Money aside, who in their right mind would argue that having J.D. Drew on your club makes you better than having Manny Ramirez? Who? This guy, that’s who — leaving all of us fans to wonder why we’re not getting paid to write bad columns about the sport we love.
Simple fact: J.D. Drew has been nothing more than a second-tier outfielder and hitter his entire career, and while he has managed to stay on the field a good portion of two of the last three years, he remains an injury risk, a head case and one of the most overpaid outfielders going.
Consider: Drew had his one of his better seasons in the bigs, hitting .283 with 20 dingers and 100 rbi. Granted that was in LA, but he’s only hit 30 homers once and seems to alternate between full seasons and half-seasons. Basically, he is a good hitter, but not one who belongs in the same breath as Manny Ramirez.
Ramirez had an off-year in 2006, playing fewer games than Drew but still out-hitting him — he had 102 rbi, 2 more than Drew’s career high and his lowest total since 1997. He also hit more homeruns and had a higher batting average.
Even cash should not be viewed as the issue, given that Drew will probably cost $14 million a year over five, while Manny is getting a bargain salary (for a hitter of his caliber in today’s market) of $19 million for the next two.
But then I am just some local newspaper editor watching baseball on TV and following the box scores in the paper. What do I know?
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
Hank Kalet 