In all my years of being a fan of the New York Yankees I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a tenure for a player than that of Stephen Drew. The Yankees have shown Drew the utmost confidence, respect and patience during his season and a half tenure with the team and I have not, for that I apologize. I never truly meant anything by it, the “Stephen Drew Sucks” tweets and such, I am just a fan at the end of the day who happens to put his opinion on the internet in a blog form. Sometimes I was unruly and rude and sometimes I was just plain out unreasonable, I apologize. My sudden change of heart comes after the news that Drew may or may not have a concussion and has been battling a dizziness that may end his tenure and season with the New York Yankees.
Drew was acquired by the New York Yankees at the July 31
trade deadline in 2014 when the team sent Kelly Johnson to Boston straight up
for the shortstop. Drew was moved to second base for the Yankees, a position he
never played full-time in his career, and after a few early missteps actually
took to the position well. Drew’s defense was never the concern, it was always
his hitting and his seemingly inability to hit above .200 for any stretch of
his tenure here in the Bronx. Drew only played half a season in 2014 after
declining a qualifying offer that attached him to draft pick compensation as a
free agent and left him unsigned until after the draft that season. That was
the reasoning and what caught most of the blame for Drew’s lackluster 2014
campaign so the Yankees decided to take a waiver and give him a one year deal
worth $5 million for the 2015 season.
Unfortunately for the Yankees the lack of hitting for
average continued in 2015 despite him having a full spring training and even with
him playing the full season. Drew did manage 17 home runs this season but
barely kept his batting line above the Mendoza line finishing at .201. Home
runs are nice but #TooManyDamnHRs is bad and in a lineup that hits far too many
home runs, solo home runs at that since no one gets on base consistently, Drew
just did not fit into the lineup. Drew finished his Yankees tenure with the
below batting line and may or may not be back in 2016. Stay tuned.
| Year | G | PA | R | H | 2B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 46 | 155 | 7 | 21 | 8 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 13 | 36 | .150 | .219 | .271 | .491 | 38 |
| 2015 | 131 | 428 | 43 | 77 | 16 | 17 | 44 | 0 | 37 | 71 | .201 | .271 | .381 | .652 | 79 |
