JD Drew

[Elktonnick]

Whether or not he was worth the money is a totally subjective judgement. In his case there was both good and bad: good OPS' date=' good defensively, but on the negative side, he never got over 78 RBIs in a season, didn't hit many HRs, was felt by most that he didn't fulfill his potential as a ball player, and was soft and unwilling to play injured. He got paid to play like a top corner OF and IMO failed to do so overall, though in some areas he excelled. As I said, I expected more.[/quote']

 

Pumpsie, JD Drew did do one useful thing this year..<_ he got less people talking about how much john lackey sucked. src="//d1mqtyoopj0gsc.cloudfront.net/emoticons/default_biggrin.png" alt=":D">

[ipot]

Drew basicaly played out the string listening to Boras about OBP and how that would inflate his salary options once he became an FA.

 

Somewhere along the line, likely last year, Drew realized he was not going to get signed for much if at all by anyone for 2012.

[mvp 78]

He decided in 2010 that he'd retire after 2011. End of story. He got old and wasn't durable to begin with.

[Elktonnick]

He decided in 2010 that he'd retire after 2011. End of story. He got old and wasn't durable to begin with.

 

You sure he didn't retire in 2010?

[ipot]

You sure he didn't retire in 2010?

 

Ah well, he's in the past now. I think we've gotten a lot of mileage at his expense. I'm sure he'll be fine with his total career earnings, if he has smart money managers.

[seabeachfred]

Elk and IPOT, I still can't understand all the fascination with J.D. Drew on this board. Elsewhere it's good riddance and enjoy retirement and don't let the door hit you on the way out. In Drew's behalf, I will say even though the five year $75 million for him was vastly over priced I was glad we signed him instead of Lee or Soriano. Those were the three top outfield FA after the 2006 season and I think Drew was the best fit for us. Lee couldn't have handled right field for us at Fenway because he was and still is a s***** left fielder for Houston and he can't run worth a damn. Soriano has power and speed but has been pretty much of a waste of money for the Cubs and he can't field worth crap either and the Cubbies are on the arm for three more seasons for the guy. Still I think Ryan Kalish and a RH hitter not named Darnell McDonald would be an overall improvement.

[jung]

Ours is really a very difficult RF. In fact none of them are a cake walk. LF has the wall.....CF has the triangle and end of the bullpen area although I think the triangle causes more problems. How many times have you seen the CF turn back and realize that he has misjudged the amount of square footage out there in the triangle and have to hit the afterburners cuz' that is where the ball is going....then there is RF and that extra square footage out by the foul pole, all the angles out there and the length of throw from out there. Really we tend to focus on offense with our OF but you really can't be a bum in the field to play successfully in the Fenway outfield.

[Elktonnick]

Elk and IPOT' date=' I still can't understand all the fascination with J.D. Drew on this board. Elsewhere it's good riddance and enjoy retirement and don't let the door hit you on the way out. In Drew's behalf, I will say even though the five year $75 million for him was vastly over priced I was glad we signed him instead of Lee or Soriano. Those were the three top outfield FA after the 2006 season and I think Drew was the best fit for us. Lee couldn't have handled right field for us at Fenway because he was and still is a s***** left fielder for Houston and he can't run worth a damn. Soriano has power and speed but has been pretty much of a waste of money for the Cubs and he can't field worth crap either and the Cubbies are on the arm for three more seasons for the guy. Still I think Ryan Kalish and a RH hitter not named Darnell McDonald would be an overall improvement.[/quote']

 

Drew is a controversial figure beecause of his personality. He is a magnet ( or was) because he gave the appearance of not caring. Even his more ardent supporters say he had great talent. The ordinary fan believes he never played up to his potential. The fact that he got a big contract and Boras as aan agent didn't help his imagine either. That is my frank assessment.

[seabeachfred]

Ours is really a very difficult RF. In fact none of them are a cake walk. LF has the wall.....CF has the triangle and end of the bullpen area although I think the triangle causes more problems. How many times have you seen the CF turn back and realize that he has misjudged the amount of square footage out there in the triangle and have to hit the afterburners cuz' that is where the ball is going....then there is RF and that extra square footage out by the foul pole' date=' all the angles out there and the length of throw from out there. Really we tend to focus on offense with our OF but you really can't be a bum in the field to play successfully in the Fenway outfield.[/quote']

 

Right you are Jung. Both center and right field at Fenway are a bear to play. The curvatures and triangles of those positions can drive an outfielder to drink, but believe it or not LF is no bed of roses either. Little foul territory along the line, an outfielder has to be careful or he can get a mouthful of teeth chasing a ball, and, believe it or not, the ball doesn't always go off the Monster the same way. There are some wierd rebounds out there. We can give Drew credit because he played a very good right field but I come back to the fact when you look at the raw hitting stats his numbers were not that good and he had trouble staying on the field.

[jung]

The old left field wall was actually more unpredictable even than this one as it was all bumps and hollows and rivet heads. There were times when the ball would just bounce straight down to the track and others when it would bounce out onto the field with no rhyme or reason and then there is the scoreboard. Oddly enough Crawford seemed to have more trouble coming in on balls than anything else. With his luck next year will be his wall ball year out there.

[ipot]

The old left field wall was actually more unpredictable even than this one as it was all bumps and hollows and rivet heads. There were times when the ball would just bounce straight down to the track and others when it would bounce out onto the field with no rhyme or reason and then there is the scoreboard. Oddly enough Crawford seemed to have more trouble coming in on balls than anything else. With his luck next year will be his wall ball year out there.

 

jung - you are very astute on both counts, RF and LF. I remember as a kid how wacky LF was. It looked like side of a rusting shipping tanker.

[jung]

I don't even know how many folks remember this but when they changed the wall they sold off small pieces of the old wall under a clear plexy cover and mounted to a wooden plate. I have one of those and I remember when I received it thinking how the ball used to clang off the thing at times then at other times make this dull thud sound even with two balls that seemed the same kind of hit, like line drives.

[SoxSport]

Somebody mentioned Boras. Boras was Drew's client when Drew refused to sign with the Phillies.

Remember that?

 

Fast forward to Madson, another of Boras' clients. Amaro, the Phillies' GM makes a deal with Madson, then brings it to ownership which turns thumbs down and signs Pap for more money. Amaro was not around when Boras screwed the Phillies about Drew. But the ownership was.

[a700hitter]

Somebody mentioned Boras. Boras was Drew's client when Drew refused to sign with the Phillies.

Remember that?

 

Fast forward to Madson, another of Boras' clients. Amaro, the Phillies' GM makes a deal with Madson, then brings it to ownership which turns thumbs down and signs Pap for more money. Amaro was not around when Boras screwed the Phillies about Drew. But the ownership was.

Memories can be long.

[Elktonnick]

Somebody mentioned Boras. Boras was Drew's client when Drew refused to sign with the Phillies.

Remember that?

 

Fast forward to Madson, another of Boras' clients. Amaro, the Phillies' GM makes a deal with Madson, then brings it to ownership which turns thumbs down and signs Pap for more money. Amaro was not around when Boras screwed the Phillies about Drew. But the ownership was.

 

Amaro made the deal but it was the owner who killed it. Pay back is a bitch!

[mvp 78]

Amaro made the deal but it was the owner who killed it. Pay back is a bitch!

 

Yeah, you take that Ryan Madson you jerk!