Trade Drew

I sure hope the Red Sox are hungry, because it’s time for them to fatten up on another fat contract. No team – not even the Yankees – eats as many contracts as the Red Sox. They chomped on the 7-million dollars that was left on Manny Ramirez’s contract when they parted ways with the apologetic slugger. They nibbled on 11-million dollars still owed to Edgar Renteria when he was traded to the Braves. They swallowed another 13.5 million dollars of Julio Lugo’s contract while he played for two different teams, first the Cardinals and now the Orioles.

That’s nearly 32-million dollars thrown away. Add that to the 51-million they paid the Seibu Lions for the rights to negotiate the under-achieving Daisuke Matsuzaka, and you can begin to see why those ticket prices are so high. It’s not the small ballpark, or the annual renovations. It’s not the bad economy either. It’s waste management. The Red Sox are forced to pass the hat around to the three million fans who step into Fenway Park every year. If everybody chips in an extra 30 dollars or so, that’ll just about cover the wasted dollars.

(And by the way, by any measure, Matsuzaka has under-achieved. Combining the posting fee and Matsuzaka’s salary, the Red Sox invested 103 million dollars in him over six years. That’s an average 17.1 million per year. Over the last two years, that’s about 3 million dollars per win. Awful!)

Back now to the original point, the Red Sox contract diet. It’s time to cut the chord with J.D. Drew. It’ll be their biggest meal so far, but what a treat to see him go. Drew is due to receive 14-million dollars in the final year of his contract. Let him play somewhere else. Make some room in the outfield for a better player. The problem with Drew isn’t just the money anymore. He was grossly overpaid the moment he put pen to paper to sign that 5-year, 70-million dollar mistake. Now, the problem with Drew is that he’s taking up space on the roster. He could be replaced by a more productive player.

Allowing for some projections from now until the end of the season, Drew’s average year in Boston is this: 131 games, 80 runs, 120 hits, 19 homers, 67 RBI, and a .278 batting average. There are about 80 guys in the big leagues doing better than that this year. The Red Sox should go get one of them, because Drew’s not producing like a right fielder should.

And it won’t get any better. For all his flaws, Drew is remarkably consistent. In his first three years in Boston, he drove in 64, 64, and 68 runs. In those three years, he walked 79, 79 and 82 times. In two of those years he had exactly 126 hits, 30 doubles, 4 triples, and 84 runs scored. He batted .280 and .279 the last two years. You know what you’re getting from this guy, and it’s not nearly enough. The Red Sox have been willing to cut their losses with other mistakes they’ve made.

There must be at least three teams that would be willing to take on a guy who can put up mediocre numbers, especially if they didn’t have to pay him. And there needs to be three teams, because in his sweetheart of a deal, Drew has a limited no-trade clause in which he can veto a trade twice. The Red Sox should seriously consider finding three takers and telling Drew to pick one.