Drew vs. The Dirt Dog
Posted by Jeremy.
This season, J. D. Drew replaced Trot Nixon in RF for the Sox. Trot was a beloved player in Boston, and one of my personal favorites, so the convergence of Drew slumping and Trot coming back to Fenway have a lot of people yearning for the good old days. There are a couple of things I’d like to point out.
The Big Myth: J. D. Drew is fragile.
Here’s how Trot and Drew stack up in terms of games played over the last three seasons:
2004
Trot - 48 G
Drew - 145 G
2005
Trot - 124 G
Drew - 72 G
2006
Trot - 114 G
Drew - 146 G
2004-06 Totals:
Trot - 286 G
Drew - 363 G
If we go back and look at how many games they’ve played per season over their careers, Trot averages 121 games per season, Drew averages 118 games per season. So they’ve both missed significant playing time. However, keep in mind that two of the major injuries Drew has sustained in his career were the result of getting hit by pitches (2001 and 2005). He does have his share of nagging injuries that probably limit him to be a 140 game player but in my opinion, he’s probably less “injury prone” than Trot (who is by the way 2 years older than Drew). I realize that they are probably different types of players, and get their injuries in different ways. Drew suffers more from the daily grind, whereas Trot never saw an outfield wall that he didn’t want to slam into. Still in the end, Drew is probably less of an injury risk going forward than Trot is.
In terms of production, Drew has been superior to Trot over their careers. Drew has a career OPS of 0.894, Trot has a career OPS of 0.840. In terms of career wins over replacement level (which includes defense) Drew has been worth 48 wins, Trot 42. The money could be argued over. There’s little doubt that Drew is overpaid, but given the other contracts handed out this winter, it’s not really as bad as it seems.
I guess I’d summarize the change this way. The Sox replaced one productive but injury prone RF with a younger, more productive and less injury prone RF for a bunch more money.
May 31st, 2007 at 2:35 pm Using
There’s no doubt that Drew is an upgrade on Trot, but that’s not the point. Trot was a guy who survived on B-grade talent and A+ grade effort and character. Drew has A+ talent and between having an agent with no soul and being rather fragile, has only produced on the B+ level.
The final paragraph tells all to me: delta_OPS of 0.054 and 6 more wins over their career? That’s not worth $70 million.
I’m not trying to shoot down your analysis, Jeremy, and it’s important for Sox fans to look at the numbers instead of just recalling the good ol’ days, but I’ve never really forgiven Drew for saying “screw you” to the Phils, playing a year in the Northern League, and signing for $$$ the next year. (As a side note, think about how good the Phils could be with Victorino, J-Rollins, Utley, Howard, and Drew as 1-5. ouch!)
May 31st, 2007 at 3:11 pm Using
Varitek did the same thing to the Mariners that Drew did to the Phillies, he also delayed signing and went to the St. Paul Saints for a year. But Varitek is regarded as one of the good guys while Drew has gotten this bad rap.
May 31st, 2007 at 7:03 pm Using
Yeah, I’m not sure why I like ‘Tek but hate Drew - I totally admit that it’s hypocritical. Something about mitigating circumstances of being a catcher and earning the ‘C’ ?
May 31st, 2007 at 11:57 pm Using
Tek, Trot, and Drew all look like these big ol’ redneck assholes I went to high school with.
That being said, Tek is the only one of the three that strikes me that way just ’cause he’s been playing ball with guys like that since he was a kid. Seems like he’d be a pretty normal dude on his own.
Anyways, that’s not much of a reason, but I guess that’s kind of why he tends to get the most positive reception from me. Also, as Mike said, earning the “C” is no small thing, especially on a team that includes veteran stand-up class acts like Wake…
And I still think it would be the most fun to hang out with Big Papi. Mango salsa on a mega-sized D’Angelo’s sub? I’m there, Papi, I’m there!
Hah!