What's with the Red Sox? They can give Drew $14 million a year but would not give Damon $13 million a year?

Answer 1

Yeah, this is the second time they've compounded their errors in this manner. The other was when they let Cabrerra go to the Angels to sign Renteria. That was bad enough, but after one year they made the mistake worse by giving up on him. Theo Epstein seems to confuse himself. As a Dodger fan, though, I'm just glad Drew is off our payroll. I never thought it would happen.

---the guy saying Drew is better than Damon is delusional. Damon may be overrated on the whole, but part of that is because he is able to raise his game in the clutch and is a gamer. Drew doesn't show up when it matters. He puts up some numbers, but the reality is that he doesn't perform well in the clutch--he had the most meaningless 100 RBI season I've ever seen last year in LA, and choked when it mattered. Also, as for his supposedly not jumping around, the fellow is conveniently forgetting the fact that he was drafted by the Phillies and held out for so much money that he never signed with them, that ought to count as a team too.

Answer 2

The Red Sox were probably thinking that Damon might take a lesser offer out of loyalty to their Championship. That they didn't match the Yankees offer came as a surprise because Damon has always been a terrific lead off man. Yes he has issues with his arm strength but was he an improvement over Bernie, yes. Bernie has been fading for the past couple of years and Damon is a lot younger.
Giving JD Drew 14 million dollars a year is nuts. Yes he's a good defensive outfielder with a good arm but his offensive statistics aren't worthy of that kind of money. Think about that for a minute. 14 Million dollars per year to an average outfielder.The Red Sox are in a hurry to become the highest payroll in baseball. The Yanks are going down and the Bosox are going up.

Answer 3

thank god somebody else is not blinded by the johnny damon mystique. damon is one of the most overrated players in mlb. he doesnt do anything very well. He has average BA, speed, and fielding. He has below avg. power and arm. Wow that really doesnt make him sound very appealing. jd drew was a stretch for the money but if he has a year like he had with atlanta, he will be a boston son just like everybody else. and for everyone that says he will a drag on the clubhouse. epstein left and came back (i'm sure that was real good for morale), ramirez tries to get traded every year (nobody else will take him), ortiz is a liability at first (so when someone else is hurt but can still hit, they cant play because big papi takes up the dh), varitek is getting old, schilling thinks he is god because his foot bled one day, beckett would rather be deer hunting, papelbon is the most selfish player in baseball, and they just spent a fortune on someone they have never seen play against real talent (and historically japanese players fail when they come over here...ichiro and matsui are exceptions). jd drew sounds like a rock compared the the drama that is the boston red sox.

Answer 4

Letting Damon go was a mistake, but you can't compare $13m per year during last offseason with $14m this time around. Between those two signings, a new CBA was agreed upon which raised the luxury tax settings, and revenues continued to increase.

A player like Drew would only have demanded about $10m per season last year, just as a Lilly or Meche would have had to settle for $6-7m. The salary scale changed a great deal in the past year. Still, there's no doubt that letting Damon get away for what now seems like a good price, was definitely a mistake.

I'm not as skeptical of Drew as Mick seems to be, but he's disappointed me in the past. Here's hoping he actually plays a full season.

Answer 5

As a Yankee fan, all I can say is "Theo, thank you for signing Drew to a long, large contract!" It'll be great when he goes 2 for 16 with 8 runners l.o.b. in a crucial August series against the Yanks, much like his 2 for 13, .154 playoffs against the Mets this year. He's NEVER shown up in big situations.
Big Papi will have less protection than before and thank goodness for that! Ortiz KILLS the Yanks and scares the heck out of me when he's up or even on deck.
Actually, Drew will probably get hurt in early June and never get his rhythm down for the season. So it might be a wasted $14 mil., especially when the trade deadline approaches because there could be some great trades this year.
Oh right, it's a 5 year deal so they're stuck with him for a half-decade. At $14 mil per year. Good luck with that, Sawks fans.
Us Yankee fans will just enjoy the next three years of Damon, a top 5 center fielder (on the offensive side, I know that he doesn't have a good arm) at a fair market price. He's a great guy too, isn't he? Real nice, laid back, funny. Great for the clubhouse. Played through injuries last year because the team needed him, still hit.285 with 20 hr, 80 rbi and 115 runs. What a team player.
Then we'll watch him ride off into the sunset, happily holding another World Series ring....maybe even two more.
By the way, for George W. and all of you who look at Drew's 2004 stats; that year he went 4 for 20 with 1 rbi in the playoffs for the Braves. They lost in 5 games, if you forgot, so they needed their #3 hitter and "mvp candidate" to show up but he didn't and they lost. Kinda like A-Rod for the Yanks so far (hard for me to say but it's true, painfully true, I can't deny the stats).

Answer 6

The Drew signing is a mistake. He will not be able to handle the pressure in Boston. The reason that they didn't sign Damon, but signed Drew is because they aren't making the same smart decisions that they used to. Epstein wanted more power, and when Lucchino didn't give it to him, he left. Even though Epstein is back, it's safe to say that their relationship isn't what it was. Now it looks like they don't always follow the same plan. They've made some awful moves. Beckett may bounce back, but was he worth Annibal Sanchez AND Hanley Ramirez, who will be a superstar? They traded a solid catcher in Josh Bard (because he couldn't catch a knuckleball) and an up and coming reliever in Cla Meredith for washed up Doug Mirabelli (because he can do ONE thing, catch a knuckleball). Not signing Damon was a killer, and signing Drew isn't a great move.

Answer 7

The theory is that the Red Sox knew that whatever they offered Damon the Yankees would top it. With Drew it wasn't the case. They had more cap room this year but they knew what it would take to sign Drew. Still an overpay, in my opinion.

Answer 8

Here Here. i sure as hell hope thats not a red sox fan complaining about that little fag damon leaving town for more money. what kind of piece of crap can leave a team for the rival. i played college and high school football and baseball and you could not pay me enough to go back and help my biggest rival win. more power to drew...get the money you can get if stupid asses are willing to pay it and matsuzaka showed that boston is definitely full of stupid asses.

In response to Hitman...You are defining Johnny Damon by one swing of the bat. Why dont you define JD Drew by his Atlanta season where he finished 6th in MVP voting? But instead you all define him as being overpaid, hurt, and switching teams. Damon has a weak arm, a weak bat, and his speed and BA are declining. Drew may not be the pretty pick, but he is a step up from Damon whether you like it or not.

Answer 9

i think of Boston is sending a message to Manny that he's expendable and not above the team by utilising signing Drew, in spite of the reality that Beantown spend a great form of dough for a guy that basically hit 20 HR in 2006 and falter in the process the playoffs. Drew has a recognition of being mushy and forsaking communities while they like him the main; by utilising going to a baseball city like Boston, Drew has to step up or he's going to be the hot comedian tale in a city that's unforgiving to undesirable Boston gamers. remember, Scott Boras (or i like to call the prince of darkness) convince Drew to decide out of his contemporary 5 year deal and that i would not be marvel if he did an identical to Boston 2 years later if he had the prospect (how ironic that Boston sign a 5 year deal additionally, yet 15 million better than what the Dodgers paid him).

Answer 10

Don't forget they invested over $100 mill in Dice-K. The JD Drew deal makes absolutely no since. I would have given Johnny Damon the money over Drew. Good luck getting 110-120 games this season out of him. Money not well spent.