Will Stephen Drew Ever Sign?

Stephen Drew came into the offseason as one of the top shortstops on the market. Everyone thought he would find a home somewhere. Now it is March 27th and Stephen Drew is still sitting at home waiting for the right opportunity.


Drew has been linked to a handful of teams who are in need for a middle infielder. He has been linked to the Red Sox and a possible reunion with them. They chose to stick with the rookie Xander Bogaerts and Will Middlebrooks at third. Then we have the New York Mets who currently have Ruben Tejada as their starting shortstop. Tejada is coming off a miserable season where he slashed .202/.259/.260. The Mets would be a perfect fit for Drew but it looks like the demands might be too high for the Mets.

Another emerging team as of late due to injury is the Detroit Tigers. They lost their starting shortstop Jose Iglesias to an injury that will most likely keep it him out for the rest of the year. With the Tigers being a team who can contend, Stephen Drew looked like a lock to sign with them. Well it hasn't happened. The Tigers will try to patch up the position with the guys they have in-house. They also traded for veteran Shortstop Alex Gonzalez. Gonzalez looked like his career was about over last year after slashing .177/.203/.230. We don't even know if he can actually play shortstop still now being 37 years old.

There are two reasons in my opinion why Drew hasn't signed yet. The first is his asking price from his agent Scott Boras. Boras is known for trying to rip off teams for as much money as possible. Drew reportedly has an asking price around $15 million per year in a multi year deal. If any team gave him that kind of money they would be crazy because he is nowhere near worth that much. The second reason is if a team were to sign him they would have to forfeit their first round pick in the draft. Teams are just not willing to give up a draft pick to sign Drew.

Drew is a good shortstop and will eventually be picked up by a team. The real question is, who is going to sign him? I think the shipped has sailed on the Mets,and they are going to stick with Tejada. If they look to upgrade the position it will be via trade. Still keep a lookout for the Tigers because the players they have right now do not look like good solutions to solve their problem. If that position struggles early on, Drew will be receiving calls from Detroit. Another team to keep an eye on if Drew remains unsigned midseason is the Yankees. Yankees recently said they were tapped out on money to spend. I don't think anyone is actually buying that. The Yanks have question marks everywhere in their infield. I could easily see Brian Roberts getting hurt once again or even Jeter getting injuried. With the lack of depth they have at that position Stephen Drew would be a perfect for the Yankees.