J.D. Drew - Getting off easy?

[3 Point Stan]

So we've crucified Crisp, Lugo, and WMP. To a lesser extent, Wakefield and Mirabelli as well.

Are we letting JD Drew get off easy? To me, I don't know what to make of the man. I know jack shit about him other than his history as an overrated player with all the tools. To me, he is Scott Boras' greatest acheivement.

He took a guy (who'd never lived up to his potential that bolstered his season #'s from August 1st onward in '06 that got him to 100 RBI for the 1st time in his career) that was pretty much under contract, opted-out of it, and got that guy an extra $20 million. Unbelievable! Only Scott Boras could do this.

But honestly, who is JD Drew? The guy never shows emotion. Never a smile nor a hint of frustration. Just a constant stone-faced expression. Christ, the guy could beat a Michael Myers halloween mask in a laughing contest. Creepy.

[nomars_girl]

Considering most people refer to him as nancy drew, i don't think we're letting him off easy at all. I haven't heard a kind word about him from Red Sox Nation. (not that he deserves any).

[Mikiemo83]

I saw JD, Manny, Papi and Wily Mo in the dugout against Tampa hugging and laughingdoing a little 4 man act after a Manny homer

I just think he hides his emotions too much, needs a little tavares in him

[SlumpBustR]

3P......

while I hope JD comes around a little (I mean it's not a lot to ask is it, JD?) a rumor I heard floated did make me pissed

it being: JD Drew was Boras' ace-in-the-hole during the DiceK negotioations, to whit ---

"you guys take JD for the big dough and I absolutely get you DiceK as part of the deal"

[3 Point Stan]

Considering most people refer to him as nancy drew, i don't think we're letting him off easy at all. I haven't heard a kind word about him from Red Sox Nation. (not that he deserves any).
Yes, but that's been mostly in passing. Certainly few have shown him any affection but I just don't think that people have been on him as they have been Lugo and I think with Lugo's steals and defense at SS, he's been the better contributor of the two.

[nomars_girl]

Well, I think we called in that favor again to get Gagne to waive his no-trade.

[Mikiemo83]

drew was not at last nights game, he was in the hospital with his son - no word from francona on why - he called it a personal matter, correctly - and knows not if he will be in the lineup today - assumes yes

[EverettsTheoryOfEvolution]

As an introvert myself, I really hate all the stuff about how he supposedly needs to show emotion, and how he looks detached, etc, etc, ad nauseum. Is it really impossible to play baseball at a high level without cursing and throwing things when you screw up? Does it mean he doesn't care just because he doesn't throw tantrums like a little byotch? No. It doesn't. If that's your style, you've already got your man in Yooks.

That being said, from a pure performance standpoint, we can expect more for what we're paying, and the risk we took on him. He's not singlehandedly killing the team, and he has being doing decently, especially lately, so I think that's why no one is really brutally against him. He's just slightly underwhelming when compared to the expectations.

[3 Point Stan]

Hey, I am not a little byotch. I'm in the moderate range.

[Mikiemo83]

ETOE, I agree, believe it or not I was not one to show too much emotion during games, if we were losing I made sure theh others MFers were not gloating. If we were winning I would act like it was the way it should be - only once lost it and I almost killed MY teams QB because he was being a dink

[southcarolina]

I just look at him as this years Josh Beckett. If this years performance while he gets used to a new league is the price we pay for 5 or 6 years of very good to great JDDroo, then i can live with it.

If he still sucks next year, well then i'll be pissed.

[EverettsTheoryOfEvolution]

Yeah, the question is, is he this year's Beckett, or this year's Coco Crisp?

[southcarolina]

Yeah, the question is, is he this year's Beckett, or this year's Coco Crisp?


If JDDroo was playing as well as Coco has recently, the Sox would have a 15 game lead in the AL East


I have a question about JDDroo....does he ever hit the ball the other way? I just envisioned him coming to the Sox and hitting like 70 doubles off the Monster. Instead, i see him rolling over on the ball and grounding out weakly to the second baseman 3 times a game.

[oldskool138]

If JDDroo was playing as well as Coco has recently, the Sox would have a 15 game lead in the AL East


I have a question about JDDroo....does he ever hit the ball the other way? I just envisioned him coming to the Sox and hitting like 70 doubles off the Monster. Instead, i see him rolling over on the ball and grounding out weakly to the second baseman 3 times a game.


Yeah, and for the second year in a row the Sox have one of the (statistically) worst #5 holes in the league. We can get guys 1-4 on base but nobody who can drive them in...Granted, if Ortiz and Manny start hitting the long ball they can mask the #5 spot.

[southcarolina]

Apparently JD's son is sick. I read somewhere he had "extensive" surgery yesterday. Take all the time you need JD. Family first.

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/playerbreakingnews.asp?sport=MLB&id=2693&line=218849&spln=1

[3 Point Stan]

Apparently JD's son is sick. I read somewhere he had "extensive" surgery yesterday. Take all the time you need JD. Family first.

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/playerbreakingnews.asp?sport=MLB&id=2693&line=218849&spln=1
Absolutely. Even if it's tonsils, few things are scarier than the thought of kids in surgery. He gets a mulligan for the whole season as far a I'm concerned.

[Mikiemo83]

Absolutely. Even if it's tonsils, few things are scarier than the thought of kids in surgery. He gets a mulligan for the whole season as far a I'm concerned.
yeah any parent would worry no matter what


my boy was 10 months and had hernia/hydroseal surgery, I used to sing him to sleep with take me out to the ball game so the whole operating room sang it to him as he was put under

[Mark_Henderson]

I just look at him as this years Josh Beckett. If this years performance while he gets used to a new league is the price we pay for 5 or 6 years of very good to great JDDroo, then i can live with it.

If he still sucks next year, well then i'll be pissed.


That's how I look at it. In retrospect, it would obviously have been smarter to extend Trot for a couple years at a lower price and let Ellsbury develop into the next new outfielder.

If you look at Drew's career stats, though, he's not nearly worth 14 mill./year, but this year clearly seems to be the statistical aberration. The Sox have no choice but to be patient and hope that he returns to his career norms, so that they can even possibly dump him and get someone willing to pay at least a decent portion of his salary.

Plus, it could be that Drew's kid has been sick for a while, which would explain his performance this year. If something like that was draining some of his concentration, it wouldn't be surprising for his batting average to drop by 40 points.

There's no choice but to be patient at this point. At least his defense doesn't suck.

[southcarolina]

That's how I look at it. In retrospect, it would obviously have been smarter to extend Trot for a couple years at a lower price and let Ellsbury develop into the next new outfielder.

I dont think Trot was the answer at all. For one he is horrible vs lefties, and he is slowing down, and has a bad back, so playing RF in Fenway everyday wouldnt have been easy for him. I think a big part of how JD Droo ended up in Boston was that there were so few meaningful OF FA last offseason. I dont doubt that they overpaid for him. I dont doubt that they knew at the time that they were overpaying him. But he wasnt going to break his contract with LA to come here for a marginal pay increase. I had to be substantial.



If you look at Drew's career stats, though, he's not nearly worth 14 mill./year, but this year clearly seems to be the statistical aberration. The Sox have no choice but to be patient and hope that he returns to his career norms, so that they can even possibly dump him and get someone willing to pay at least a decent portion of his salary.

Patience is a good thing. No doubt many many people would have approved if the FO had dumped Josh Beckett for a buckett of balls this past offseason. This is his firsts eason ever in the AL. I think alot of people dont realize how much being familiar with pitchers factors into hitting.


Plus, it could be that Drew's kid has been sick for a while, which would explain his performance this year. If something like that was draining some of his concentration, it wouldn't be surprising for his batting average to drop by 40 points.


Complete speculation, but i totaly agree.



There's no choice but to be patient at this point. At least his defense doesn't suck.

His defense i think is an areathat he doesnt get enough credit for. Not that it alone makes him worth 14 mil a season, but the difference between him and Pena/Hinske out there is mind blowingly staggering.

[Mark_Henderson]

I dont think Trot was the answer at all. For one he is horrible vs lefties, and he is slowing down, and has a bad back, so playing RF in Fenway everyday wouldnt have been easy for him. I think a big part of how JD Droo ended up in Boston was that there were so few meaningful OF FA last offseason. I dont doubt that they overpaid for him. I dont doubt that they knew at the time that they were overpaying him. But he wasnt going to break his contract with LA to come here for a marginal pay increase. I had to be substantial.

I agree with all that. The decision not to re-sign Trot made sense at the time. I'm just saying that hindsight's 20/20 and in retrospect, he could have handled RF for one more year, would have hit better than Drew has so far, and it looks like Ellsbury could take the spot next year and be a pretty promising player.

His defense i think is an areathat he doesnt get enough credit for. Not that it alone makes him worth 14 mil a season, but the difference between him and Pena/Hinske out there is mind blowingly staggering.

I was understating to say that Drew's defense doesn't suck - it's solid. Though, compared to Willie Less, Manny looks like Willie Mays.

[southcarolina]

I agree with all that. The decision not to re-sign Trot made sense at the time. I'm just saying that hindsight's 20/20 and in retrospect, he could have handled RF for one more year, would have hit better than Drew has so far, and it looks like Ellsbury could take the spot next year and be a pretty promising player.


I dont think Ellsbury has the arm to be a major league RF'er. It isnt Johnny Damon weak, but i dont know if its good enough to keep the league from taking third on every single hit to the outfield. Coco already has a weakish arm. Manny too. Adding Ellsbury would maybe make the worst trio of OF arms in the majors.

Adding Ellsbury in CF to Crisp in LF and Droo in RF though would make for a blazingly fast threesome though. If only Manny could play first......

[SamBam39]

This is why JD was out the past few games. Hope his son has a 100% recovery!
The hamstring problems, subpar batting average, and any other woes from J.D. Drew's season became trivial in an instant last week. Drew's 17-month-old son, Jack, needed surgery.
Drew and his wife, Sheigh, had noticed Jack walking strangely, but when he fell and broke his collarbone last week, a trip to the orthopedist revealed that Jack had developmental displacement of the hips and would require surgery.
It was a shock, but the timing was fortunate. Catching it before 18 months is critical, and the Red Sox were about to play three games in Boston, home to some of the finest medical care in the country.
"It all kind of fell into our lap and we really needed to get something done, and this was the only time we were going to be home over the next couple of weeks, so it worked out that way," Drew said yesterday, his first day back with the team after Jack's surgery Tuesday.


http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2007/08/03/sons_crisis_put_a_scare_into_drew/

[nomars_girl]

Best wishes for a full recovery for the little Drew.

I guess this means that his son's health has not been what was weighing on him all season long though. This appears to be a recent development.