Swingin' A's » Stephen Drew

Drew Bolts for Beantown, A’s Turn to the Trade Market

Sean Davis — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 20:43:53 +0000

Well, I guess the reports from Susan Slusser a couple weeks back that Stephen Drew would eventually sign a 1 year deal with a player option turned out not to be true. Ken Rosenthal reported first today that Drew had agreed to terms with the Boston Red Sox on a 1 year contract worth $9.5 million with an additional $500K in performance bonuses. So essentially Drew signed for exactly what he would have gotten had the A’s picked up his option. He and agent Scott Boras had their sights set on a number, and they got it. It just so happened that it was the Red Sox that were willing to meet that number and not the Oakland Athletics.

October 3, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics shortstop Stephen Drew (5) celebrates in the dugout after scoring a run on an error against the Texas Rangers during the fourth inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Initially I wasn’t terribly upset to see Stephen Drew go, because it seemed to open the door for the A’s to sign Hiroyuki Nakajima from Japan. Well Susan Slusser threw a big giant wet blanket on that one shortly after the news that Drew was heading to Boston. Slusser reported from an industry source that the A’s were likely to look for a SS via trade than in the free agent market. My guess here is that Nakajima wants a multi year deal, and the A’s aren’t willing to go there. They believe their shortstop of the future Addison Russell must be closer to ready than everyone else, otherwise I don’t see the logic in flatly avoiding a multi year deal.

At this point the A’s might find themselves in a situation where they have to scrape the bottom of the barrell because there are no other options. So we revisit the likes of Alex Gonzalez, or explore trade options like Asdrubal Cabrera (who may come with a high price tag), or Jhonny Peralta (who is only good enough to represent a last resort acquisition), or perhaps the likes of Jed Lowrie (highly valued by the Astros, who may be hesitant to trade within their new divison, and he’s injury prone), or even Dee Gordon (who just might not be that good after all).

It’s really frustrating to see the A’s dragging their feet here as the window for success is clearly wide open. They need to work to upgrade this team, and if they don’t they’re either delusional that there are no flaws or they simply aren’t willing to build on last year’s success. It’s been a tough off season for the A’s fans, seeing many important pieces from their 2012 run depart (Jonny Gomes, Brandon McCarthy, Stephen Drew) has been difficult. The hope now is that Billy Beane has some diabolical master plan that will make us all forget this period of uncertainty, if not we may see the A’s a little bit in over their heads.

A’s Winter Trade Wish List Series Part 3

Andrew Brown — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 20:14:24 +0000

In honor of the MLB Winter Meetings that recently occurred I have decided to do a series of posts dedicated to possible trade partners and signees the A’s could be in touch with throughout not just this week but the entire offseason (Link to post 1, 2). The A’s have the biggest hole in their lineup at shortstop, but could also fill holes at second and third base, the bench, and every team can never have too much bullpen depth. There are plenty of teams in need of starting pitching and outfielders which the Green and Gold have plenty of so GM Billy Beane can be aggressive if needs to be and trade from the depth. They also have a small chunk of money they can use to sign a mid level free agent. There are a couple of things to remember however.

One is the A’s recently drafted a shortstop (though they may move him to third base) in Addison Russell. While he is still a few years away from possibly making it to the big leagues it may not make too much sense to invest in a young shortstop that may cost extra because of their age. The opposite hand to that is sometimes prospects never match up to their expectations. That is a balancing act that Beane will have to deal with.

The second is the A’s have internal options at all of their positions except shortstop. Therefore it would seem Beane’s main concern this week and for the rest of the offseason will be to find a shortstop. There aren’t many free agent shortstops on the market this year therefore the most likely scenario to fill the need at the six position is via trade. There are however two available shortstops who have the potential to make an impact. The one I am going to look at in this post is very familiar to the Green and Gold as he finished the season with them.

Oct 7, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Oakland Athletics shortstop Stephen Drew (5) at bat during game two of the 2012 ALDS against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Stephen Drew came over to Oakland in a late season trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The A’s sent over infield prospect Sean Jamieson. Drew was finally seeing time after missing over a season with a gruesome ankle injury. He’s a career .268avg hitter and has a career .328OBP. More than that though, he was a clear upgrade at the weakest position on the A’s roster. Cliff Pennington was above average defensively but his offense never amounted up to much of anything.

It has been reported that Drew is looking for a multi-year deal with a base salary in the $8-$12 million range. His agent is Scott Boras who is notorious for being a great agent and tough negotiator. The A’s have been in touch with Boras multiple times in the last week including in Nashville at the Winter Meetings. It remains to be seen what other teams are seriously in on Drew which makes it less clear on the A’s chances to resign him.

Drew is a quality shortstop which the A’s are in desperate need of. He is not looking for a long term deal, rather a multi-year deal in the two to three year range. This makes him ideal for the A’s as they have Addison Russell in the pipeline whom is still a couple years away. Oakland looks primed to compete again next year and Drew could prove to be a huge part of the next couple of seasons if he resigns.

Rule 5 Draft Ties A Bow on the 2012 Winter Meetings

Sean Davis — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 08:57:15 +0000

As is customary the Winter Meetings in Nashville concluded today with the Major and Minor League portions of the Rule 5 draft. As is often the case the goings on of the Rule 5 draft are the only concrete moves being made for a number of teams. This year the Athletics were one of those teams.

Oct 6, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Oakland Athletics infielder Stephen Drew (5) throws to first base after forcing out Detroit Tigers catcher Alex Avila (13) in the seventh inning during game one of the 2012 ALDS at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

They stayed quiet during the Major League portion of the draft, and their organization remained untouched. It was feared that reliever James Simmons was a strong candidate to be scooped up by a team needing some bullpen depth. Simmons may very well find himself in the Major Leagues this season, and now there is still a chance that he’ll make that happen with the Athletics.

The A’s did become a little more active during the Minor League portion of the draft though, they selected a catcher by the name of Steve Hill from the St. Louis Cardinals, and third baseman Tommy Mendonca from the San Francisco Giants. They did however lose a couple of players, whose names might be recognized by those more than just somewhat familiar with the organization as a whole. Infielder Michael Gilmartin was taken by the Cincinatti Reds, and outfielder Eliezer Mesa was taken by the Detroit Tigers. Both Gilmartin and Mesa spent the 2012 season with the Stockton Ports. Mesa was one of the pieces acquired from the Colorado Rockies in the Mark Ellis trade.

Every year the Rule 5 draft comes up, and former Rule 5 players like Johan Santana and Shane Victorino are mentioned, there is no telling if anyone involved in the draft this year will come anywhere near their stature though. It’s always a crapshoot, and sometimes you just might hit the jackpot.

There was a bit of news today from the woman with her finger on the pulse of the Athletics, Susan Slusser tweeted that an executive told her that he believed Stephen Drew planned to resign with the Athletics on a 1 year contract with a player option for 2014. There’s no word on what the exact terms of this deal would be, but this could be a best case scenario for the A’s if Drew decides to return. Of course his motive here would be to try to rebuild his value with a strong 2013 season and go back out to test free agency next offseason, if he doesn’t produce he can still pick up his own option and try again in 2014 to demonstrate his value. This works for the A’s as well, as Drew can serve as the perfect stop gap between now and the eventual promotion of Addison Russell, who is the shortstop of the future for the Athletics.

I’ve been on the Hiroyuki Nakajima bandwagon since he became a MLB free agent, and I still think his addition would be a big get for the A’s, but we know what Drew can bring and there’s value in that. They hit it big with the unknown quantity that was Yoenis Cespedes, but you can’t necessarily bank on that all the time. Cespedes is special, Nakajima may be as well, but you just don’t know. So while I’d love to see Nakajima signed, I see the wisdom in bringing Drew back. It’s a true win-win situation for the A’s.