J. D. Drew, no. 7

After my seeming inability to form coherent sentences yesterday in the face of baseball greatness; today, we have a reality check.






Birth Date: November 20, 1975 in Valdosta, GA

Height/Weight: 6'1", 195 lb.

College: Florida State University

Contract: 5 years for $30 million (through 2011): The last two years are voidable if he spends too much time on the disabled list.

Drew's Batting Average for last season was .270; it's not terrible. He struck out 100 times (21.46%) but walked 79 times (16.95%), so his On Base Percentage (.373) was pretty decent. His Slugging Average, however, was only .423-a career low. The two combined for his On Base plus Slugging is equal to a measly .796. He was brought in for his ability to hit Home Runs but only managed to hit 11 last season-another career low. He managed to create only 74 runs.

Drew's fielding has always been below average and last season was no different. [aside: When selecting a picture to go with this entry, I decided to be kind and go with a positive action shot but it would have been just as easy to go with a misplayed ball. Half of the pictures I have are of errors he made.] His Fielding Percentage in right field was .977 and in center field was .923, the league average for those two positions was .985 and .992 respectively. His Range Factor in right field was 1.62 and the league average was 1.77. His Range Factor in center field was 3.00 and was actually above the league average of 2.42 (probably because he only played 4 games in center field and didn't have enough opportunities to screw up.)

There's little to say about Drew's personality. He's been called indifferent and apathetic. People seem to think that he doesn't have a passion for baseball and doesn't care whether his team wins or loses. I think he's a lot like Varitek, without the bad ass/slightly scary edge to him. He seems serious and quiet, maybe a little bit of an introvert. I don't think it's possible to be a professional baseball player without being passionate about baseball, simply because of all that it entails.

I also think that Drew should be given a pass for last year's performance; not simply because of his son's health issues but also because if we are willing to give National League pitchers a year to get used to American League batters, shouldn't we be willing to give National League batters some time to get used to American League pitchers? That being said, if he manages to get through next season without sticking his hand in front of a pitch and doesn't improve, then I'd be more than willing to throw him under the bus.

It seems unlikely but if they could find someone to take him off their hands, then it would solve their outfielder problem. They could keep Coco in center, put Jacoby in right, and bring back Kielty. They would be a down a potentially powerful bat, though.