per VORP, he's been the 10th best 1b this year. as a 3b he'd be more valuable. he's not just cheap, he's good.

he's 28, just entering his peak years. so he doesn't have 7 great years left, but a solid 3-4 I think.

I guess it seems like he just came up-- the seasons fly by. He doesn't have a whole lot of power for a 1B, it seems like, I agree that he's much more valuable as a 3B. I could see them sticking with him, especially as it seems like they're going to let Lowell go after this season.

What I'm really wondering about is what they're going to do with the powerless outfield of Ellsbury/Coco/Drew that they have signed for the long-term after Manny leaves after the 08 season. I feel like after this past offseason, they're not going to be spending a ton of money on any free agents.

no but i'd sure rather they win 2-1 instead of 7-1

really i don't care if he gets shelled i just didn't want JD drew to be the one to do it, i have no love for that suckbag this year

whoops

LOL, yup...




And all I can say is go Detroit tomorrow, although heading into the series with a 7 game lead would still be nice.

6-1 on the road trip and the loss was a game that they had 9 hits, 5 BB, a HBP, and lost 2-1. Even if CHW and TB aren't all that good, they're still Major League teams and it's still pretty impressive.

They absolutely annihilated Chicago this year.

why are people still complaining about drew? sure, he's had a disappointing season, but he's been great in august. seems to really be coming around. even when he's struggling, he still gets on base at a reasonable clip, yet people always want to see some scrub like pena/kielty or someone with less power and no arm like ellsbury to take over in rf

Got to stay with JD. Not everyone can be like Manny and just put the work in, then goof off and mash all the time. Guys like Manny and Popi don't get in their own way. Tek is just a rock. Ditto Mikey Lowell. Pedroia is too young to know any better so he is free swinging his way to a hard .320.

JD and Youk feel the heat more, but they don't need too much of a mistake to hit it hard, and will get on base. In the playoffs, I like guys that can hit tough pitching and work the count. No AAAA dudes who feast on Tampa Bay, but major league professional hitters.

It's Drew's $14.4M salary that is getting him the criticism and the lack of power.

His stats through around 112 games are eerily similar to what Trot Nixon did last year.

What is all this talk about people hating on Drew? Nobody here, even Toro, *really* thinks Drew should be benched in favor of Ellsbury/Kielty/Wily Mo. This guy is a good Major League player and he's coming around now after a horrid start. We all want him to play and do well.

he was good for about two weeks at the end of july / beginning of august, but fell off again. his post-ASB OPS is still only .716, which is actually lower than his first half, so i don't know what kind of 'coming around' he is doing. plus he has been bad against lefties this year and i for one did not expect to get a 14MM platoon player when we signed him.

check out some situational splits for 2007:
(AVG / OBP / SLG )
bases loaded: .154 / .188 / .154
men in scoring pos, 2 out: .194 / .375 / .403
men on, 2 out: .230 / .380 / .391


what jumps out most about these splits (other than that they pretty much suck for the guy we brought in to clear the table when they walk manny and papi) is that he is going up there in RBI situations looking for a walk, which is corroborated by what i've watched during the course of the year.

You don't have to keep posting stats that show how horrible he's been this year. We know he's been horrible this year.

The question is: does anyone really think that you would be better off by having either Ellsbury or Kielty in there in his place? IMO, the answer is clearly no and I think most people on this board would agree. Bitching about how much he sucks is fine. Suggesting we should remove him for Big Red or the kid with the big league eyes is insane.

just read that the sox are tied with SD for least runs allowed in MLB.....that is REALLY REALLY amazing.

wont last due to the 6 games vs NY upcming, but man that is impressive.

since i gave u a hard time for being so negative and pessimistic before i must say i am happy you are now looking at the bright side now

I never said anything like that. I'm just pointing out that Drew's approach has been terrible for his stated purpose - to clear the table after the big bats get on base - and that all this talk of a 'turnaround' is pretty silly. He hadn't hit a HR since June 20th before today. His situational hitting sucks.

I'm not saying we should start Kielty every day, but we should definitely start him against lefties the way Drew is hitting them, which means we basically have a 14MM platoon player.

his (and every other players) stated purpose is to not make an out.

not that that makes him good this season, just saying.

sure but in situations with men on base, isn't it easier for a high average / high SLG / low OBP guy to be more valuable than a low AVG / low SLG / high OBP guy? esp. with 2 outs?

i'm not sure where the balance is, and i was a big fan of the drew signing and appreciate the importance of OBP. there is a certain degree of frustration talking here.

I think we were all a little tense when the Yankees started to make their run and the Red Sox were leaving runners on base at an alarming rate and losing games they had no business losing. Sometimes I get frustrated. I think we all do. You were the only one who wasn't worried at all. Or, if you were, you didn't show it at least. You were right and I'm very happy to say that I was wrong about this team.

dont worry they will probably suck again for a bit before the season is over.

I didn't word my post well, but I wasn't accusing you of saying that stuff. I'm just saying that the people here, including Toro even, know deep down inside that playing Drew over Kielty/Ellsbury is the correct decision, even though he's been awful this year and even though they may say otherwise. I agree that he should sit against lefties in favor of Kielty, though.

BTW, it just occured to me today that the Red Sox have the worst bench in the majors. It may not ever come into play, but damn is it awful. The proposed Dye deal seemed bad to me at the time, but now I'm really wishing we made the trade.

Yeah, but that won't matter unless it's some major league meltdown of epic proportions, in which case I certainly won't be coming here to say "I told you so". I'm really afraid this is the end of my complaining for the regular season...

not in the majors, but maybe the worst bench of a legit playoff team.

This Gabe Kielty pick-up is starting to look like a shrewd move.

<--- AHEM!!!

Anybody remember me saying, "I'm not even going to look over my shoulder till they get within four games." They got to four back, I looked behind me, and they melted.

I'm not buying that, either. Cora's clutch, and Gabe Kielty is awesome. One OF and one IF is enough bench for me.