J.D. Drew

[brewers255]

would he be a good fit? He wants to play CF and has opt out of his current 3 yr 33 million contract. How much would you pay for him. Maybe we can add Drew and Nomar, to sure up our OF situation. Trade Jenkins and Clark and gain some salary. Thoughts?

[trwi7]

Interesting. I believe he already opted out. I think we would only go after one and if we got Drew I think he would play a corner. I think I'd prefer Garciaparra to Drew but that's just my opinion.

[sbrylski]

Drew would be another good signing. The FA class is starting to get rather deep.

 

How good is he in CF? I'd love to have him in any OF spot though.

 

He's also likely to be a lot more expensive, so it would definately depend on what his price range is.

[brettac1]

Drew is a terrific all-around player. Defensively he's best in a corner, but if the Brewers could get him by letting him play CF, I'd do it.

 

However, he gets hurt almost as much as Nomar.

[colbyjack]

If Drew has opted out of his 3-year, $33 million dollar deal, you know he's looking for an even bigger payday than the one he got two years ago. Unfortunately, as much as I like Drew as a hitter, despite his inability to stay healthy for a full season, I think he's going to be too rich for about 25 of the 30 MLB teams. At least if he wants to play CF, he's not going to either of the NY teams.

[trwi7]

He opted out today.

 

Link

[princeginterhallhelms04]

Hmmm why does he scream Redsoxs? But i could also see him getting more money just to play with the dodgers. I may be dumb but why do so many teams give the players the ablity to opt out after so many years?

[KCBrewerfan34]

What is Drew thinking leaving $33 million on the table? I can't wait to see how this plays out. He's not worth that kind of money IMO, mainly because of all the injuries.

[AJOHNSON104]

A nice player, but he gets hurt way too much. Unless he just hates LA, he probably made a mistake in opting out. He may get more in a total package, but the yearly average will probably be less (4 yrs/$40m?). There is definitely some depth in the FA market developing, but most of them have issues that hurts value. I'm starting to hope Melvin sits out the bidding wars and grabs up someone who slips through the cracks and signs a 1 or 2 year deal. I'd hate to get stuck with Drew, Nomar, C. Lee, etc. for 4-5 years and $50-60 million.

[colbyjack]

Drew wouldn't have opted out of his contract if there was any thought in his mind that he would make less money. He's a Boras client, which may make some think he's greedy, but greedy shouldn't be confused with stupid. He opted out of his deal for the same reason Aramis Ramirez did: To make more money in a weak market, and more than likely he'll get it, particularly when teams are doing as well as they are.

 

I agree, Boston makes a lot of sense.

[AJAY]

Batting .283 with 20 homeruns and 100 RBI is nice but not really spectacular. Is he really that great defensively?

 

I know Boras usually gets the deals he wants, but I still don't know about this.

[sbrylski]

Batting .283 with 20 homeruns and 100 RBI is nice but not really spectacular.

 

Add in 89 BB and 34 doubles and he has some nice slash stats - .393 / .498 / .891

 

One concerning thing about him would be that his OPS is following a negative trend - 1.006, .931, 891 the last three years. He turns 31 next year, so his best years are probably behind him. He'd likely be great in a two year deal, but I'm assuming he opted out so he could try and get one last big deal. He'll probably be looking for a 4 or even 5 year contract.

[KCBrewerfan34]

If a GM out there gives him a 5 yr deal the owner should immediately ask for that GM's resignation, I don't care if the team can afford it or not.

 

Colby this isn't the first time a player made a bad decision!

 

Didn't something like this happen to Loretta a couple of years ago and he had to settle for a 1 yr deal? Not sure if its the same scenario. I'm on record, Drew made a mistake (or Boras)!

[Brian the Automator]

I don't think he would have declared free agency if there wasn't a little birdie in his ear from another organization guaranteeing him more money.

 

Or perhaps, unlike Randy Newman, he hates LA.

[JohnBriggs12]

Peter Gammons indicated this morning that among the teams interested in Drew were several unnamed small market teams.

 

Boras is probably betting Drew could get something like what Lee turned down, 4yrs, 48 million. Attanasio being from LA also indicates Drew may be on Brewer radar. But once again, here is a guy the Cubs will also have interest in which could drive the price even higher.

 

I'm kind of on the fence here. Drew will be 31 later this month. He's a little more reliable than Jenkins as a hitter and doesn't strike out quite as much and walks a lot (I'm sure endaround and Rluz would love that), he's been much more injury prone than even Jenkins. He's sort of a poor man's Bobby Abreu. Also I think he's capable of a few more home runs in Miller Park.

 

Bottom line, I think the Brewers would have interest here if they can move Jenkins.

[splitterpfj]

There's no way I want to see a long-term deal with a player who's hurt this often. That's worse than giving the extra year to Carlos.

[mls4]

Hard to believe he can get more than 3/$33. Wow.

[dadofandrew]

You're basically paying Drew for 400-450 AB's. If you go into the season thinking that, you'll hit expectations. Otherwise, you'll be disappointed.

[endaround]

Drew is better than Lee and Lee turned down 4/48. Not sure why Drew not taking 3/33 is surprising.

[splitterpfj]

This is a player that has topped 500 ABs once in his career. Yes, he has the physical ability for sure, but counting on him to be more than a 120 game player for you is a major gamble.

 

I could see Drew getting more per year than he had been getting, or at least getting an additional year at the same money per, but I don't want to see it happen here.

 

This screams "Hammonds Lite" to me. Physical skills mean nothing if they're on the DL.

[vacin8r]

Hard to know for sure what all of drews motives were, but i was listening to sports radio last night and the guy said drew opted out thinking he could get equal or better money elsewhere, and that drews wife hates living in LA. so it may be more that just the lure of a bigger payday. if the brewers were to want drew id think 4 years 50mil could get it done, or maybe 3 years 40mil, either way that is a huge chunk of change for a guy who(off the top of my head) has only had 2 healthy seasons his whole career. When i want the brewers to pony up this kind of bread, is for a legit #1 starter, or a consistant 850+ops hitter who doesnt have a ton of injuries. otherwise id rather just hold on to the cash and use it to buy out the arby and early FA years of whatever young studs DO live up to the hype.

-Don

[yfinn6]

I was surprised - looking at JD Drew's stats during the season - to see how much he was making. Clearly he has the ability to be an above average player, but knowing that he had the injury problems I couldn't believe he was making $11 million.

 

He plays really solid D, has a strong arm, obviously he can hit but the million dollar question is can he stay healthy. Signing him for more than the amount he opted out of his old contract is too risky for the Brewers IMO.

[miwokE]

Yes, he is well rounded offensively and defensively. Yes, he will give 400-500 very solid at bats to his club. But this is the guy who refused to play for Philadelphia before ever proving anything as a major leaguer! I don't see him considering Milwaukee. As someone else suggested, Boston's now-vacant right field looks like a good match.

[reillymcshane]

All about money. Boros said:

 

"We let the Dodgers know we're interested in returning and discussing a new contract. Obviously, it was something we had to do in free agency."

 

I think they see the money guys like Ramirez are tossing around - $15 million a year - and figured now was the time to cash in.

[pogokat]

I think drew really likes the south...I don't think he'll be a brave again, but i think he's a bit of a good old boy...baltimore's not too far from the "south"...maybe drew goes there...