injuries hadn't caught up with Nixon in '06 I'd still say the same, although Drew would have had to take a lot longer to grow on me. We all had a bit of an emotional attachment to Trot, he always seemed to try so hard.

[jacksonianmarch]

Nixon gained a lot of pub from his ownage of Roger Clemens and his dirt dog mentality. When he threw the bat at the TB pitcher, I think it kinda solidified his stance in Boston. JD Drew is the better player, no doubt about it. But he does it muich quieter. Which is one of the reasons why people havent gravitated towards his defense.

[yeszir]

I picked Drew, and this article backs me up. Just saw it in the Globe and thought it applied:

 

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2010/02/14/why_the_critics_of_jd_drew_may_be_off_base/

 

Concentrate on Drew’s walk totals, on his on-base percentage, on his slugging, on his baserunning, on his defense, and therein lie the reasons that his front office believes he has been well worth $42 million over the first three years of his five-year deal.

 

But also understand that, in some ways, it’s more about what Drew is not doing than what he is doing. He is not making outs. And, in this game, for this team, that is wildly valuable.

[a700hitter]

Nixon never quite lived up to his potential, and he could never hit lefties well. Drew is the better player, but I like Abreu better than both of them. He plays every day. He gets on base, produces run and steals bases.

[Dipre]

Abreu is awful defensively. A no-no on the beast known as the Fenway RF.

[a700hitter]

Abreu is awful defensively. A no-no on the beast known as the Fenway RF.

He's not a bad outfielder. He's just afraid of walls. The wall in RF at Fenway is low an non-threatening. I can't remember him playing badly in RF on his visits to Fenway. I also can't remember an AB at Fenway where he didn't smack the ball off the monster. He's a very tough out in that ballpark.

[Dipre]

Abreu is a bad OF. He was at Philly, at the Yankees, and now with Anaheim. He takes bad routes to balls and plays the walls with fear. He has the range and the arm, but his judgement of balls and willingness to get it done is suspect.

[a700hitter]

Abreu is a bad OF. He was at Philly' date=' at the Yankees, and now with Anaheim. He takes bad routes to balls and plays the walls with fear. He has the range and the arm, but his judgement of balls and willingness to get it done is suspect.[/quote']See my sig.

[a700hitter]

Abreu is a bad OF. He was at Philly' date=' at the Yankees, and now with Anaheim. He takes bad routes to balls and plays the walls with fear. He has the range and the arm, but his judgement of balls and willingness to get it done is suspect.[/quote']Seriously, the one thing that I really like about Abreu is that you write his name on the lineup card every day year in and year out and he produces offensively every single year. For that I'd be willing to overlook his defensive deficiencies, but that's just me. I like guys that play every day.

[Dipre]

Seriously' date=' the one thing that I really like about Abreu is that you write his name on the lineup card every day year in and year out and he produces offensively every single year. For that I'd be willing to overlook his defensive deficiencies, but that's just me. I like guys that play every day.[/quote']

 

I will gladly take the off-days if come playoff time, the guy can be a difference maker on both sides of the ball.

[TheMino007]

I'd rather have neither. Nixon's "prime" was short lived and he never really lived up to expectations that I had of him coming out of the minor league system. Guy just couldn't hit lefites and was a bit too aggressive at times in RF. Drew... probably the definition of an overpaid athlete if there ever was one. 15 mill per a guy who plays 135 games a year if we are lucky and a guy who looks just down right terrible at the plate at times. With the exception of one hot month of June in 08, and a couple of big post season home runs, I really wish we didn't have Nancy Drew and had gone a different direction in the 06 offseason

[Dipre]

I love stats.

[Spudboy]

I'd rather have neither. Nixon's "prime" was short lived and he never really lived up to expectations that I had of him coming out of the minor league system. Guy just couldn't hit lefites and was a bit too aggressive at times in RF. Drew... probably the definition of an overpaid athlete if there ever was one. 15 mill per a guy who plays 135 games a year if we are lucky and a guy who looks just down right terrible at the plate at times. With the exception of one hot month of June in 08' date=' and a couple of big post season home runs, I really wish we didn't have [b']Nancy Drew[/b] and had gone a different direction in the 06 offseason

 

Lol.

[Dojji]

Yeah, that's one of the reasons I started this thread. The Drew-bashers need to wake up and realize that the object of their hatred is going to probably be our best hitter next year.

[TheMino007]

Best hitter? Really? Unless its a career year (hopefully) or he's an upcoming free agent Drew will be hurt and put forth a lackluster effort. If he was a free agent after this year I would expect him to go off but not this year. I'd take V-Mart, Youk, and Pedrioa over Drew. Its nice to have on OBP guy, but he can't drive runs in because he can't get the ball in play. Whats the point in having a bunch of OBP guys if there is no big bat(s) to drive them in?

[yeszir]

Calling him the team's best hitter is definitely a stretch. I thought this was a Trot v Drew comparison. Calling him the better hitter of those two is legit, but saying he beats Youk Pedroia and Martinez is crazy talk.

[Dojji]

It's a stretch, sure, but so is calling him Nancy when he's been healthy, productive and in the field for most of his tenure here.

 

Besides, by OPS, Drew was better last year than any hitter we currently have on our roster so the claim has some basis..

[jacksonianmarch]

Drew has missed 100 games as a Red Sox in 3 seasons. But for 2 out of the 3 seasons, he's been pretty durable.

[a700hitter]

It's a stretch' date=' sure, but so is calling him Nancy when he's been healthy, productive and in the field for most of his tenure here.[/quote']Yes, he's Yaz, Jr.

[Dojji]

Yes' date=' he's Yaz, Jr.[/quote']

 

Why does he have to be Yaz Jr?

 

Besides, Yaz, like Cal Jr. destroyed his productivity in his later seasons by refusing to rest unless he was physically hurt, so I have a hard time begrudging a player a day off.

[a700hitter]

Why does he have to be Yaz Jr?

 

Besides, Yaz, like Cal Jr. destroyed his productivity in his later seasons by refusing to rest unless he was physically hurt, so I have a hard time begrudging a player a day off.

Name Yaz's and Ripken's back ups who were on the bench in their later years. Yaz and Ripken with one arm tied behind their backs added more to the lineup than those guys. Sitting might have helped some personal production #'s, but it would have hurt their teams on the days they were sitting. I'd rather they do what's good for the teams than for themselves. On any given day, Yaz and Ripken were the better option for the lineup card than their backups.

[Dipre]

Best hitter? Really? Unless its a career year (hopefully) or he's an upcoming free agent Drew will be hurt and put forth a lackluster effort. If he was a free agent after this year I would expect him to go off but not this year. I'd take V-Mart' date=' Youk, and Pedrioa over Drew. [b']Its nice to have on OBP guy, but he can't drive runs in because he can't get the ball in play.[/b] Whats the point in having a bunch of OBP guys if there is no big bat(s) to drive them in?

 

The stats don't back this up. At all.

 

Drew struck out 24.1% of his At-bats last year.

 

For comparison's sake:

 

Jason Bay: 30.5 %

 

Kevin Youkilis: 25.5%

 

David Ortiz: 24.8%.

 

The reason why Drew "didn't drive runs in" is a combination of reduced RBI opportunities and actual playing time.

 

I don't want to be a dick, but things like this take 30 seconds to look up.

[Dipre]

The "He can't drive runs in" argument is also nonsense. My fingers hurt from typing this over and over, but RBI are a team and opportunity-reliant statistic.

 

With Men On and RISP, Drew had the following splits last year:

 

Men On: 254 /.393 /.503 .896 OPS

 

RISP: .213/ .399 /.463 .862 OPS

 

2 out, RISP: .280/ .438/ .700 1.138 OPS

 

Pretty productive with men on base according to the stats.

[Spudboy]

The "He can't drive runs in" argument is also nonsense. My fingers hurt from typing this over and over, but RBI are a team and opportunity-reliant statistic.

 

With Men On and RISP, Drew had the following splits last year:

 

Men On: 254 /.393 /.503 .896 OPS

 

RISP: .213/ .399 /.463 .862 OPS

 

2 out, RISP: .280/ .438/ .700 1.138 OPS

 

Pretty productive with men on base according to the stats.

 

This is interesting. I heard a discussion of Drew' value the other day on WEEI. Merloni (not bashing Drew) said that he wished Drew would be more aggressive with RISP. He pointed out that Drew should swing more on 1-0, 2-0, and 3-1 counts. Maybe if he would do this, his RBI totals would climb. .213 BA is not so good with RISP in my opinion.

 

Que the "don't make outs" argument.

[Dipre]

.216 BABIP. Unsustainable.

 

Career BABIP with RISP? .312

 

That's the reason why BA is a "Complimentary" stat, It lends itself to wid fluctuations in smaller sample sizes, unlike OBP and SLG, or OPS for that matter.

[redsoxrules]

This is interesting. I heard a discussion of Drew' value the other day on WEEI. Merloni (not bashing Drew) said that he wished Drew would be more aggressive with RISP. He pointed out that Drew should swing more on 1-0' date=' 2-0, and 3-1[/b'] counts. Maybe if he would do this, his RBI totals would climb. .213 BA is not so good with RISP in my opinion.

 

Que the "don't make outs" argument.

 

you cant swing if you have no pitch to hit

[Spudboy]

Merloni is obviously an idiot.

[Dipre]

RBI%:

 

Jason Bay: 445 Runners on base-116 RBI: Drove in 26.74% of runners on base with a .412BABIP.

 

JD Drew: 318 Runners on base-68 RBI: Drove in 21.38 of runners on base with a .216 BABIP.

[redsoxrules]

Merloni is obviously an idiot.

 

yup

[TheMino007]

.213 BA with runners in scoring position, now thats impressive.