Hold Your Fire On Drew

Warning: This one is going to seriously piss off Junior in NY.

Like many Sox fans over the past few months, I admit to being poisoned by the ravenous Boston media in regards to JD Drew. I can honestly say that I have only peripheral knowledge of the Sox new right fielder having decided to focus on the Major League the past few years. However, like most knee-jerk Sox fans, I have come to loathe JD, because of the passionless way he plays - when he is healthy enough to be in the line up that is.

What? Hey wait a minute. Until the Boston press began talking about Drew like he was Osama Bin Laden's nephew, I probably wouldn't have known him if I bumped into him in a Dunkin Donuts. Yet, a few days after the rumored signing, I was spitting mad, informing Junior that the Sox had packed it in for 2007 and that they were assembling a clubhouse with a chemistry that would ultimately land them on the federal Toxic Superfund list.

Can we take a breath here for a minute? Can we at least get him an at bat or two before we turn him into a cross between Mike Lansing and Dante Bichette (Two charter members of the All Suck Attitude Team)?

Like no other sport, baseball is a game of numbers. Yes, team chemistry is important, but the sport is at its heart, one of individualism. And the way a player performs - individually - is documented, catalogued and published for all to examine. There is no way to sugar coat your perfomance. No need to break down the film after a game to determine what you actually did like an invisible offensive lineman in football.

So here is where the "pissing off of Junior" comes in.

After actually looking at "the numbers", replacing Trot Nixon with JD Drew was a no brainer of monster proportion and represents a huge upgrade. (Pause to duck from flying objects appearing from Queens).

The big knock on Drew is that he doesn't play hurt. Even the most vocal Drew Detractors say that JD will be a significant upgrade "if he stays healthy." Well over the past three years, Drew has had 1264 at bats. Dirt Dog Nixon? 938. That 35% more AB's for the "fragile" Drew. Hits? 370 to 261 in favor of JD who hit 15 points higher than Trot over the period (.293 to .278). Power. No contest. Drew hit 144% more homers than Nixon in the three year period (66-27). And Drew is 2 years younger than Trot. Add in that Drew has more range and a much stronger arm and it is obvious that the Sox have moved up several notches both offensively and defensively in right field.

Sure, Drew's uniform won't be as dirty and his helmet won't be covered in pine tar and he will never be loved as a scrappy, tobacco chewing, run through walls, dirt dog. But this isn't football. All we want Drew to do is get on base, protect Manny and make the plays in the outfield. Clearly he will do that much more effectively than Nixon.

For those of you who remember back a few years, Drew will bring back memories of Wade Boggs. Wade was a sweet swinging lefthander and an on base machine before on base percentage was sexy. He was also known as a selfish player who could calculate his batting average on the way to first base after a hit. He was also criticized for taking too many pitches and refusing to enlarge his strike zone to try to get a hit in a key situation. He was just as happy to take a walk. He was also raked over the coals by refusing to swing for the fences because he knew it would hurt his batting average. (He was usually in single digits in homers other than 1987 when he crushed 24 just to show he could do it if he wanted to).

"Selfish" Boggs only went on to win 5 batting titles, got his World Series Championship with the Yankmees in 1996 and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2004.

The real issue most people have with Drew is the salary. 15 million a year for Drew? Outrageous. And it is. But as I have said before, who cares? It's not our money. If Theo had signed him for $5 million a year would everyone feel better? How about $10 million? The fact is that Drew is a solid player and a borderline star. The fact that John Henry is throwing too many Benjamins at him is not his fault nor our concern. All we should care about are W's and Drew can help the Sox get more of them than if Trot were in the lineup.

We'll all miss Trot. And I'm not saying that Drew is going to the Hall of Fame, but I believe by the end of the season, we will be more than satisfied that replacing him with Drew was the obvious move.