LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- It's hard to remember a significant player who was trashed by Boston fans and media long before he arrived or swung a bat in anger. But outfielder J.D. Drew, who became a member of the Red Sox yesterday (pending a physical) after agreeing to a five-year, $70 million deal, will arrive with some segments of Red Sox Nation looking at him cross-eyed.
The reaction to Drew has been strange and unfair, to say the least.
What is it about him?
Was it Tony La Russa's evaluation of Drew, pegging him an underachiever in his Cardinal years? Do fans take everything La Russa says to heart because he indicated a couple of years back that Edgar Renteria might not be able to handle the atmosphere in Boston and was proven correct?
Did fans react to the possibility of losing Manny Ramírez and having Drew as his replacement? Or did they react to Drew replacing their beloved Dirt Dog, Trot Nixon, the kind of gritty player Drew has never been regarded as?
Were they reacting to the Sox letting the popular Johnny Damon, a gamer and one of the toughest players in team history, go to the Yankees? Especially in light of the Sox offering Damon only four years and $40 million, far less than they were willing to spend on Drew.
There's no question Drew is flawed. His critics will say they can't remember anything extraordinary he did last season, anything they felt singlehandedly won a game. They say he can't be the centerpiece of a lineup because sometimes he's too content to take a walk instead of trying to win the game on his own.
Can he play in Boston? Over and over it's asked. Some of the responses come back uncertain. Some, like Grady Little's, come back strong.
"Of course he can," said the former Red Sox manager, who had Drew in Los Angeles last season. "He's an outstanding ballplayer. He can play anywhere."
Strong in his opinion, too, was Dave Jauss, Drew's outfield coach in Los Angeles who spent many years in the Red Sox organization.
"I expect him to be a really good player in Boston," said Jauss. "The game is the same between the white lines. J.D. is a fine athlete. He's such a good human being, a Christian man, a family man. He'll do so much good in the community, as he did in Los Angeles, that you can't help but like him."
As for the Renteria-Drew comparison, Jauss said, "The situations are completely different. The player the Red Sox got was different than the player they had seen in St. Louis the previous year. I don't know if it was an injury thing or whatever it was, but J.D. is coming to the Red Sox as a fine athlete who takes pride in his athletic ability.
