Between Will Middlebrooks' playing at 3rd base and the probability of Xander Bogaerts pressing for time at shortstop, there is no need for the services of Stephan Drew and yet here we are, just over a month before Spring Training and he is still here.
While opinions may vary on whether or not he should return to Boston the statistics, reports and direct quotations do not lie. Drew and his agent Scott Boras do not care which team they go to. They have their priorities laid out an they so carefully detail that with his career already firmly built up what Stephan Drew wants is a serious pay day that frankly, he may not be worth. While he did log his second best on base percentage since his rookie year in 2006 that OBP was still .040 less than fellow defense based infielder Dustin Pedroia and logged 80 fewer hits in a season where he came to the plate a rather whopping 442 times. As if his regular season offensive numbers were not bad enough, Stephan Drew was truly awful in October smacking a hit in just 11.1% of his at bats while getting on base at just a 14% clip. In 54 postseason at bats, Drew landed just 6 hits with 2 walks and a near constant at bat result of a simple, anticlimactic ground out. He was terrible and it seems that the only reason he is still here is what he does away from the plate. When it comes to defense, Stephan Drew is one of the best shortstops in baseball, committing just 8 errors in all of 2013 and repeatedly going up and getting towering line drives that very few other shortstops could even dream of getting.
Now for some the case could be made that a Red Sox team that scored 800+ runs in 2013 is not one in major need of the extra 40 RBI's the man who would come in to replace Drew should he leave really is special and must not be held out of the lineup any longer. Assertively hailed as baseball’s best prospect since Pedro Martinez, Xander Bogaerts is ready to take the MLB by storm. To state plainly, holding him out of the lineup would simply be an illogical decision on the part of the Boston Red Sox not only for the reason of Xander Bogaerts's need to play but also because of the station currently stewing over at 3rd base. As bad as he was at times this season, we must not forget that Will Middlebrooks is still the same human being who booted Kevin Youkilis from this town 2 seasons ago and frankly his omission from this lineup would be close to as heinous as an equal act committed against Xander Bogaerts. Like Xander, Middlebrooks is a small nimble base runner whose strong suit lies mainly with his quick reactionary snags of line drives drilled towards the "hot corner" he tends. Additionally, the loss Middlebrooks as would probably be the case if Drew stays in Boston would subtract a great young power threat from the middle of this Boston lineup that in a couple years will be greatly weakened via the possible retirement of David Ortiz.
Yet through this all, through all this uncertainty the Red Sox are remaining professional, preparing to play for whatever team they land on next year. Earlier this week, Will Middlebrooks seemed to put to words this kind of preparation.
"I haven’t talked to anyone about it,” he said. “I haven’t even talked to Stephen. I have to prepare like I’m the starting third baseman for the Red Sox. So I’m going to prepare, because regardless of what happens I’m going to be playing baseball somewhere. I’m hoping it’s in Boston because this is where I want to spend my career. I love it here. We’ll see, but, like I said, I’m going to be playing baseball so I have to be ready.”
You have to be ready, you have to be ready. That is pretty much it. Between the trio of Stephan Drew, Xander Bogaerts and Will Middlebrooks there is no shortage of talents and yet it is no secret that the Boston Red Sox must let one of those superstars go and in one simple opinion that someone has to be Stephan Drew.
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