MLB New York Yankees

Stephen Drew is Underwhelming as New York Yankees’ Option

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By @ogab_3

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Brad Penner – USA Today Sports

The New York Yankees made a move earlier in the week by resigning Stephen Drew to their roster. Now, I’m not entirely sure what the end result of this move is, or what the goal was for the Yankees. But it looks like the Yankees might use Drew as their second baseman. If the Yankees are using Drew as a major point on their team for the 2015 season, well, it’s going to be a very long season for the Yankees.

The simplest way to put this is that Stephen Drew isn’t a good player. If they’re looking to him for an offensive option, the issues for the Yankees are huge. He’s hit above .255 once in the last 4 seasons, and hit all of .162 in 85 games last season. That was good for another negative WAR number, his second in the past three seasons. For a below-average offensive player, you at least want him to be above average either on defense or on the base paths, especially as a middle infielder. And yet, Drew has only stolen 41 bases in his career, and hasn’t been worth positive runs in the fielding runs above average statistic since 2009. These numbers are simply ugly, people.

By most common thought processes, to be successful at your given profession, you need to be good at at least something. Even if you’re very good at one thing, you tend to be able to hold onto your job in professional sports for a decent amount of time. Stephen Drew doesn’t seem to be good at much of anything. He hasn’t been a reliable offensive presence in years, and he can’t play great defense or run the bases very well.

Which begs the question, why exactly did the Yankees sign him? Did Didi Gregorious not satisfy their need for a light hitting shortstop? How about Brendan Ryan? And if he’s playing second base, why don’t they leave the job up to a few of their young second base prospects, such as Jose Pirela? This seems to be a move that mires the Yankees in their typical attitude of not putting faith in rebuilding and young talent, and trying to win immediately. The problem with this move is that Drew won’t even help win immediately.

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