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01	August 2018

Grading The Deal: Yankees Agree To Sign Stephen Drew

The New York Yankees accepted sign Stephen Drew with a one-year, $5 million deal immediately. It is reported that Drew can earn as much as $1.5 million through incentives, bringing the wide ranging value on the veteran's deal to $6.5 million.

New York added Andrew Miller (four years, $36 million MLB The Show 18 Stubs) and re-signed Chase Headley ($52 million over four seasons), but given Drew's the recent past this signing is probably the most polarizing.

Drew, which will turn 32 in March, has struggled offensively within the past few seasons. In 155 plate appearances with all the Yankees in 2014, the shortstop/second baseman hit .150/.219/.271 with three home runs and 36 strikeouts against 13 walks. He was slightly better (.176/.255/.328) during the 1st half in the season together with the Boston Red Sox.

He became a Twitter punching bag in the 2013 season because Red Sox charged towards a World Series title. John Farrell tied to Drew on account of his defense inspite of the presence of phenom Xander Bogaerts. Over the course of 16 postseason games that fall, Drew hit .111/.140/.204 with the eye-popping 19 strikeouts.

As always, baseball is wonderful theater. Despite his historically bad postseason on the plate, Drew homered in Game 6 in the World Series from the St. Louis Cardinals because the Red Sox won everything.

It remains to get seen whether Drew may be an average offensive player in the years ahead. He didn't sign with all the Red Sox until several months into last season and was thrown in the fire without much preparation, which might be one on the reasons why his struggles carried over.

Drew hit .253/.333/.443 with 13 home runs, 67 RBI and 124 strikeouts in 501 plate appearances with Boston in the 2013 regular season, which wasn't that long ago. His slash line from that season is line together with his career mark (.256/.322/.425), which might suggest that she has many years of production left in the bat.

The Yankees are bringing Drew back simply because they have needs in the left side on the infield. Chase Headley and Alex Rodriguez will have at third base and Didi Gregorius was acquired through the Arizona Diamondbacks to exchange Derek Jeter at short, but there can be a hole at second base. Martin Prado seemed to get the man with the job, but was shipped for the Miami Marlins within the Nathan Eovaldi deal.

Drew can give Joe Girardi having a steady option at second, as well as providing a safety net at short if Gregorius isn't ready for being the everyday shortstop in New York.

Grade for Yankees: A-

There is really a lot of vitriol surrounding this move, but Brian Cashman should get good value from Drew for $5 million-plus. The Red Sox signed him into a prorated deal worth double the amount just last May.

Grade for Drew: B+

It was rumored that Drew and agent Scott Boras were looking for Cheap MLB 18 Stubs at the least $7 million anf the husband'll come near to that if he performs well while using Yankees. When he signed while using Red Sox near midseason in 2014, anticipation was that she'd reset his value and land a multiyear deal this offseason.

That didn't happen, but he gets another shot at increasing his market price under a large microscope with free agency looming again next winter.