Red Sox Rumors: Bay, Drew, Bard

Red Sox GM Theo Epstein appeared on WEEI's Dennis & Callahan show this morning; let's take a look.

• Epstein admitted the Red Sox need a contingency plan in case Jason Bay leaves, but he still believes "[Bay] wants to be here, and we want to keep him and take a shot."
• Epstein says J.D. Drew has been worth "a tick more than $14MM per year," due to his offense, defense, and baserunning.  FanGraphs has the best-known public player valuation system, and they say Drew has averaged $14.93MM in regular season value over 2007-09.
• The Red Sox GM was not trying to send a message through the media when he said DH David Ortiz needed to be a force in 2010.
• Epstein considers reliever Daniel Bard a "work in progress," and implies thrusting him into the closer role in 2010 wouldn't be beneficial long-term for Bard.
• In other Red Sox news, Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald says the team has "expressed interest in meeting with [Aroldis Chapman] and watching him throw, although it is premature to categorize their interest as anything beyond preliminary."