On Friday, MLBTR's Tim Dierkes looked at where free agent shortstop Stephen Drew could help the most, including teams like the Astros, Marlins, Twins, Royals and Yankees. In the comments, a reader added the Athletics as a team that might make sense, with Drew taking over at shortstop at Jed Lowrie moving to second base.
Just because a player might be able to help a given team doesn't mean that team will sign him, however. The Yankees, for example, have said they're not interested in Drew. And teams like the Twins and Pirates, who might otherwise be able to use Drew, appear set to go with internal options (Pedro Florimon and Jordy Mercer, respectively) rather than signing Drew and giving up a draft pick to get him. As a result, the market for Drew doesn't appear to be particularly strong.
Since Friday, we've heard that the Mets, who would represent a potential fit for Drew, are "divided" on how valuable he would be to them. The Mets are the team most consistently connected to Drew, but reports on the intensity of their interest vary, and they could easily simply go with Ruben Tejada and address the shortstop position later if he doesn't work out. There's also the chance that Drew could re-sign with the Red Sox, who could move Xander Bogaerts to third base and Will Middlebrooks to the bench. All sorts of dark-horse teams could sneak in as well, with the stable potentially expanding if teams decide Drew could play second base or third base for them.
Right now, it appears that the Red Sox and Mets are the only significant suitors. If the market is going to widen much beyond those two teams, Scott Boras may have to get creative. So just for fun, we'll include every team in the poll. Regardless of who needs him the most, who do you think will sign Drew?
He’ll go back to Boston. Winning team, willing to pay decent money, needs his services, etc. Mets would be foolish to pour money into him. Yankees are a possibility but I doubt the Red Sox let themselves get outbid by their rival like they did with Ellsbury. Boston needs Drew more than they needed Ellsbury.
Yankees aren’t desperate enough to try to bid for Drew. In fact, they don’t want him at all. But I agree Boston makes the most sense for him.
Because they have Jeter.
Drew would be an upgrade and unlike Boston who is not afraid to cut ties, NY always holds onto their own longer than they really should, and keeps them at their position.
Truthfully, Jeter and his 2012 -14.0 UZR shouldn’t touch shortstop in 2014, but it seems he will often and that will really hurt the team even if he does rack up 200+ hits again. He is the face of the franchise and their is no cutting ties though.
Is how they roll.
We all knew that they most likely would be starting Jeter at ss.
If he is really recovered he has still been a 2-3 WAR player last 4 years. Is he healthy enough, and good enough to be worth over 3 years? He is an upgrade over Ryan, but there is a big health concern, do you want that and Jeter?
Jeter is an anommaly. Dont ever try to compare a single player of our generation to jeter again. No player has been more respectable and detrimental to a franchise than derek jeter has been to the yankees. And if u dont agree than ur just not a true baseball fan.
I think you misunderstand the meaning of detrimental
Jeter was certainly detrimental to the Yankees last season, and will be again this year. LOL.
Yankees say they won’t sign Drew
Do they want to send 2 of their draft picks to Boston? Unlikely.
And if the Mets sign him, Boston gets the same thing.
Ummm no, the Mets won’t be sending 2 of their draft picks to Boston, just 1 pick. Yankees Ellsbury & Drew would mean 2 picks.
i disagree with you Ellsbury is way more important then drew because of the infield depth the sox already have.
What depth do we have on the left side of the infield? There is Hererra, Bogaerts, and Middlebrooks, it’s not like Cecchini or Marrero are close to opening day ready. I am personally really skeptical of how much production we can get out of both Bogaerts and Middlebrooks. I think re-signing Drew, at a reasonable price of course, would be a great move for the short term success and long term development of the Red Sox.
Could have meant potential, or within a couple of years. cecchini, Mookie Betts and Devin Marreo. a 3b,SS and 2b many teams don’t have prospects of that caliber of one even within their entire organizations and Boston will have all 3 at AA or higher next year.
You are right, but I just think those guys won’t be ready to fully contribute in 2014 and Drew on a 1 year deal wouldn’t be bad at all. Two years may be pushing it but it really depends on a lot of things I presume.
With you there. No issues with Drew back on nothing more than 1 year. It’s anything longer than that which could lead the Sox to delay the arrival of Cecchini, or worse? Potentially move him in a deal that makes me want to see him sign elsewhere and just put up with WMB for another half season plus until Cecchini shows enough at Pawtucket to get the job at 3b for good and Bogaerts moves back to SS then.
Don’t think that even in a perfect situation Drew, right now on a 1y deal would get WMB on a 1 way ticket out of town anyway from what we have read, though Herrera would serve a whole lot better use to the team as a utility player.
Can I choose other?
I’m surprised to see “Mystery Team” absent from this poll.
Why did you include every team in this poll?
Perhaps it is because Drew could be signed by any team
I think there should only be three teams : Red Sox, Mets, and Yankees. Then have an other option. It really pained me to scroll down so far when there are only 3 stand out choices.
I doubt he will sign anywhere other than the three you listed. Unless there is a mystery team.
Oakland makes perfect sense. Lowrie is an awful defensive SS and is overdue to be injured.
Mets are obviously a fit. They could platoon Tejeda (LHP)and Drew (RHP) and probably get 4 WAR from the 2 of them. Both would be tradable commodities at any time. If Tejeda got his act together the Mets would have a valuable trade commodity in Drew
The Yankees also need him but are deluding themselves into believing Jeter can still play an adequate SS and also wanting to stay under 189. However, they could see the light if Jeter reports to ST and has a set back.
The Yankees are extremely unlikely to stay under 189, even with a full ARod suspension. They aren’t signing Drew because they don’t want to pay him what he’s asking for. If his price drops enough, they just might jump. ARod could easily be suspended the whole year and if they miss out on Tanaka, Drew is suddenly the next best thing available given their needs.
If Arod gets the full suspension they are about 8 million under 189. If the Yankees don’t go over 189 and sign Tanaka they won’t compete anyways, so they don’t need Drew in 2014. Of course, looking ahead, they are going to need a SS in 2015 anyways, Jeter can’t play there forever, and Drew is a better or cheaper fit than any of the available free agent options. However, if they can’t sign Tanaka they would be unwilling to go over 189 by a couple of million just for Drew, unless they trade Gardner to free up some money, and that weakens the team more than adding Drew would help, but may help them in 2015 and beyond.
Drew most likely would not even want to play for the yankees if he was unsure about whether or not he would get a starting role.
Drew would have to be willing to play 3B for a year. His only issue with that last year was he was looking for a pillow contract and playing SS enhances his value on the FA market. With a 3 yr deal that’s not an issue. Arod was willing to move to 3B for money, Drew will too
Thing is, I don’t think he would be willing to play 3B at the price the Yankees would want to pay him. If he was I think they would have taken him in a heartbeat over Kelly Johnson due to his flexibility.
lookin more and more like he stays w red sox. would be better for him, if he has a come back season, but seems like hes been waiting his whole career for that. so glad the Cards didnt sign him…could be a good move for the mets, at right price
I honestly have no clue. It’ll probably be the Red Sox, simply because there’s nowhere else to go, but they seem set on starting Boegarts. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a darkhorse team like the A’s or Twins get involved, but nothing has really materialized yet.
I know one thing. It probably won’t be the Braves or the Rockies. Might as well take them off the poll.
I voted for Tampa, just to be different. And now I feel bad for the Brewers.
In reality, I don’t think there is a favorite.
At this point in the year, there really isn’t a favorite for anyone out there.
There are so many teams that need pitching that the big four (Tanaka, Jimenez, Garza, Santana) could end up literally anywhere. And the bats left out there aren’t of the “impact” variety, so teams could go either way, choosing an in-house guy or jumping on a FA at the last minute.
I’ll say that Drew ends up in either Boston, Oakland or Seattle, with no strong emphasis on any of them.
I’m having fun just trying to figure out where Drew would play in Tampa’s infield.
He would be the designated fielder for the pitcher.
He could play SS with Escobar going to 2B, and Zobrist going to LF.. But that’s an awful lot of musical chairs to make room for an average SS.
Got a feeling you are joking around there with your picks, but will bite 🙂
Seattle is out. Nick Franklin already got pushed off of his SS position in the minors cause of Brad Miller, now he’s been pushed off of 2b in the bigs because of the Cano signing.and both Franklin and Miller are just 23, can hit a little, under control for 5 more years and handy with the glove.
They got offensive needs to fill and not sure someone who can’t hit lefties and will be looking for decent dollars will fit that bill.
I could see something with him at Oakland, but from his Boston days, 3b was Lowrie’s best defensive position. He was a natural 2b, but not much range at either SS/2b. Once again though. Oakland has spent fairly heavy and has a defensive specialist 2b making little money already. They move Lowrie to 2b, where he is weak and sign Drew to a big contract and what do they really gain?
The Twins. Pedro Florimon is not going to stop them from signing a shortstop.
If the Mets don’t sign Drew, their front office is clearly not worth the money that has been invested in them. This should be a no-brainer for them. Drew also makes a lot of sense for the Yankees, but their hesitation is far more understandable. Once A-Rod’s suspension is reduced to 181 games and the Yankees know that they will not have to pay him in 2014 and they sign Tanaka, they can figure out if investing in Drew makes sense for him, assuming he is still available by then.
With the Yankees luck with A-Rod, his suspension will be reduced to 150 games. They will be three games up in the second wild-card spot, having survived yet another series of injuries. He will return for the last twelve, be completely immobile in the field, strike out 16 times, but somehow manage to hit six home runs to earn his incentive payment, which will put them over $189M. In those last twelve games he will also set a record for press conferences, threaten to sue after Girardi lifts him in the seventh inning of a close game for defensive purposes, and mouth at least 114 “I’m just happy to be back here with my teammates.” The Yankees will lose 11 of the last 12 and miss the playoffs.
Homer pick, but the Mets. They have the need, money (supposedly), would only have to give up a third rounder to sign him, and the biggest hurdle seems to be Boras wanting a 3rd year, which is not much of a hurdle.
Yeah I’d give a third year with a possible option to him. I figure if you’re giving up picks, might as well go as long as possible within reason of course
I wouldn’t be afraid to go three years with Drew. He’s solid in pretty much all facets of the game and has been reasonably healthy throughout his career. He’s also fairly young and probably has one or two peak years left. If you get a lower AAV for a longer deal, I wouldn’t hesitate.
The Mets may just be waiting for Boras to call in desperation. I don’t see why they wouldn’t give him a 2-3 year deal. They would only need to give up a third rounder and Drew is a huge upgrade over Tejada. I’m sure the rotation wouldn’t mind having a good defensive SS behind them.
imo, the Mets should just offer two years and whatever money they’re comfortable with and essentially say take it or leave it. If he takes it, great. If not, then you see what Tejada can do and try for a different SS next offseason.
None of the rumors floating around indicate that there are any teams willing to give Drew a third year, and the only other contender in the rumor mill is the Red Sox, and they seem reluctant to even offer a second year. The Mets appear to have some power/leverage here.
The Mets should go with two years with a 3rd year option. I don’t care what anybody says about Tejada possibly being better if he comes back, hustles, and works hard. He hasn’t shown it so how are we supposed to believe he can do it. Signing Drew would also show Tejada that he has to work harder to get a starting spot back. It’ll make him better.
Your absolutely right! Why hand Tejada the job make him earn it. But the Mets might also just be using this to drive Drew’s and Boras demands down. The Mets know they don’t want to give Tejada the job ( he doesn’t deserve it), that’s why you still hear these rumors. Just like you I think you can get him with a 2yr-20mil deal but with a vesting option for a 3rd for 10mil. He’ll get his 3yrs 30mil if he performs, if not he’ll still make 20mil which is more than the 14mil QO Boston offered him. As for Tejada if not the bench then AAA will hopefully mature him and teach him that playing in the majors is an honor that has to be earned with hard work!
The Red Sox kind of did him a diservice offering Drew the QO since I said all along no one would give up a draft pick for a guy like him. But at the same time Drew was silly to decline the QO since he’s worth no where near the AAV. The only way should have declined was if we wanted more years but a lower AAV, IMO he’s not worth more then $9-10 million a year.
Qualifying Affer? Its pretty obvious that he declined because he wanted a longer term deal and most likely knew he wasn’t getting an AAV higher than the QO. I think $10 million on like a 3 year deal would be about right.
LOL wow yeah QO = QA opps
I still see him going back to Boston.
I see him resigning with Boston as I don’t think any team would be willing to pay him what he wants while giving up a pick.
If he’s willing and able to play second, he might have a much stronger market
Or a utility guy.
Bogaerts can still start at third with Drew starting at shortstop. It’s not like Middlebrooks has solidified himself as the starting third baseman.
Mets fans to Stephen Drew: Come, as you are, as you were, as I want you to be, as a friend, as a friend, as a known enemy, take your time, hurry up, the choice is yours don’t be late, take a rest, as a friend, as a known memory…
I’d love to see the Dodgers nab this guy as a utility infielder. Hanley’s always an injury risk, and Guerrero might need some seasoning in the minors if Drew could learn 2B. Probably won’t happen… but hey.