Dojji

Do you guys see the Yankees maybe looking at Stephen Drew, or do you think they try to squeeze one more year out of Jeter and rusk another utility mishmash if he can't make it back again? Yankees have some real issues on the infield, heck they have issues period. I don't think they're going to be able to spend their way all the way out of this particular hole. At least with the Sox last year, you had the sense that they had talent that just didn't show up. I'm surprised by just how little of that I'm seeing in the pinstripers. If anything they got more wins than they probably should have because they scored slightly fewer runs than they allowed.

Indeed, and Drew is a pretty big part of that. The thing with Drew is that it's easy to dismiss him as pretty good rather than really standing out in any one aspect, without paying much attention to the fact that he's pretty good at *everything all at once.* A conventional 5 tool shortstop he isn't, but he hits well enough for an "offensive" shortstop, good average, decent pop, and the glove has definitely been there when needed, and while he's not a prolific base stealer, he has great timing and doesn't get his ass thrown out. Even his plate discipline is more than sufficient compared to the positional average. So yeah, his best skillset is above average, but so is his worst. That combination is rare. It's easy to take that pretty-good-at-everything guy for granted, but the 9 years this franchise has gotten to "enjoy" at shortstop between OCab and Drew should have convinced everyone how hard it is to find the guy who does everything at a sufficient level and doesn't bring some major drawbacks to the game. Bogaerts or no, I'd absolutely love to bring Drew back if I thought he'd stay.

You know, it's entirely possible that people are going to look back and call that the biggest game of Jon Lester's career. And wow, did he come up big.

Since Salty's contract is up, we might be looking at full replacement at catcher -- or Lavarnway-Ross with Vazquez in the wings.

I didn't know hockey had walk-offs, but that goal by Krejci and McQuaid definitely qualifies.

The difference is that Nava is directly responsible for being good vs RHP. Gomes is not directly responsible for his team winning all those games. Of course, we do need to consider Mike Carp as a viable third option here. He was very, very good against RHP himself and boasts more power.

If Napoli had the athleticism to cover third base, he would have been doing it by now. The clincher is Napoli's hip issue. Hip problems are bad, bad news at third base. We saw that with Lowell.

There aren't many real chessmasters in the league who call all teh right shots. In fact I daresay there aren't any. Too much of what managers do is a crapshot about which of two horrible ideas to admit they're stuck with.

I understood his point. He said that playing against a pltcher's reverse splits should factor into a team's calculations as much as their hitter's splits.

I know that. An average player is a roughly 2 WAR. Drew hasn't been that poor when healthy since his rookie campaign.

That, plus the concept that even if Drew accepted the QO it'd hardly be the end of the world, have been all I've tried to say. MVP: I use the WAR from Baseball Reference because that's the one I usually use. if you want to make the case that it's inferior, make the case, don't just state it or all you'll get is ignored. Besides, it doesn't take a stathead with a pocket protector and a clipboard collection to figure out that a shortstop who hits to an OPS over .750 and provides at least sufficient defense is an asset. if Fangraphs would like to question that, I think it's better evidence that their methods are suspect than it is that Drew is in any way average, especially for his position. Incidentally, if anything Fangraphs is a little bit higher on Drew's overall value this year than Baseball Reference, so if you have a point, I'm not sure A, what it is, and B, why you'd bother making it.

3 WAR is average now? Nice to know. hardly the first time he played at that level either. before he got hurt he was generally between 2.9 and 4. I get the love for Bogaerts. I do. but trying to make the case that Drew is an average shortstop as part of an argument to move him on and hand Bogaerts the full time starting SS job is an exercise in self-deception.

in the same way and for the same reasons that Adrian Beltre did.

that's only true if you're 100% committed to giviing Bogaerts the starting SS job. Since Bogaerts himself IS positionally flexible, it's a non-problem. I have little doubt that Drew would get the job done at either second or third, but he's good enough at shortstop that it would be dumb to ask him to if the choice was him or Bogaerts -- who isn't awful himself, but Drew is the better shortstop of the two at this point. And finding a top SS is hard enough that I'm not bothered if keeping him is the worst possible fallout of QO-ing him. Personally I'd love keeping him around for a few years -- I just don't think it's likely. if Bogaerts forces our hand in midseason by being ungodly awesome, it's not going to be hard to find a team that would trade for Drew on a 1 year deal.

No, but you do have top prospects for depth, and it's no bad thing to bring in a professional for another year in front of a hot top prospect to avoid overexposing them or relying on them too much. I don't think anything's going to go wrong with bogaerts, but if keeping Drew around for another year and letting them kind of ease Bogaerts into full time ball is the worst case scenario when it comes to offering Drew a QO, that's no bad thing.

I just don't think the worst case scenario when it comes to qualifying Drew, is worth contemplating as A Bad Thing. If he accepts, we get another year of a very proficient 2 way shortstop. If we have an embarrassment of riches at shortstop of all positions, wouldn't that be a great change from where we were even last year? And if Drew rejects the QO, but it retards his asking price? I'd expect Cherington to be in on trying to bring Drew back in for another year or two. Depth is a good thing.

because if we lose Ellsbury we NEED a backup outfielder who plays centerfield. Gomes and Carp can cover the left field platoon, but we can't have 3 backup left fielders on the team.

they may be the priority, but I don't think they're equal in concern. I think Napoli is going to be a relatively easy resigning and we do have Carp who's worth a shot if push comes to shove. We're not overloaded with depth at first base, and the solution everyone clamors for (moving Middlebrooks to first) is absurd because of how much it hides his strengths and plays to his weaknesses, but we do have a few options. As for Catcher, that one is going to be interesting to follow. Salty has a pileup of talent behind him. Lavarnway, Vazquez, and possibly even Dan Butler are worth a look and with the Sox love of aging veteran backups, none of them are really likely to get much of one while Salty's here. Longer term, which you have to think about when extending Saltalamacchia, you also have Swihart to think about as well. It's hard to project kids in A ball but I have the feeling Swihart is going to be a keeper. There's so much talent behind Salty that it's not going to be hard for him to price himself out of Boston. If he moves on and Lavarnway becomes the next starter, exactly what have we lost? sure, we lose some experience, but replacing the worst defensive catcher in major league baseball with a mediocre defensive catcher is otherwise called an "upgrade." I don't hate Salty, but if his price is out of step with the team's needs I wouldn't sweat losing him too badly either. Centerfield is the only one of the three that I'd term a priority that ought to eat a lot of Cherington's time. We don't have a lot there besides Bradley, and I'm not sold on Bradley quite yet, I tthink he may adjust to the majors slowly and with many consistency issues, due to some problems I see with his hit tool. For a speed guy, Bradley's not much of a contact hitter and I think he's going to show some weaknesses for big league pitchers to exploit in his first several seasons, likely yielding disappointing results offensively. The team put Quintin Berry into a spot Bradley could have easily won, so I think they're seeing many of the same things I am, and made the call to send Mr. Bradley a little message as a result. We may not have a choice, but I definitely don't love the idea of throwing Bradley in as the starting CF with no backup plan. We can slide Victorino over, but we lose a lot of defensive value in our outfield, even if the only other outfielder able to butcher right field was not Daniel Nava, who should probably never see right field again in his life. Either way, we're giving up something that really helped us to get to where we are right now, and I don't like that bargain. In short, the moving pieces as things stand right now look worst of all in center, kinda dicey at first, and really not too bad behind the plate if you're willing to tolerate a bit of inexperience. Since Beltran and Choo could factor into the solution in center, I'd contemplate all our options in the outfield before worrying too too much about first base or catcher. I think those problems are relatively solvable.

I doubt it. you're trying to read too many jumps ahead of the narrative Mark, to be honest it's getting a bit annoying. Right now, I'd still put my money on the Sox FO putting a QO down on Drew, on that QO having a limited effect on his asking price, but no shortage of teams unafraid to pay the extra price to bring in a shortstop who can help the team win on both sides of the ball. That's the common sense narrative, the narrative that yes, Drew comes with an additional risk, but a 3 or 4 year deal for a shortstop in his early 30's with power, speed, and defensive skill is worth that risk. If Drew asks for 6 years he's going to be disappointed, but if he's looking for a 3 year deal he'll have no problem finding one. both New York teams have their own reasons to bid for his services, the Mets are a real shortstop and a decent LF away from putting up some winning seasons again, and the Yankees are going to ask themselves hard questions about shortstop for the first time in nearly 2 decades, if they're prepared to cut bait with their aging captain, bringing in a lefthanded power hitter to replace Jeter is probably going to be the way to go. That's going to help ameliorate the dampening effect if any of the QO. Would not be shocked if both Nava and Drew wound up as Mets next year since they're players the Sox are looking to possibly move on from, that fill needs in that organization -- but overall I'm still calling Drew to the Yankees as an attempt to replace Jeter's lost production, at least to an extent.

Do not agree. If Drew was healthier and Middlebrooks more consistent, perhaps you'd have a point, but the backup is going to see some heavy use, and there's so little point in stashing a guy who's succeeded in the playoffs in AAA that even if Drew stuck around I have no doubt bogaerts would force his way onto the roster as well -- he's practically already done so. There is no rule stating that our utility infielder has to be some no-hit guy.

Drew stands out in his field much more than Lohse or Bourn. He will be the BPA, Bourn and Lohse weren't close to the BPA in their fields. I think teams will have no problem trading a pick for Drew considering how hard it is to find a good two-way SS. I know if Drew was hitting the market last year in his current state I would have wanted the Sox to be in on him. Teams whose plan A at shortstop have fallen through, who have money to burn, are going to be looking at Drew's asking price. Like I said, I fully expect the Yankees to inquire. There is absolutely no need to put Bogaerts in AAA. If we kept Drew because he accepted the QO, Bogaerts would hang around in the majors in a backup role looking to Wally Pipp either Drew or Middlebrooks.

His QO won't kill crap. he's the best shortstop on the market, teams will line up to bid for his services pick or no pick, please stop trying to pretend otherwise. And of course the Red Sox will offer. They're loaded with cash, what they fear most is big year commitments having been burnt by Agon and Crawford. If Drew accepts, the worst thing that can possibly happen is a 1 year commitment to exactly the kind of player they like -- a shortstop who's good on the defensive end and provides multiple wins above replacement offensively. That, on a 1 year deal, even for big money, isn't the end of the world unless you're a fan of Will Middlebrooks and want to see him get 162 games next year. In fact given their love of depth I suspect it's an outcome that the Sox FO would prefer to seeing someone else sign Drew for multiple years and give them a pick -- they still don't exactly have anyone behind XB at short right now, if Drew leaves. Bogaerts is the starting shortstop of the future. There is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON he utterly HAS to be the staring shortstop next April. If he works around Drew for another year, that's not going to do him any harm at all -- and that's assuming XB doesn't come out guns blazing and force the issue. He's the type of player I see Middlebrooks turning into. Not the type of player Middlebrooks is right now, of course that would be silly.

Yeah, and if the Yankees make it clear to Jetes that they consider the SS position open for competition whether he picks up the option or not, is he really going to want to let his legacy be getting beat on the field? No one knows how this works, especially in New York, better than Derek Jeter, it's clear to everyone that it's time, I'm sure he's figured that out too. Mo went out on top, Pettitte went out on top. Jeter waited a year too long as it is, he'll take his dignity and move on if the Yankees make it clear they aren't saving a spot for him.

Sure, the fact that Uribe's been the more valuable player of the two so far to this point of their careers does mar the comparison a bit, I'll give you that. After playing 15 games the prior year? I wouldn't be too stunned if the Yankees weren't interested -- at least not if he still wants to insist he's the starting shortstop. If he wants to putter around for a season or so as the utility guy with the iconic name that's another story perhaps.

He will if he realizees the obvious -- that he's doing his team no favors by going into the offseason trying to stay on as their starting SS.