Comments on: JD Drew is Good, Eric Wilbur is not

By: The Fall of Cone

The Fall of Cone — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 01:28:43 +0000

amen amen amen

By: Sully

Sully — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 16:07:19 +0000

First, if that’s what Eric is getting at, you did a much better job of articulating his point, Cormac.

Now let me take on your point. As far as the money, it ain’t mine so I am not going to worry about it. And is he worth twice what Nixon is? I think so. He is a year-and-a-half younger and hasn’t incurred a serious injury of the nagging, recurring variety since 2003. Trot can’t stay off the DL and hasn’t been a star performer even while on the field since ‘03. Drew has averaged a 144 OPS+ over the last three seasons while playing in a total 363 games. Trot has played in 286 games and averaged a 111 OPS+. Also, the only significant time Drew missed in that stretch came in ‘05 when he was hit by a fastball on the wrist – that’s injury-unlucky, not prone.

Drew is not just good, but MVP vote-getter good. Here is how he ranked among OF the last three seasons in OPS, all while toiling in pitcher’s parks:

2006: 13th (.891)
2005: 5th (.931, min. 300 PA)
2004: 4th (1.006)

He’s a stud, and the Sox would do very well to pony up for the guy.

By: Cormac

Cormac — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 15:43:31 +0000

I think what Eric was getting at is that there are actually allot of Red Sox fans out there who are going to be very disapointed to lose Trot Nixon, when it appears the Sox front office is replacing him with a player very similar in both skill set and injury history. So, the question is, why pay almost double what you would have paid the fan fave, Nixon?

I personally think JD Drew is a good fit but you have to agree, there are several question marks, namely the money, the injuries, the character issue and the fact that there are several guys already in the Sox clubhouse who could do a pretty decent job for a third JD Drew type money.