Stephen Drew is penciled in to be the Diamondbacks opening day starter at shortstop. The reason for this is more of a depth issue than anything else. Truth be told, the Diamondbacks don’t have a shortstop on the team who can provide the kind of production needed at the Major League level.
Drew will make $7.7M this year and, at age 29, he is closer to leaving his prime than entering it. In 2013, Drew is slated to make $10M but it is a mutual option, meaning either side can opt out and with a $1.35M buyout, it could save the Diamondbacks a lot of money.
A closer look at Drew’s statistics show he is a very good defensive shortstop who gets a lot of triples. Curiously, he doesn’t steal very many bases, which tells me he takes advantage of the cavernous Chase Field to earn those triples.
His range factor is actually below average at shortstop (4.16 versus a league average of 4.41). However, anything above .970 for a fielding percentage as a shortstop is sterling, and Drew’s .978 career places him sixth among active shortstops.
Aside from the triples, Drew just doesn’t do a whole lot offensively. A career .270/.330/.442 hitter doesn’t scream $10M a year to me. The Diamondbacks would be happy with that production from a backup or from a platoon player, but not the highest paid Diamondback offensive player.
Yes, Drew makes more than Jason Kubel, Chris Young, and Justin Upton this year.
Drew is going to need a breakout year if he is expected to stay with the Diamondbacks in 2013. He would again be the highest paid Diamondback and if he duplicates his 2011 numbers before he got hurt (.252/.317/.396), that’s just way too much money.
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