Here's the latest on free-agent shortstop Stephen Drew, courtesy of CBS Sports' Jon Heyman:
- The Mets offered Drew a salary in the neighborhood of $9.5MM, the same amount Drew made last year, but Drew rejected it. The Mets remain the team with the most need for Drew's talents.
- The Red Sox have not made a new offer to Drew since Ryan Dempster decided to take 2014 off and forfeit his $13.25MM salary for the year.
- The Pirates have "spoken about Drew," but are currently more concerned with finding an upgrade at first base. They currently have youngster Jordy Mercer penciled in at shortstop, and would have to sacrifice the No. 24 overall pick in the draft to sign Drew.
- The Blue Jays could look to Drew for help at second base.
- Heyman also notes that the qualifying offer, which has dramatically reduced the market for Drew, Kendrys Morales, Nelson Cruz and other free agents, also has mostly helped big-payroll teams, as the Yankees and Red Sox have extended nearly half of all qualifying offers.
Now I wonder if Boras made Drew deny that contract, or was it actually Drew?
I know the Jays want to see how Goins wants to develop… but I’d rather see this guy at 2B.
personally i dont think it’s that the Jays want to see Goins develop – especially on the MLB roster, and since he’s already 26. it’s that AA always has his darn poker face on with possible transactions, and he doesn’t want to trash his current players.
You would? He’s never played 2b in his entire baseball life and you want him to be your second baseman? Switching from one side of the infield to the other is no easy task. But hey it’s your team…
Most MLB 2B started off as a SS. Players make that move all the time and there is no reason to think that a competent MLB SS wouldn’t be able to be at least an average MLB 2B.
He’s a professional athlete. He has all the necessary skills… it’s not like turning a mechanic into an astronaut.
And Goins wasn’t a 2B until 2012 either so…. yeah.
When the QO system was first introduced, I thought compensation would be based on the player receiving at least so much money/time from his ultimate destination, not based on turning down an offer from the original team. I believe in draft pick compensation but it should really be based on how much the player ultimately signs for, imo.
NHL has a pretty good draft pick compensation system.
that’s only for restricted free agents though. The MLB doesn’t have an offer sheet system for arbitration eligible players like the other sports do.
The problem is not compensation. The problem is teams that sign free agents are penalized and forfeit a pick. This was the case under the Type A free agent system as well but it never impacted position players and SP’ers as much, mainly RP’ers. For there not to be interested in a # 8 ranked 31 yo SS means something else is up, but nobody wants to go there.
As long as the MLBPA is too scared to confront the reality, next year looks to be far worse, perhaps impacting even elite free agents. MLB is smart this time, taking baby steps rather than a broad sweep of all free agents that got them caught multiple times with their hands in the cookie jar
For a cheap second base option do Hernan Perez and a Aball pitcher that the Tigers have a lot of for Cecil.
Did the Red Sox ever legitimately want Stephen Drew back or did they make the qualifying offer to “Game the system?” They seem so shady.
They took the risk of him resigning. How is that shady?
Every team in the league is shady, then.
They made the offer knowingly that Boras would probably decline in hopes of getting a 2-3 with an AAV of 10 million
Jordy Mercer showed last season that he is a good enough hitter to make the Pirates not be very worried about the shortstop position. Look at his numbers in half a season last year. He will improve on those in his first full year this year. I bet he puts up better numbers than Drew did in his first full year.
With slick fielding Clint Barmes backing up Mercer, they really aren’t in need of Drew, and it would not be worth losing a draft pick. Plus Drew wants multiple years and The Pirates have highly rated prospect Alen Hanson a year away.
I just wished the Pirates had a better backup than Barmes and hit subpar batting ability. Note, if you look at Barmes batting stance in videos from a few years back when he was a decent hitter compared to now, you’ll see one major change. He’s now arcing his swing on a 60-65 degree angle in order to hit a homerun. However, unless he’s been lifting weights all winter, he’ll be striking out or flying out. If he flattens out the swing, he would probably be more of a contributor as opposed to detriment to a team.
I had wondered if he had altered his swing, as he used to at least have decent power for a SS in COL and even in HOU. But a guy his size playing in PNC Park really has no business going for homers. He is still a contributor because of his glove and his ability to help position the defense, but it would indeed be nice to get some more offense out of him.
I honestly find it intriguing that the Bucs have even discussed Drew. Mercer can hit, but he hits lefties much better than righties and has some defensive limitations. Don’t get me wrong: I like Mercer a lot. But I do not have a problem with the Bucs kicking the tires on Drew. There are any number of scenarios which could make signing Drew worth considering: maybe they do not want to sign Walker to a long-term extension; or maybe Alvarez could move to 1st and Mercer to 3rd.
I am just shooting from the hip here: I don’t consider these overly realistic scenarios, and I have zero interest in Drew at $8-10 million per year. On the other hand, a lot of fans are complaining that the Bucs are standing pat this offseason and not doing anything. Since their biggest need is 1B and the market for 1B is not terribly good right now, I am OK with them possibly looking to improve elsewhere and think outside the box a little.
Drew is not much of an impact player. I wouldn’t want my Pirates to even discuss paying $10M+ annually for him. You know he’s not going to return that value, nowhere close.
Yeah, when the Pirates were watching Drew win the World Series last fall, they were probably thinking that Drew wasn’t very good. Hmmm, I wonder what Drew’s ring size is…
What did Stephen Drew do in the World Series?
There are over 162 games you need to play through in order to get to the World Series… without his contributions the team can’t say that they would have ended up in the same place.
I don’t like him coming back to the Sox because I want Middlebrooks to get the at-bats. Drew would be a fine addition to many teams at a position that is weak throughout the league.
Maybe they should have dumped McCutchen this offseason and gone after Ellsbury. He won a ring last year, and that makes him super special. What a ridiculous argument.
Maybe they should have gotten rid of McCutchen this offseason and gone after Ellsbury. He won a ring last year, and that makes him super special.
Cruz 1 year 8 million would’ve been nice for the Pirates. Why would we be in on Drew?
This is the 2nd time Boras has messed up in refusing a QA from the RS. The same thing happened with Veritek.
He declined 9.5 mil?! Like his brother J.D., Stephen must think he’s better than he actually is.
Drew is a good player, and worth a contract. But, perhaps not nearly in the range of value that he and Boras and Heyman think. He’s not particularly sturdy, he comes with the draft pick compensation, and he’s about to turn 31. BTW Heyman’s piece could have been written by Hallmark (or Boras) with all the warm glow of a Burl Ives voice-over. His suggestion that MLBPA make the next CBA better for the handful of players affected by the QO by sacrificing other things important to the vast majority of players tells you oceans about his biases.
I think unless the Yankees are convinced they can sign that Cuban 2b/ss Diaz, they should not be writing off Drew. I am no fan of Drew, but our infield is pretty bad right now (save for Tex and we dont even know how he will play after missing a whole year).
The best news by far is that Drew turned down $9.5 mil from the Mets, it’s money that can be better spent elsewhere.
Let Drew rot. Plenty of talent equal to him. Cheaper too.