Herb G - Another Day, Another Drewmor

Boo hoo! Boo hoo!
Does anyone want Stephen Drew?

Fri. Jan 24  - Buster Olney of ESPN tweets “Am told Yankees are still not weighing a run at Stephen Drew. In other words: Status quo.” FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal further tweets: “Drew would fit well with #Yankees, but sources say team essentially has reached spending limit. That could change, but more likely move would be an exchange of salaries in a trade - say, Ichiro ($6.5M) for a comparably priced reliever. Drew remains logical target for #Mets.”
 
Thur. Jan 23    - Jon Heyman pens an article on CBSSports.com titled “Yankees now looking closely at Drew with tax no longer major issue” In it, he states “The Yankees  are now considering free-agent shortstop Stephen Drew, which could potentially put another dent in the rival Red Sox's up-the-middle alignment only weeks after the Yankees signed Boston star center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury.” “Drew is one free agent the Yankees are at least weighing, according to people familiar with their thinking. . . . now that the luxury tax threshhold has already been surpassed” Regarding other options for Drew, Heyman writes “The Red Sox are believed to have signaled a willingness to do a multiyear deal with Drew, although obviously he is still wondering if there's a better deal for him out there” and “The Mets have shown some interest in Drew, and their attempt to sign reliever Grant Balfour, offering at least $12 million over two years, suggests they have at least some money left.”

Tues. Jan. 21 - Scott Lauber, Clubhouse Insider for bostonherald.com/sports, in his article “Are Red Sox ready to move on without Stephen Drew?” writes “Perhaps it's merely posturing, what with only 25 days left before pitchers and catchers must report to Fort Myers, but the Red Sox sound like they're ready to move on without Stephen Drew.” He goes on, “Speaking before his appearance Tuesday night on a panel at the annual Hot Stove Cool Music charity event, general manager Ben Cherington said the Sox "feel good about where we are right now" without Drew on the roster. He declined to offer specifics on discussions with agent Scott Boras except to say, "I think the time that's being spent on talking about publicly is not necessarily consistent with the time we're spending on it. We feel like we're in good shape to start the season tomorrow if we had to," Cherington said. "There's a circumstance for the Red Sox in that we have players that we believe in and bigger-picture things that we want to do, and some of that has nothing to do with Stephen Drew. Stephen did a great job for us last year. We respect him, and because of that, we've kept a dialogue going. But there's nothing to be gleaned from that other than we've kept a dialogue going. We're comfortable where we are. I don't ever want to rule anything out because it doesn't make any sense to do that, but we like the roster we have now." “In other words,” according to Lauber, “the Sox are no closer to re-signing Drew than they were in November when the shortstop declined their one-year, $14.1 million qualifying offer.”
Even manager John Farrell, who has been outspoken about wanting to re-sign Drew during the off season, seems to have moderated his desire Tuesday night. He said "I deal with the players we have. That's kind of where my focus is limited to. If there's a late addition, if there's a scenario where Stephen comes back to us as we get closer to camp, we're well-aware of what Stephen's capable of."

So, the Yankees are in, the Yankees are out. The Red Sox are out, the Red Sox are in. One thing almost everyone seems to agree on, however, is that Drew makes the most sense for the Mets. And where are the Mets on all this?

Way back on Dec. 28, Outside Pitch Sports Network’s Anthony Rushing wrote “There still remains some uncertainty at the shortstop position, however as Spring Training gets closer and with free agent Stephen Drew still on the market — it appears the Mets are growing more and more comfortable with the idea of Ruben Tejada as their opening day shortstop in 2014.” About the same time, Mets special assistant J.P. Ricciardi appeared on SNY’s “The Hot Stove Show” and said the Mets are happy heading into 2014 with Tejada as their shortstop. According to Ricciardi, “He’s a young player. . . . A lot of them don’t realize what it takes to play every day. I think in Ruben’s case, he got a lot early in his career and I think he’s starting to realize that he has to work a lot harder than he has in the past, and he has. To his credit, he really has. But as a young player, they get to the big leagues, some things happen for them and they forget how tough it is to stay there. I think he’s at that stage in his career. I think next year he’s going to be a better player than he was this previous year.”

Mets GM Sandy Alderson has been quoted as saying that “three alternatives exist: sign a free agent, make a trade or go with what we have, subject to probably bringing in a backup to Tejada. I'd say right now, it's probably more likely that we will go with Option C, which is Ruben at shortstop with the addition of a backup." All these statements certainly make it sound as if the Mets do not have much interest in Drew any more. According to Andy Martino of the NY Daily News, the Mets like Drew but are not “super hot for him . . . and they can wait.” Metsblog lead writer Matt Cerrone has long maintained “while the Red Sox and Mets get linked to Drew most, he eventually signs a multi-year deal with the Blue Jays, Astros or Twins, but that’s total speculation on my part.” But even Cerrone has changed his tune concerning Drew in the last few days, saying “Interested teams see him as a one- to two-year player at no more than $10 million a year. Of course, Boras and Drew still want at least a three-year deal. However, if Boston is only offering a one-year deal, and if the Yankees are out of it, and if left to weigh a collection of two-year offers, maybe the Mets have a better shot than I initially thought.”

All these Drewmors are exhausting. Mack said that he wasn’t going to say another word about Drew until he is signed by someone, but I can’t resist. I believe that Sandy Alderson has played it exceedingly smart with his waiting game. Eventually, Drew and Boras should come to him. Drew belongs on the 2014 Mets. He would be a significant upgrade to the SS position, and Ruben Tejada would be an ideal backup middle infielder and a perfect counterpart to Drew, spelling him against left handed pitching. Tejada is a career .296 with a .367 OBP against left handed pitching, while Drew is .275 and .343 vs. righties. Drew, however, has displayed better pop against both, so he would be a good bet to get the lion’s share of starts, even against lefties.

Alderson should not allow Drew to slip away. I don’t buy the idea of waiting until next off-season, when a bigger crop of free agent shortstops will be available. You never know who might come off the market between now and then. It’s pretty certain that Hanley won’t hit the market. Jed Lowrie might be nice, but if he fizzles this year or if the A’s decide to extend him, the Mets are left in the lurch. And meanwhile, the Mets would have a sub-par shortstop for 2014, unless Tejada has a career year. Two years at $10 million a year is not unreasonable for Drew. Even if they need to offer a 3^rd year club option with a buyout, Drew would pay dividends.