J.D. Drew, Mulling Retirement

After his contract ends in 2011, J.D. Drew is thinking about retirement.  It's hard to take these guys at their word but assuming he does call it quits, Drew would likely finish with a better career than he's given credit for.   Since opting out of his deal from the Dodgers and signing with the Red Sox Drew has been called an overpaid underachiever.  However, according to Fangraphs' WAR Drew has been anything but, having accumulated the equivalent of over $58 million in value. That figure already is more than he is getting paid by the Red Sox and he still has over a year left.

Fans and many sportswriters don't see the good in J.D. Drew...'s play, I'm not denying any "J.D. Drew is a dick" allegations. They prefer to focus on his missed games and his lack of a great "back of a baseball card" statistic instead of focusing on his great defense and on-base skills which has enabled him to be an above average fielding and hitting outfielder for his entire career.

J.D. Drew is part of a small group of players in baseball, players who are paid a lot but don't succeed in one specific stat (popular to the masses) to hang their hat on and get end up labeled as overpaid.  Players like Drew in this regard include Carlos Beltran and Adrian Beltre.  After his (first) career year in LA, Beltre signed a big deal with the Mariners and since he didn't hit 48 homers again people thought he was a waste of money.  However, Beltre played in a park that kills righties and played astounding defense, giving the Mariners fine value.  Carlos Beltran similarly was signed to a huge contract by the Mets, this time after an unbelievable postseason (8 HRs in 12 games) and since then has been called out as being overpaid even though he too has played great defense and hit enough to more than justify his contract (when healthy).

What all these players have in common is their defense, which they each play (or played) at the highest level in the majors, and a lack of flare expect for maybe Beltre's defense.  Which brings up something interesting, the people who say that someone like Omar Vizquel should make the Hall of Fame based on his defense are likely the same people who have complained about (or made fun of) these players for being overpaid by overlooking their defense.  When someone signs a large deal they are expected to hit, and hit well in the conventional numbers.  When they fail in that regard, even if they continue to do work with the glove, it gets overlooked, by the same people who (at least on the surface) care the most about defense.

J.D. Drew can slug, he gets on base a ton, and he plays great defense consistently.  However, since he doesn't hit over 30 HRs otter (OTR/On The Reg), doesn't bat .300, and doesn't make diving plays in the field people think he hasn't been worth his contract.  That almost makes me sad until I realize he has a World Series ring and millions upon millions of dollars.  If he retires retires after next season J.D. has had a solid career whether or not you've realized it yet.