Yankees to sign Stephen Drew

[Corsi]

Jon Heyman ‏@JonHeymanCBS  46s46 seconds agoManhattan, NY
yankees will have deal with stephen drew. deal expected to come in at about $5M plus incentives to bring it to $6-7M.

 

[glennhoffmania]

So is he playing 2B or is Didi moving over?

 

[MakMan44]

Seems unnecessary (Steamer has Didi outhitting Drew), but whatever. 

 

[TheYaz67]

In three of his last four seasons he has hit worse that his career average OPS (.747), and will be 32 and playing one of the most demanding defensive positions, so good luck with that.  He looked like he forgot how to hit a baseball in the 2013 playoffs, and last year was cover your eyes bad, albeit yes in just 300 plate appearances - his confidence at the plate frankly looked shot, and if you go to the plate with negative thoughts, poor results always follow. 
 
Absent him finding that swagger again, I think he is going to continue to be a disaster at the plate for the Yankees in 2015.  Perhaps they are counting on their new hitting coach(es) to fix what could not be fixed last year....    

 

[jon abbey]

https://twitter.com/Joelsherman1/status/552658521616302080

 

[Shaky]

So is he playing 2B or is Didi moving over?

 
Maybe he is 2B/SS insurance.  Prado light.

 

[jon abbey]

Not crazy about this, but I said a while ago that NY will try to get guys on one year deals since they are already committed to so much money in 2016. 

 

[jon abbey]

Refsnyder's defense is questionable at 2B still, they know Drew can play D well. 

 

[EvilEmpire]

One year and relatively cheap? Not much to dislike. Good to have options beyond Gregorius and Refsnyder.

 

[jon abbey]

I think the idea is he will be a fairly inexpensive upgrade on Brendan Ryan, whose two year deal was yet another bit of collateral damage from last year's Jeter silliness.

 

[E5 Yaz]

He'll be a nice sell-off piece at the trade deadline

 

[mt8thsw9th]

One year and relatively cheap? Not much to dislike. Good to have options beyond Gregorius and Refsnyder.

 
That's pretty much peanuts for someone Fangraphs rated as being worth $6.3 million last year. It was so valuable they even put parentheses around the total to emphasis the value.

 

[jon abbey]

Heh, you fucker.

https://twitter.com/Joelsherman1/status/552672816504766465

 

[Sox and Rocks]

He'll be a nice sell-off piece at the trade deadline

Not if he's hitting below .200 again

 

[mabrowndog]

I guess the Steinbrenner boys don't want to be accused of not going the extra mile for their fans.

 

[jon abbey]

Assuming Drew is the 2B, this is the best defensive infield for NY in a long time (Headley, Gregorius, Drew, Tex). 

 

[EvilEmpire]

Assuming Drew is the 2B, this is the best defensive infield for NY in a long time (Headley, Gregorius, Drew, Tex).

Yeah. And the only weak spot in the outfield is Beltran. The team looks to be pretty good defensively overall. Feels weird to type that.

 

[Wingack]

Yeah. And the only weak spot in the outfield is Beltran. The team looks to be pretty good defensively overall. Feels weird to type that.

Yeah but who is going to do the fist pumps?

 

[Pozo the Clown]

He'll be a nice sell-off piece at the trade deadline

 
Indeed.  Perhaps he'll even be able to net a Kelly Johnson type in return. 

 

[threecy]

Why does this feel like Weekend at Bernie's 3?  Most indicators point to his bat as being dead, dead, dead.

 

[Pedro 4 99MVP]

I am not saying this is a bad signing for the MFY, because Drew is good defensively and will most likely rebound at least a little at the plate. What I will say, however, is that it seems like it is $6 million that didn't need to be spent. How many wins is Drew worth over what they already had at league minimum in Refsnyder? The MFY of the 90's broke in their own players and were very successful, the MFY of more recent times seems like they "need a big name" at every position, even if that "name" doesn't make them any better. 
 
As a Sox fan, I say keep signing the Stephen Drews of the world to fill holes. 

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

Wondering if Drew feels a little burned by Boras.  I'm sure that Drew must have had better options than the one year deal the Sox gave him at the time (perhaps less in AAV but for more overall long term stability and value).... his catastophically awful playoff performance at the plate had a serious affect on getting any long term contracts again coupled with the Sox offering him arb salary.

 

[EvilEmpire]

I am not saying this is a bad signing for the MFY, because Drew is good defensively and will most likely rebound at least a little at the plate. What I will say, however, is that it seems like it is $6 million that didn't need to be spent. How many wins is Drew worth over what they already had at league minimum in Refsnyder? The MFY of the 90's broke in their own players and were very successful, the MFY of more recent times seems like they "need a big name" at every position, even if that "name" doesn't make them any better. 
 
As a Sox fan, I say keep signing the Stephen Drews of the world to fill holes.

They still have the ability to work in Refsnyder. Give the questions about his glove at 2B, anointing him as the starter, sink-or-swim, isn't without risk and might not be good for his development either.

I don't think this is about having a "name" at 2B at all.

 

[LondonSox]

A lot of scouts are far from sold on Refsnyder, having other options isn't crazy. This option maybe, but Refsnyder isn't why.

 

[jon abbey]

https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN/status/552847413900488704

 

[Kramerica Industries]

Last off-season:
 
Yankees made a two year offer:
 
https://twitter.com/Joelsherman1/status/468827931381624832
 
Red Sox made a two year offer:
 
http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/the-gms-office/post?id=8776

 

[mauidano]

Drew and Boras chose to roll the dice and they crapped out. Oh well.

 

[Wingack]

Drew and Boras chose to roll the dice and they crapped out. Oh well.

 
Boras has done it before and he will do it again.

 

[LondonSox]

 
Boras has done it before and he will do it again.

Well it's a lot less risky for him than it is his clients. But that's what they are signing up for. More money, more risk.
Personally, given the money is so great the extra few million for the risk and stress and ignoring the quality of the team/ organization for that extra money isn't worth it.
If I can get 100mm from a place I'm happy at vs 110mm from somewhere like Florida I'm taking the 100mm, that will MORE than sort me out and be happy. But people who think that way don't sign with Boras.
 
I couldn't agree less with his recommendations for young players not to sign. Again personally, I'd take a deal that puts me to free agency in my prime with my future secure vs risk flaming out or injury and coming away with next to nothing.