When I heard this (opting out of a 3 year, 33 million dollar deal) I was shocked. I didn't keep up with JD Drew that much, and figured he must have put up a phenomenal season that he was always said to be capable of. .280, 20 HRs, 100 RBIs? 100 RBIs as the main run producer on the 4th best offense in the NL is good, not great. Gary Matthews Jr. is 32 and hit .313 with 19 HRs and 79 RBIs with a .371 OBP and a .495 SLG. JD Drew is 30 and hit .283 with 20 HRs and 100 RBIs with a .393 OBP and a .498 SLG. Matthews also hit out of the leadoff slot- 79 RBIs at the top of the order is virtually unheard of. The only advantage Drew had was a .020 edge in the OBP department. Both are above average defenders, but I would argue Matthews is better and plays a more premium defensive position (CF vs. RF), particularly for MMP. There's seriously a market in which Drew makes better than 11m per? Nick provides the only possible reasoning - but who in their right minds gives a 4-5 year contract to a guy with Drew's medical charts? I'll pass. But on the bright side, this increases the offensive player market supply- the hope is that an over inflated guy like Drew doesn't set the market - I'd be terrified to see what Soriano, a guy the same age, twice as many homers, and a threat on the basepaths.
Agree with Nick. I can't wait for the day when everybody starts to turn out and tune out Boras and his clients are left with subpar deals to choose from.
Nick, that makes sense. But I can't imagine someone giving him 5 years.. nor can I see someone giving him even $9 mil right now. I think he'll end up getting a 3 year, $20 mil deal if he settles for it... or signing a 1 year deal somewhere. Shafted either way by Boras. (I'd take him at end of offseason for the Bonzi discount of 1 year, 2.5 mil with a player option for the next year)
Lee is much better than Drew. They have the exact same career BA. Lee has been a consistent 30hr 100rbi guy the last 4 years. Drew has only reached 30 home runs once and 100 rbi's once in his career. And he's brittle as hell.
I'd rather have juwan howard in the rockets lineup than have this guy anywhere near an astros uniform.
Don't underestimate the power of Scott Boras when paired against the incompetent GM/owners of MLB. This is the same man who had a team bidding against themselves, offering a deal close to $100 million more than the next team was offering. Anyways, he's going to go to gm's, and show some pretty hefty graphs/stats that explain that Drew is a better fit than Soriano, Lee, or anybody else. In reality, Drew HAD the potential to be one of the greatest ever... but his body simply can't hold up for an entire season, ever. My initial reaction was that somebody out there would be dumb enough to match his current deal (but add more years)... but my gut is telling me (and rooting for) a huge fallout after all the other players sign, and JD is left with nobody. He's already burned plenty of teams in the NL (those with disposable income) that won't touch him: Philly, St. Louis, Atlanta, and now LA. The Astros don't sign players like this either, so cross them off. The Giants may take a shot if they get rid of Bonds, but them not signing Bonds is because of financial issues... they also want to get younger and healthier. The Padres already have seen what Petco Park did to Brian Giles... they don't need to mess with another subpar free agent in their 30's. That pretty much leaves us with the Cubs... boy, would that be a match made in heaven. They already got Pinella... if they got JD Drew, that would be about the best off-season for any non-cubs fan ever.
Holy crap that is long! Hell no to Drew. He made a huge mistake walking away from that deal. No way someone gives him a significant enough raise to make it worth the time and effort.
As Nick has said, but I'll echo - this is Boras and Boras is smarter than his adversaries er, MLB GMs. Drew wins again (I'll bet, I'll bet), and that proves Boras' worth. Again.
Assuming they don't re-sign Aramis (he just opted out)...this could at least be the bat they use to replace him. Wow, would they be in for a crappy year if that happened..
I agree I would rather go after Soriano and Lee first but J.D. is not a bad fall back option. As long as his asking price is realistic.
not that it means everything, but the guys on baseball tonight seemed to agree with you all...that JD will get a better offer than the 11 he woulda made on the old deal b/c of the OF-starved market. crazy.. so no, his asking price will not be realistic for us
To hell with him then lol. No way would I pay him 11mil a year. He's a nice ball player but not that nice.
Drew's a much, much better player when he's healthy (obviously that's a pretty big when). They do have the same BA, but Drew has a better SLG by a slim margin (10 pts) and has a better OBP by a huge margin (50 pts). Drew can also play a solid CF, which is also a big plus in his book. For those of you wondering why he'd opt out of his Dodgers deal, just look at the market. Beyond Soriano and Lee, there are no outfielders available other than Matthews. Drew will get a huge deal from somebody. I think he's a better investment than Sheffield, who just got a gigantic extension from Detroit.
The biggest knock on the guy is HE'S NEVER HEALTHY... which disputes any "he's good when he's healthy" argument. The fact that he's often injured is no fluke... its a mark of the type of player he is... Nancy Drew.
