Padres writers were saying Ellsbury+ Buchholz for A-gon was a possibility before the 2010 season. Its all speculation, and sometimes not really worthwhile speculation at that.
Find one single post where I talked about inflation. I was pretty consistent about my argument-- he's an innings eater, a solid #2/3 type, incredibly consistent and healthy, a true competitor, whose presence will protect the team's young pitchers from being called up early/ overuse in the pen. Anyone who overrates him doesn't understand what value he provides. He is what he is. People seem to expect him to be something he's not, and don't like him because he can't fill those unreasonable expectations.
In 2010, he pitched to career averages from June onwards, and ended with a WAR of 4.0, as a top 14 valuable pitcher in the AL, and a model of consistency. For some reason this gets ignored, and he gets s*** on because he is who he is. You were the one who was bringing up sabermetic monetary values, in 2010, he was worth 15.9 million.
Tampa Bay Rays have the 24th, 31st, 32nd, 38th, 41st, 42nd, 52nd, 56th, 59th and 60th picks. 10 out of 60 picks, that's insane.
Edit: The article I got the numbers from the first time were wrong. Found a better source.
The problem with Drew is overall production. That includes the days he doesn't play. He may hit to a high OPS and defend well, but this is a guy averaging a 3.10 WAR per year in Boston, and that number will likely only go down as the year goes on. That's how I feel about Drew. His stats look good, but he just doesn't seem like a valuable member of the team.