Rumors: Atlanta Braves Interested In Stephen Drew…But Should They Be??
By Jeff Schafer
The Major League Baseball Winter Meetings officially begin on Monday in San Diego but talks have already started.
The Atlanta Braves plan to be one of the busiest MLB teams on the west coast over the next few days as they look for a starting pitcher, a second basemen, a backup catcher and probably another bat for off the bench.
One second basemen that has come up in rumors on Sunday is that of Stephen Drew.
#Braves have plenty of irons in fire at this point. And yes, as @JonHeymanCBS reported, they have at least checked into Stephen Drew for 2B
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) December 7, 2014
Would a Stephen Drew signing be good for Atlanta??
The 31-year-old is a longtime shortstop who could potentially play second base for the Braves. He did play in 34 games with the New York Yankees in 2014 at second but prior to that, he hasn’t played there in his MLB career. He made only four errors at second with two of them coming in his sixth game at that position. His fielding percentage at second was .971 in 2014.
Drew has bounced around teams in the past few years after spending his first six seasons in Arizona. He then was traded from in 2012 from Arizona to the Oakland A’s for Sean Jamieson. In 2013 he had a pretty successful season with the Boston Red Sox and played in 124 games and had a slash line of .253/.333/.443 and won a World Series. 2014 he was traded from Boston to the Yankees.
He was granted his free agent pass by the Yankees after this past season. In that same year, Drew made $10M.
The Braves are hoping they need a second basemen who can get them through about four months…until top prospect Jose Peraza is ready for the MLB job.
Drew did attend high school in Georgia at Valdosta High and supposedly lives in Georgia. So there are some ties for Drew to be interested in joining the Braves.
But should the Braves be interested in Drew?
There are pros and cons to a Stephen Drew signing…
Pros
-Left handed hitting second basemen
-Good glove in the infield
-Veteran ball player
Cons
-Batting average
-On-Base Percentage
-Strikeout ratio
-No speed
I’d say no!
From what it sounds like, he will cost a lot more than what the Braves should pay for a part-time second basemen. He strikes out a lot…he has a strikeout percentage of 23.48% in the past four seasons. And a career batting average of .256.
I do not think this is the mold John Hart is looking for his 2015 Atlanta Braves team.