DrewPodesta

At the bottom of this post is a list of the top 80 players in baseball in Value Over Replacement Player from 2005-2006 combined. Thanks to this research provided by Dodger Thoughts commenter BHSportsguy, I have been able to rank the players by combined Salary/VORP. Largely because of the hit-by-pitch injury he suffered in 2005, J.D. Drew ranks as the 10th-most-expensive player on the list.

Having nothing to do with what Drew is worth going forward, one can certainly choose to argue that he was overpaid in hindsight, in terms of the production that the Dodgers got out of him - although it's interesting to see the names of the players who rank ahead of him. Of course, many of the names below him have not been free agents yet and haven't had the chance to earn what he has.

Drew was a key man in the Dodgers' 2006 playoff run, but for his two years here, he was an expensive one.

* * *

A lot of people never liked J.D. Drew, and now a lot of people really hate him. Many are already planning how much they're going to boo him the next time they see him at Dodger Stadium, in a manner that I believe has probably been reserved only for Barry Bonds or, in my youth, Pete Rose. Considering that Mike Piazza and Shawn Green have gotten booed steadily as visiting players in Los Angeles, for no reason that I can ascertain, Drew should expect to absolutely get hammered. He may even get worse treatment than Gary Sheffield, the least popular ex-Dodger of at least this decade.

Because I feel none of this venom, I'm trying to understand it.

As far as I can tell, Drew is guilty of the following:

1) a history of wanting the most money he can get, aided by agent Scott Boras
2) being a Paul DePodesta signee, right after DePodesta let Adrian Beltre go to Seattle
3) not showing emotion on the field (Update: this image notwithstanding)
4) getting hurt from time to time
5) not being perfect in clutch situations, though he did OPS at least .900 in clutch situations in 2006, with an on-base percentage of .397 and slugging percentage of .533 in the 7th inning or later with the Dodgers either ahead by one run, tied or with the potential tying run at least on deck.
6) telling the Dodgers verbally he would stay with the team through 2009, before reassessing the market after the season and deciding to opt out of his contract to pursue a raise, giving the team four days' warning.

I guess that the cumulative effect of the above is something powerful, though piece-by-piece there isn't much there. Item 1 makes Drew the same as 99 percent of ballplayers. Items 2-4 won't win him friends in some quarters, but aren't reasons to hate him. (In fact, I'll tell you this - I'm sick and tired for the heat Drew takes for not playing hurt. For every Nomar Garciaparra or Kirk Gibson home run while playing injured, you get guys like Eric Gagne ruining their years if not their careers. Playing hurt, very often, is a hateful thing to do.)

However, I suspect those first four items lead directly into so many people having decided he is a choker, despite the mass of evidence in Item 5 to the contrary. Then, when you add choker to Items 1-4, that gives you a powderkeg waiting to be ignited by Item 6.

Drew broke his word, and for some people, that's enough. I understand the reaction; I'm just not reacting that way. For one thing, the oft-cited September interview with Bill Plunkett of the Register does not indicate that Drew promised to stay. It says he planned to stay.

"I don't plan on (using) it," he said Tuesday. "I've enjoyed my time living in Los Angeles. That's what it was there for – to make sure (wife) Sheigh and I didn't come all the way across the country (from their native Georgia) and get stuck in a situation we didn't like."

Drew said the clause has hardly come up in discussions with his agent, Scott Boras, since the original negotiations. He couldn't imagine any reason for his opinion to change between now and the end of the season, prompting him to use the opt-out option.

"You know what – I don't think so," said Drew, who also has a limited no trade clause. "Ultimately it's my decision, and we're happy where we're at. We love our house in Pasadena. My wife is happy. She's made a lot of friends in our neighborhood and with the other players' wives. That's really the thing that was nerve-wracking about it (free agency) for me.

"At some point, you make those commitments and you stick to them."

Now, in that last line Drew all but assured us he was going to stay - though nothing, from "I don't plan on using it" to "I don't think so" to "at some point" is definitive. A month passed between the end of the season and the warning Monday by Drew's agent, Scott Boras, that Drew would exercise the opt-out clause Thursday. I feel that's enough time for Drew to be allowed to change his mind, promise or not.

Please understand - I know what a promise is. The whole point of a promise is for it to withstand changing circumstances, whether they be the sudden flood of money that now appears to be available to free agents, or Drew hearing tell (as Bill Plaschke's Friday column suggested) that the Dodgers were tied of "coddling" Drew, or for all we know, Drew's wife having a postseason change of heart.

I'm just not sure Drew made a promise.

But let's say that he did. If so, then he exposes himself to the moral consequences of breaking it. But just as every promise is of different importance, so is every broken promise. If Drew broke his promise, what were the consequences?

Contrary to the mainstream media spin, the Dodgers did not lose any valuable offseason time with Drew's decision. Negotiations for outside free agents hadn't even begun; trades have barely started. The Dodgers want us to believe Drew hung them out to dry - if that's even the slightest bit true, then they're incompetent.

I'm not saying that I wouldn't have been annoyed or angry at Drew if I were Dodger general manager Ned Colletti. I would have. I get riled by stuff much smaller than this. I curse at people for not using their turn signal when they drive.

Above all, Drew didn't put the Dodgers ahead of his own interest. So maybe that's all one needs to set Drew up as Public Enemy No. 1 at Dodger Stadium.

I think the biggest problem I'm having is that so many people disliked Drew in the first place, and have been going out of their way to trash Drew's career, independent of what happened this week. And Drew did play well. Even with the time he missed due to his injuries, he found himself among the best. He helped lift the Dodgers to a playoff spot.

But even though Drew never got into trouble and never complained, even though he did so many things right, multitudes will consider him a lifelong enemy to the Dodgers. Drew is the new Paul DePodesta, a man whose approach to baseball is so anti-cinematic as to earn widespread loathing. I don't know why I'm sympathetic to characters like these when I love the movies so much, except that maybe I realize baseball isn't quite like the movies.

In the end, I can't expect everyone to like Drew, much less politely applaud when he returns in an opposing uniform. He'll not be a favorite son. All I would ask is that people acknowledge what he did do for the Dodgers. It's not all black and white, and Drew did a lot that was good.

* * *

Top 80 MLB Players in 2005-06 VORP, ranked by Salary/VORP

Name	Team	Pos	Total VORP	2005-06 Salary	Salary/VORP
Barry Bonds	SFN	lf	53	$36,000,000	$679,245
Gary Sheffield	NYA	rf	54.5	$26,000,000	$477,064
Jim Thome	CHA	dh	61.5	$26,500,000	$430,894
Jorge Posada	NYA	c	64.8	$27,500,000	$424,382
Hideki Matsui	NYA	lf	57.2	$21,000,000	$367,132
Ken Griffey Jr.	CIN	cf	68.3	$25,000,000	$366,032
Alex Rodriguez	NYA	3b	142.6	$52,000,000	$364,656
Torii Hunter	MIN	cf	52	$18,750,000	$360,576
Carlos Beltran	NYN	cf	86.1	$31,000,000	$360,046
J.D. Drew	LAN	rf	61.8	$22,000,000	$355,987
Jason Giambi	NYA	1b	98	$34,500,000	$352,040
Todd Helton	COL	1b	89	$29,200,000	$328,089
Jim Edmonds	SLN	cf	64.2	$20,885,000	$325,311
Troy Glaus	TOR	3b	66.8	$21,000,000	$314,371
Richie Sexson	SEA	1b	70.6	$22,000,000	$311,614
Manny Ramirez	BOS	lf	126	$39,000,000	$309,523
Edgar Renteria	ATL	ss	57.2	$16,000,000	$279,720
Chipper Jones	ATL	3b	97.2	$27,000,000	$277,777
Ichiro Suzuki	SEA	rf	80.5	$22,000,000	$273,291
Bobby Abreu	NYA	rf	96	$26,000,000	$270,833
Derek Jeter	NYA	ss	139.8	$37,000,000	$264,663
Geoff Jenkins	MIL	rf	55.5	$14,500,000	$261,261
Johnny Damon	NYA	cf	83.2	$21,250,000	$255,408
Andruw Jones	ATL	cf	102.1	$25,500,000	$249,755
Mike Cameron	SDN	cf	57.4	$14,000,000	$243,902
Carlos Lee	TEX	lf	71.9	$16,500,000	$229,485
Aramis Ramirez	CHN	3b	86.8	$19,500,000	$224,654
Paul Konerko	CHA	1b	93.8	$20,750,000	$221,215
Lance Berkman	HOU	1b	117	$25,000,000	$213,675
Alfonso Soriano	WAS	lf	87.7	$17,500,000	$199,543
Jeff Kent	LAN	2b	85.6	$17,000,000	$198,598
Moises Alou	SFN	lf	69.8	$13,250,000	$189,828
Vladimir Guerrero	LAA	rf	127.6	$24,000,000	$188,087
Ray Durham	SFN	2b	73.3	$13,500,000	$184,174
Carlos Delgado	NYN	1b	97.4	$17,500,000	$179,671
Miguel Tejada	BAL	ss	128.8	$23,000,000	$178,571
Adam Dunn	CIN	lf	68.5	$12,100,000	$176,642
Rafael Furcal	LAN	ss	89.2	$14,600,000	$163,677
Pat Burrell	PHI	lf	68.8	$11,000,000	$159,883
Albert Pujols	SLN	1b	173.7	$25,000,000	$143,926
Julio Lugo	LAN	ss	63.8	$8,300,000	$130,094
Kenny Lofton	LAN	cf	54.3	$6,950,000	$127,992
Michael Barrett	CHN	c	59.4	$7,200,000	$121,212
Raul Ibanez	SEA	lf	67.1	$8,000,000	$119,225
Marcus Giles	ATL	2b	55.5	$6,200,000	$111,711
Jimmy Rollins	PHI	ss	87.7	$8,850,000	$100,912
Carlos Guillen	DET	ss	91.1	$9,000,000	$98,792
Jermaine Dye	CHA	rf	92.3	$9,000,000	$97,508
Tadahito Iguchi	CHA	2b	49.3	$4,750,000	$96,348
David Ortiz	BOS	dh	152.4	$13,750,000	$90,223
Vernon Wells	TOR	cf	82.7	$7,200,000	$87,061
Mark Teixeira	TEX	1b	99.3	$8,500,000	$85,599
Morgan Ensberg	HOU	3b	72.5	$4,500,000	$62,068
Gary Matthews Jr.	TEX	cf	61.6	$3,500,000	$56,818
Nick Johnson	WAS	1b	85.1	$4,650,000	$54,641
Felipe Lopez	WAS	ss	60.7	$3,100,000	$51,070
Lyle Overbay	TOR	1b	59.8	$3,000,000	$50,167
Michael Young	TEX	ss	118.4	$5,575,000	$47,086
Carl Crawford	TBA	lf	78.4	$3,500,000	$44,642
Jason Bay	PIT	lf	122.3	$5,000,000	$40,883
Brian Roberts	BAL	2b	93.2	$3,400,000	$36,480
Jhonny Peralta	CLE	ss	62.6	$2,100,000	$33,546
Jose Reyes	NYN	ss	81.2	$2,200,000	$27,093
Victor Martinez	CLE	c	101	$2,300,000	$22,772
Travis Hafner	CLE	dh	148.4	$3,200,000	$21,563
David Wright	NYN	3b	111.5	$2,200,000	$19,730
Grady Sizemore	CLE	cf	113.3	$1,800,000	$15,887
Justin Morneau	MIN	1b	52.2	$730,000	$13,984
Chad Tracy	ARI	3b	55.9	$736,000	$13,166
Freddy Sanchez	PIT	3b	55	$664,000	$12,072
Brian McCann	ATL	c	61.9	$600,000	$9,693
Robinson Cano	NYA	2b	70.3	$680,000	$9,672
Bill Hall	MIL	ss	80.5	$764,000	$9,490
Matt Holliday	COL	lf	87.1	$816,000	$9,368
Garrett Atkins	COL	3b	76.1	$650,000	$8,541
Joe Mauer	MIN	c	101.6	$725,000	$7,135
Chase Utley	PHI	2b	120.1	$845,000	$7,035
Ryan Howard	PHI	1b	105	$651,000	$6,200
Hanley Ramirez	FLO	ss	54.5	$327,000	$6,000
Miguel Cabrera	FLO	3b	146.9	$842,000	$5,731

Comments

[jakewoods]

1.  why shouldnt drew take every advantage he can and make the most money he can?

no one should begrudge him for that

[underdog]

2.  Regardless of how everyone feels individually, I can't imagine the fairness of a world that would boo Drew as much as Gary Sheffield. Sheffield is completely selfish, awful person (who happens to be an incredible hitter). JD Drew is a solid player and a solid person who was arguably overpaid - with whom I'm very disappointed as far as his decision to leave. But yeah, for people to put him with Sheffield as far as the ferocity of boo (or the velocity of boo? I guess that can be measured with decibel levels...) - that seems particularly unfair. Hope people will feel disappointed and not let it get meaner than that.

[willhite]

3.  Sports is an arena for letting people vent their frustrations with all that bothers them in their lives.

Certain players performance (or perceived performance) combined with their personality (or perceived personality) tend to attract venom to a far great degree than others.

JD Drew just happens to be near the top of the Venometer because he seems to have failed the passion test.

[dzzrtRatt]

4.  Jon, no surprise, I'm with you on Drew. I've said a couple times that his loss greatly lengthens the odds against the Dodgers remaining a contending team next season. I think Colletti blew it, partly out of his irrational drive to distance the team from the DePo years.

I wonder where Drew would come out on your chart if we assumed that 2005 was just like 2006 and he played 145 games. Many of the top ten also lost many weeks of either '05 or '06 -- Bonds, Sheffield, Thome, Matsui, Griffey, and just under Drew, Giambi, Edmonds, and Helton.

This chart also suggests that the highest quality is at the far ends of the bell curve. Either a team pays a lot of money for a great player, or it lucks out and finds a great player in its system, and underpays them as long as it can. If you can avoid it, stay out of the middle.

[confucius]

5.  JD Drew had 136 RBI over his two years with the Dodgers. I had hoped for more becasue I thought he would be their major run producer. That's my only beef with him. When you look at the past though, he had never had 100 RBI in a season. So maybe my expectations were too high.

[thinkblue0]

6.  is it a completely absurd thought to think we might just go after both Zito and Schmidt and fill out our lineup through trades?

[Jon Weisman]

7.  No, it's not absurd. Mainly, though, Colletti figures to "go after" many players, having nothing to do with whom he ends up with.

[underdog]

8.  6 Not absurd but highly unlikely. Going after one of them is very likely though, methinks. I think the Dodgers need one more top starting pitcher and with Drew's loss offense suddenly became much more important.

[thinkblue0]

9.  8-

completely agreed.

I think we'll end up with Schmidt..I've got nothing to back that up because it's just a gut feeling.

Losing Drew is just...ugh...it's pretty depressing. The worst part is that this year's FA class isn't all that great and I really don't feel comfortable giving ARam money to Carlos Lee. I could live with a Soriano signing, but I'm not huge on him either. At the same time, we can't blow up our farm going after trades. I really wonder what it would take to get Andru Jones seeing as how he's in the last year of his contract...should be an interesting couple months.

[underdog]

10.  Yeah Andruw Jones would certainly make me feel a lot better about losing JD Drew and about the Dodgers in general. But what it would take to acquire him... hmm...

[willhite]

11.  I think that going after a high-profile player like Jones in the last year of his contract is very high risk. The Braves won't give him away and if we give them what they think he's worth we're likely to have him for one year only.

If we get permission to negotiate an extension before we make the deal, we're talking to Boras. In view of Colleti's comments about Drew, how much slack do you think Boras will cut him in talking extension for Jones. I don't see any way he lets Jones sign an extension without testing the waters after next season.

[oswald]

12.  jd drew was introduced to the baseball conscious by holding out on the phillies. he is now hated in philadelphia. he went to the cardinals where he played for tony larussa, one of the smartest baseball people out there. he watched drew everyday and deemed him "a 75% player" meaning you would never get more than that from drew because he just didn't care enough. the braves picked him up and watched him each day. in the end, the braves, who have recently had a great eye for talent, decided to pass on him.

and now drew shows himself to be the person he has always been: a greedy and vacant person. he has chosen to leave a playoff team on the rise and uproot his family in order to grab a couple million dollars more on top of the millions he already earns. there is no reason to hate him for this; if there were, we would have to stop watching baseball altogether because baseball is filled with people just like him.

i imagine that the dodgers will take a step back this next year. but i think that i'm not alone in thinking that the dodgers were at least two years away from a championship. perhaps this gives the dodgers a chance to bolster their starting and relief pitching while allowing the kids to play and grow, if only to see what these boys are capable of.

[thinkblue0]

13.  Forgot Jones was a Boras guy...who isn't these days?

yeah, I'm basicallyjust throwing names out there to get some discussion going on exactly how we replace offensive production. Just a really weird offseason

[CharlieBrown]

14.  I completely agree with your article, Jon.

I would add one thing that was always a little frustrating about Drew, even though I liked him as a player: his tendency to make weak outs.

Now, I don't have any empirical evidence to support this, just my sense from watching games.

But Drew took many called third strikes, and a lot of the time they seemed like good pitches to hit. Most likely he was just fooled by the pitch and knew it. Drew also hit a ton of little grounders to the right side. Now, I could be off about this, but it seemed Drew did this more than other people. So when you're hoping for a hit and he takes a called third strike, or hits a dribbler, I think that can cause fans frustration.

So, I just think maybe that is part of the reason people don't like Drew, is that his at bats seemed passive at times, aside from any emotion he didn't display.

[underdog]

15.  Btw, Jon, I'm with you on the turn signal thing - that really steams me! I go off on a rant to myself whenever someone doesn't use their turn signal especially in a situation where it would have made it safer and easier for me had they done so. "See that little stick attached to your steering wheel?! It's really easy - flick it up or down if you're turning!" Sigh.

{{mutter}}

I say the Dodgers will be one of three finalists for Soriano. Not sure how likely it is they get him, though.

[sanchez101]

16.  Where is Beltre on the Salary/VORP list? He 'earned' $28.5 million and 'produced' 26.2 VORP. His $1,087,786 salary/VORP seems like it should top the list.

Jon, I think your whole methodology for trying to figure out why people dislike Drew right now. Trying to apply a logical explanation for the decisions by many people who clearly aren't choosing to think logically won't accomplish anything.

What I think this episode shows is the fundamentally illogical relationship fans have with their team and its players. If you really 'hated' Drew from the beginning you probably thought he was not very good and/or overpaid, in which case you wouldn't be mad at him for leaving. The only people that should be mad at Drew now are the ones that thought that he was an asset to the team to begin with, right? In my mind, you either disliked Drew from the beginning and now are happy to see him gone, or liked him from the beginning and are now dissapointed. That seems logical to me, and yet this doesn't seem to reflect the reaction from people at all.

I was under the impression that most Dodger fans didn't really know much about Drew, and didn't have much opinion either way, they just rooted for the guy because he was wearing the right uniform. (this is LA after all, not Philadelphia or Boston) I think people are just mad, for whatever reason, and sometimes it's difficult to tell why. I'd be nice if we had a press that could articulate things better, or just not have an obvious agenda, but I think that boat has already sailed.

[Jon Weisman]

17.  14 - It must be one of those things. Drew had one of the higher on-base percentages in baseball, so I don't know he could be making weak outs much more than many other people.

Beyond that, is the style of out he makes all that relevant?

[Benaiah]

18.  If we were going to get anyone in a trade Andruw would seem to be the perfect fit. I think Penny would have to be the centerpiece, maybe with Ethier or Kemp, though an extension would have to be worked out in advance for the trade to make sense in that case.

[underdog]

19.  I think Drew just wasn't "scrappy" enough.

Scrappi Du instead of Scrappy Drew.

Or something.

[Linkmeister]

20.  I never understood why Drew was so disliked. I often clicked away from the Blue Blog or whatever it is the Times offers because I couldn't stand the screaming about him.

That said, I'm annoyed (not mad, just annoyed) that we now have an outfield position we have to fill that we didn't expect to have to.

[willhite]

21.  Part of what's going on here is that some people are feeling rejected, even if they would have been happy to see him traded and never really liked him in the first place.

It's that old "What do you mean you're breaking up with me---I'm breaking up with you!" syndrome.

Statistically I really like Drew. I would have preferred to see a little more emotion. I don't have a problem with his deciding to see what he's really worth out there this year. After all, the contract we gave him said he could. As Jon says, he never promised (cross my heart and hope to die) to stay. I, for one, am ready to move on and would like to see Crawford in our outfield next year. I would give up a decent prospect or two to make it happen.

[caseybarker]

22.  I was much more disappointed when Piazza left--mostly because he had been raised through the Dodger system. Somewhat the same with Beltre except Beltre wasn't as great as Piazza except for maybe that last year.

[thinkblue0]

23.  22-

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Piazza offered something like 96 mill that he turned down?

[Linkmeister]

24.  Retroactive psychoanalysis here, but I suspect the anger over Piazza's departure had elements of "Man, you were the 650th draft pick and we stuck with you; you owe us!"

[caseybarker]

25.  23 I'm pretty sure he eventually accepted less money from the Mets that he was offered by the Dodgers. I'm certain that he did not get much more than he would've with the Dodgers.

[twerp]

26.  19 A funny: a sports editor once wrote a column about a high school football team on the fringe of the paper's circulation area. The team was undersized, undermanned, undereverythinged. It still managed to win more games than it should have.

He wrote that it was probably the "scrappiest" team in the whole area.

Due to a uncaught typo, the story came out "crappiest." Guess where the only part of the press run where the typo appeared went?

Yup. How to win friends and influence circulation....

[Jon Weisman]

27.  16 - The list includes only the Top 80 VORP performers from 2005-06.

[caseybarker]

28.  I know where I went wrong.

Piazza wanted 7 years-100 million: 14.15 million per year

Dodgers offered 6 years-80 million: 13.33 million per year

Piazza got 7 years-91 million: 13 million per year

I guess the extra year made the difference.

[caseybarker]

29.  By the way, the Dodgers offered either 80 or 84 million, depending on the source.

[Wayne Wei-siang Hsieh]

30.  I'm a bit disappointed in Drew, but I hardly hate him. And beforehand, I was certainly on his side so-to-speak, and I still think he's a player who's received a raw deal from the moralistic excesses of baseball culture.

But really, at the end of the day, it's hard for me to muster any sympathy for a fellow who could turn down 3 yrs/33 million a year. JD Drew may very well be booed in LA the same way he's booed in Philly to this day, but he'll have his millions as fair compensation. I'm too lazy and indifferent to boo him, in the same way that I didn't usually bother to participate in the booing against even Barry, but there's no chance I'm going to feel very much sympathy for Drew's plight. If one can call it that.

WWSH

[confucius]

31.  Like H.S. Choi before him, J.D. Drew is going to become the new Roe v. Wade of Dodger Thoughts.

[mountainmover]

32.  For the record, I am not a JD Drew hater. I will not boo him. I think he has a perfect right to opt-out of his contract. I do however, believe that JD Drew is passive, dispassionate and aloof to people around him. He is not a guy I would want to go to war with. Ned has his own reasons for being angry - reasons we may never know, and hopefully he'll let it go.

JD's .900 OPS in clutch situations was enhanced by his proclivity to walk. If we had had a couple of mashers, JD would have been awesome in the #2 or #6 spot. For us, he had to be a #3, #4 or #5 hitter and I just don't think he's that guy... unless of course, #3 is Ramirez and #4 is Ortiz! Then he'll be great!

[Warren]

33.  J.D. Drew is the guy who in the bottom of the ninth with a runner on, 2 outs, tie game, will take 4 fastballs 1 inch off the plate for the walk. He's a more consistent Hee Sop Choi.

[Warren]

34.  Mountainmover, I couldn't agree with you more. Drew seeks to be paid as a #3 or #4 hitter but wants to play like a #2 or #6. My main complaint is that he plays everything safe. From injuries to at bats to balls off the right field wall. He almost never takes chances. Some may applaud that. I don't. Give me the guy who goes out on a limb and fails over the guy who always plays it safe.

[Bob Timmermann]

35.  34
Say hello to Jason Repko!

[confucius]

36.  Everyone seeks to be paid like a 3 or 4 hitter though. If someone offered Kenny Lofton 55 million I gaurantee he'd take it.

[LADfan in IL]

37.  How about 2 homers in a 61 game span from May 9th to July 28th? At $11 million a year, isn't that enough of a reason to be happy he's gone? First off, I don't understand why ANYONE is mad at J.D. Drew.

I am as happy as I was shocked that he opted out. I kinda got the impression it was Xmas early. So why would anyone be mad? If anything, they should be thanking him.

[scareduck]

38.  getting hurt from time to time

This is a gross understatement. He played in fewer than half of his games last year (yes, yes, I know it was a HBP), and this year, for only the second time in his career, he plays in more than 140. Color me unimpressed.

As for the lack of hustle, well, color me unimpressed. Garret Anderson often takes the Cadillac epithet because of his refusal to hustle; meantime, Darin Erstad, "Mr. Hustle", has collapsed thanks to the all-out style of play beloved by so many fans. I won't argue that Anderson is a good player anymore, but how many players battered themselves into irrelevance? And if you're known to be fragile in the first place, does it really pay to be aggressive to the point of self-injury?

[CanuckDodger]

39.  On another Dodgers board, an A's fan who hasn't struck me as being a nut in the past says that Oakland and the Dodgers are talking about a Harden/Swisher/Duchscherer for Billingsley/Kemp trade. He provided no link and reported no non-internet source, so I'm calling it a hoax unless/until a legitimate source for this emerges.

[sanchez101]

40.  37."First off, I don't understand why ANYONE is mad at J.D. Drew."

I don't understand why ANYONE is capable of not understanding that other people can have different opinions and would rather not be interested in why those people would choose to hold such opinions.

For the record, I agree that loosing Drew is probably a good thing, but the reason is because his health is not dependalbe enough to warrent anything like the money that was coming to him, not because of something as silly as the reason you stated.

[50 years a Dodger Fan]

41.  I don't like JD Drew; nothing he could have done would change that so the way he left really doesn't bother me. But just for the record, last Monday evening, less than one week ago, he assured Donnelly the third base coach that he intended to stay here and was looking forward to next season.
http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061110&content_id=1738803&vkey=news_la&fext=.jsp&c_id=la
Maybe that is why Colletti was so upset about it, perhaps he felt Drew lied to them deliberately and sandbagged them. I don't care. We'll do just as good without him.

[sanchez101]

42.  39. If Beane is willing to trade Harden for anything less than a superstar-caliber player (which the Dodgers don't have), we don't want him.

[bearlurker]

43.  Sorry if this already has been answered, but does anyone know whether the Dodgers can offer Drew arbitration?

[Bob Timmermann]

44.  Free agents can be offered arbitration until December 1. The new CBA moved up the date from December 7.

[LADfan in IL]

45.  40 What is silly about what I stated. I think it's a gift he opted out. You seem to feel the same way. Whether it's because he can't stay helathy enough as you say, or he simply isn't worth the money, even when he is healthy, as I think, what's the difference?

Plain and simple, he did the Dodgers a favor, so why be mad at him?

That's what so perplexing. Most people I talk to and places I read, the fans are ecstatic he's gone. I guess I just figured that was pretty much across the board.

[Bob Timmermann]

46.  I think it's obvious that there is one person to blame for this breakup between the Dodgers and Drew:

Yoko Ono.

[D4P]

47.  I don't have a problem with players who are more loyal to money than they are to a team and its fans, but if they're not loyal to me, I see no reason to be loyal to them. Unlike as a youth, as an "adult" I find it difficult to really root for most professional athletes.

[Bob Timmermann]

48.  How can you be loyal to money? It's an inanimate object.

But I do like this one particular quarter I've got in my pocket.

[Greg Brock]

49.  Hey, the thread is all stretchy!

Wha happen?

[Benaiah]

50.  45 - I look at it this way: The Dodgers just lost arguably their best player and unless there are extenuating circumstances I would always be disappointed with that outcome. JD Drew, for better or worse, made the Dodgers a better team than anyone who could replace him (in our system). Now, if you believe that his lack of personality, fragile body and his 11 million dollar salary (which is hardly ridiculous in this day and age) constitute a reason to be happy he is gone, I can respect that. I don't agree, but I can see where you are coming from. From my perspective, I think it is impossible to find another player like him (400 OBP corner outfielder with decent power), because there are only a few players like that (Manny, Jason Bay, Barry Bonds, Bobby Abreu, Vlad) and none of them are available/reasonable. JD's production will be missed without a doubt, even if JD himself fades into a non-descript or unpleasant memory.

[D4P]

51.  48
How can you be loyal to money?

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can't serve both God and Money.

49
Looks like 41 happened

[Greg Brock]

52.  tiny url is your friend.

[Sam DC]

53.  This, from the NY Times Article on the big Jaret Wright trade:

The Yankees' lineup is mostly set, with a right-handed-hitting first baseman — Nomar Garciaparra, perhaps — the most pressing need.

Can you imagine if someone in 1998 had said, Hey, did you know that in a few years the Yankees will Have Jeter, Nomar, and A-Rod playing in the same infield?

[Andrew Shimmin]

54.  No. The Yankees aren't allowed to have Nomar. They have the last pick. Nomar goes to Texas. Unless they want Drew or Lugo instead, in which case Nomar goes to Houston or St. Louis, and Lugo goes to the last of the three.

[Sam DC]

55.  Well, Nomar would never be selfish as to sign with New York leaving us with just the last pick. He's no JD Drew.

[StolenMonkey86]

56.  I don't think it's altogether silly to be frustrated with the need to "coddle" JD Drew.

The thing about Drew is that with the constant need to rest him, that requires using someone else off the bench in his place. Grady played him right, but even then, he's not going to play 155 games. Further, the statistic of 146 games is a little misleading because Drew pinch-hit several times, and he actually only started 131 games. He had an .891 OPS on the year, but if you add the plate appearances of the other right fielders, that number ends up at something like .852.

Bottom line: durability matters. Acquiring a Soriano or even Carlos Lee type player would have a net improvement on the team because they would require less of the bench. While the Dodgers do have a lot of depth, that depth is generally not going to do a lot more than .700 OPS, except for Olmedo Saenz.

[LADfan in IL]

57.  50 Well, I can respect your opinion regarding his OBP, but the decent power you speak of, left me wanting an awful lot more from someone making $11 million.

First off, he hit only 20 homers, and half of them came in April and September. Maybe it's just me, but 10 homers in a 4 month period shouldn't be that hard to replace.

[Sam DC]

58.  57: You don't want to replace the other ten?

[LADfan in IL]

59.  58 Hey, yeah, let's replace those too!

More importantly, I'd rather they just replace a player who seems to disappear for long stretches.

I can accept that from a rookie making $200,000, but not from a veteran making $11 million!

[screwballin]

60.  Those who dislike Drew for his "passive" nature, you must be big fans of the typical bling-bling, get-me-more-touches, I-AM-the-team NBA player.

Me, I prefer someone who goes out there, doesn't try to show anyone up and tries to help the team. I will miss JD for all of those qualities.

[sanchez101]

61.  57. OK, now how are we going to replace the 89 walks, 34 doubles, 6 triples, .283 batting average, and GG caliber defense, all in the same player. Im cool with Drew leaving, but let's be fair, a player is more than his HR total between May and August.

Power is more than homeruns, a 200 ISO SLUG% is nothing to scoff at,especially when it comes with a good batting average. The best measure of power is Slugging Percentage, not HR total.

He was advertised as a .900 OPS talent before he was signed and in a healthy season, that is exactly what he did. He was also advertised as a player who would need to be coddled and would probably miss significant time to injury, and that is exactly what he did.

Drew's season is a perfect example for why homerun totals and power are not the same thing.

[sanchez101]

62.  60. Just because you respect your opponents and don't approve of gross displays of wealth doesn't mean you can't expand your strike zone once in a while.

[Benaiah]

63.  61 - Took the words right out of my mouth.

[LADfan in IL]

64.  60 I couldn't agree with you more! If given the choice of the me-me player or someone like Drew's personality, I'd take Drew's everytime and twice on Sunday!

That being said, is it asking too much for him to hit 40 homers with those personality qualities instead of 20?

You see, bottom-line, the nice-guy, don't show up anybody approach is great....as long as it includes production as well!

[screwballin]

65.  61 Amen, brother. Interesting quote from Grady: "The way I look at it, it gives someone else a chance to do what J.D. did for the Los Angeles Dodgers, whether [the player is] in our organization now, or not. It will open the door for someone."

Thing is, what if there ISN'T anyone who can replace him? Just because we want one of the few FA outfielders who might match that production, it doesn't mean we'll get one.

[LADfan in IL]

66.  65 Before we go putting Drew in Cooperstown, let's remember the Dodgers didn't win it all with him, and can certainly "not win it all" without him.

I trust there will be someone in RF for the Dodgers in 2007, and beyond, and we'll see how the team fares.

And, who said we want "any" of the FA outfielders?

[Andrew Shimmin]

67.  And so Bob, International Wardriver, says a silent prayer of thanks that he didn't take his last vacation in Singapore.

http://tinyurl.com/ybh5nn

[Andrew Shimmin]

68.  64- I wish every Dodger were better than he actually is. But it doesn't seem very sporting to blame any of them for failing to be.

[LADfan in IL]

69.  61"OK, now how are we going to replace the 89 walks, 34 doubles, 6 triples, .283 batting average, and GG caliber defense, all in the same player."

Believe it or not, Drew wasn't even on the team 3 years ago, and all the years before that. How did the Dodgers get by then...without him?

The guy is a complimentary ball player who made $2.6 million less than Pujols made last year.

[Bob Timmermann]

70.  67
It turned out that I wasn't Wardriving in Japan. My friends had a wireless hookup in their house. I asked them if they had "wifi" and they didn't know that term. They just knew "wireless".

[D4P]

71.  70
I would have pegged Bob as more of a "wireless" kinda guy than a "wifi." Guess he's edgier than I thought...

[saltcreek]

72.  From Rotoworld....
Cubs re-signed third baseman Aramis Ramirez to a five-year, $73 million contract.

[Bob Timmermann]

73.  69
The guy is a complimentary ball player who made $2.6 million less than Pujols made last year.

JD always has nice things to say about you too.

[LADfan in IL]

74.  68 Who said anything about blame? I don't blame Drew for not being able to hit 40 homers. He is what he is.

[LADfan in IL]

75.  73 Stop me when I lie!

[Andrew Shimmin]

76.  75- This is Los Angeles; none of us respect the truth, or honor.

[LADfan in IL]

77.  72 "Cubs re-signed third baseman Aramis Ramirez to a five-year, $73 million contract."

I saw that. Looks like the Cubs got the home-town discount. Thank God. I feared the Dodgers were going to be the ones over-paying him!

Now, if we can just get Soriano, Lee, and Zito signed by other teams, there's a chance the Dodgers won't screw up this offseason.

[Bob Timmermann]

78.  73

That was actually my very subtle way of saying that the word you wanted was "complementary".

[StolenMonkey86]

79.  61 - of course, slugging percentage can be confounded a bit by speed. Speed will make a player more likely to go for a triple, and occasionally more likely for a double. Carl Crawford had 18 triples this year, and given that he stole 58 bases this year too, he probably legged out more than a couple of those.

Then there some of it that's just luck. A line drive to the gap is not drastically different from a line drive directly to the fielder, except that the gapper is good for a double while the fielder is an out.

[Benaiah]

80.  65 - Here is a list of FA right fielders:

Moises Alou (more power than Drew, but even riskier)
Jeromy Burnitz (no)
Jose Guillen (I thought we got rid of Milton Bradley?)
Trot Nixon (maybe if it was 2003)
Jay Payton (completely empty batting average)
Daryle Ward (not unless he can replicate his PH #s)
Bernie Williams (sign Clemons too!)

Other outfielders:
Darin Erstad (he plays hurt, bad but on the field)
Steve Finley (only for use as a 9th inning PH)
Kenny Lofton (pass)
Gary Matthews Jr. (can he replicate 2006?)
Jaun Pierre (the poor man's Dave Roberts, despite what the media thinks)
Dave Roberts (I prefer him to Lofton anyway)
Barry Bonds (controversial... but exciting)
Frank Catalanotto (homeless man's JD Drew)
David Dellucci (has had two nice years in high offense environments)
Luis Gonzalez (pass)
Todd Hollandsworth (pass)
Ryan Klesko (maybe a few years ago)
Carlos Lee (great power, mediocre everything else, huge price)
Alfonso Soriano (only 3 months younger than Drew, at least 50% more expensive, much worse defensively, only one time in past four years has he had a higher OPS, terrible OBP besides this year when it was mearly decent. Only advantages are health and speed)
Shannon Stewart (empty batting average)
Rondell White (pass)
Preston Wilson (pass)

All that is to say, there is no replacement for JD Drew without a trade or a much higher salary (and in the case of a trade, probably both). If Ned gets creative the money might be used to make the team better, but it can't buy a superior 1 to 1 replacement.

[LADfan in IL]

81.  78 Sorry.

Heck, I only missed it by 4 letters. :)

[Bob Timmermann]

82.  I'd prefer a supplementary player. They are twice as valuable as complementary players!

[natepurcell]

83.  can cat play CF?

[Daniel Zappala]

84.  The best strategy might be to sign whatever good pitchers we can get, then play Kemp, Ethier, and Anderson. Get enough pitching surplus to trade one starter for outfield help if needed.

[Andrew Shimmin]

85.  Catalanotto is a Type A free agent by exactly one spot. And it's because Milton Bradley slacked off half the season, instead of beating him out for that spot.

[Fallout]

86.  As far as I can tell, Drew is guilty of the following:
1) never gave it much thought till now
2) got over it--but the question can be asked: In hind sight, now that Drew only played 2 years with the Dodgers, would they have been better off signing Beltre for 5 years?
3) don't really care--but you cannot have a team full of them
4) problem--3 surgeries b4 last season. He's not going to get more reliable.
5) who is?--always disappointing when a player doesn't come through in the clutch. When it was discussed that Drew stuck out 18% of the time with runners on base and 18% of the time when no one is on says a lot. He's consistent. I appreciated him more.
6) cumulative effect was powerful.--that is why it surprised me.--also I thought 3yrs and 33M wasn't bad especially for someone who needed extra care. Stan Conte was hired just for him. (OK, not exactly)

What gets me the most is that even though I'm wasn't a Drew fan, I rooted for him because he was a Dodger. I wanted him to hit 30 HR and get 100+ RBI. I thought that he would be here for 5 years given his contract and all that he said. (though a promise I never read) I was invested in him. Now I'm disappointed.

[Slikk]

87.  I can't believe you spent so much time defending Drew, Jon. He's not worth it.

[Steve]

88.  and all the years before that

Stop.

[ImChuck]

89.  Although it goes without saying that players always want more money, it's simply frustrating when I see players drop an $11 million dollar contract to seek a bit more. You must be kidding me - $11 million per year is more than what some countries run on. People are starving in half of this world, and yet we have players like Drew who are unsatisfied with $11 million dollars of income. How much more do you need. It's understandable when you're getting paid league minimum and want some more, but it's another thing to seek more furtune on top of a mountain you have already built.

[DodgerfaninNY]

90.  How many prospects is Vernon Wells worth?

[Bob Timmermann]

91.  According to the International Monetary Fund, the smallest GDP of any of its 180 member countries is $63 million by Kiribati.

According to the CIA World Factbook, two small island nations that are really protectorates of New Zealand, Niue and Tokelau, have GDPs under $11.

[xaphor]

92.  Drew played this situation like a complete professional, whether he meant to or not. You do not spout off about using your opt out clause half way through the season and ruin the chemistry within the clubhouse and certainly within the stadium. You lie your posterior off, and then once the season ends you inform your agent of your intentions and take leave of the team. I would have done the same thing. [Unless you are talking about Shawn Wright-Phillips… Grrrr. :)]

I'm confused about the arguing about his worth though. Most people who liked him and thought he did a decent job are not sore he left, while those that despised him and thought he gave nothing to the team are using this situation to get a few more good whacks in before he is completely out of the picture. So if no one is tore up about his departure, can't we let the guy leave in peace for our own sanity?

By the way I liked the SI write-up Jon. It's rare you see an off-season wish list that doesn't suppose onto itself to pick the players who will end up with which team and invariably get them all wrong. :)

[natepurcell]

93.  bears defense is going to win my fantasy game for me.

me so happy!

[Bob Timmermann]

94.  Do fantasy football leagues pay off for missed field goal returns for TDs?

[sanchez101]

95.  Is there a way we can sign both Alou and Gonzalez, and platoon the both of them? I would rather pay the two $11 million combined than Drew the same amount.

My gut feel at this point (and that's all it's worth) is that Ned "the mustache" Colletti will sign either Moises Alou or Luis Gonzalez and then trade for a B-grade corner outfield prospect like Brandon Jones or Eddy Martinez-Esteve, hoping that he can recreate the magic of Ethier. If he trusts the scouting staff, he might be right.

[CanuckDodger]

96.  90 -- Too many things wrong with that question. Quantity of prospects is irrelevent if they are prospects we don't care about losing, and it is how much is ONE YEAR of Wells at $13.5 million worth before he demands a Carlos Beltran contract after 2007. Long story short, the Dodgers shouldn't trade for Wells. The Blue Jays can find another sucker.

[natepurcell]

97.  so far in the DT yahoo league, it counts as a defensive td.

which is great for me since i have chicago d and that td just gave me the lead.

who knows they might change it later. I still have a chester taylor td reception that needs to be accounted for.

[GoBears]

98.  Bravo, Jon. Great post.

[sanchez101]

99.  90. somewhere between 2 good ones and 1 half-decent pitching prospect and 1 good one, 1 solid one, and 1 half-decent pitching prospect

My guess, though, is that Toronto is looking for both a good prospect and someone who can really help them in 2007, at least.

[CanuckDodger]

100.  95 -- Kemp is more MLB-ready than Brandon Jones and Martinez-Esteve.

Here's a question for you, if we could get a 2007 in the majors from Kemp comparable to Jeff Francouer's 2006, how many people think that would be a bad thing? Kemp walks more, but outside of that they are similar specimens through age 21.