JT the Brick

Christmas has come early to every member of the Boston sports media as J.D. Drew has agreed to a new five-year, $70 million contract. There is no doubt in my mind that Drew will eventually get run out of Beantown by the Red Sox fans and several members of the media after they figure out what he is all about.

Drew comes to Boston as one of the most hated players in the modern history of the game and with a reputation as a player who always gets hurt and rarely smiles. I had the pleasure of watching him play in Los Angeles the last few seasons, and he did nothing to endear himself to the great fans of the Dodgers or work with the media to change his negative image. Drew only cares about his personal statistics and how much money is deposited in his bank account every two weeks. He is the perfect client for super agent Scott Boras, who also only cares about making the most amount of money possible while moving players to new markets.

If you look back on Drew's career, you should conclude that he is not the right type of player to make it for more than a few seasons in a Red Sox uniform. After being named the winner of the 1997 Golden Spikes Award and collegiate baseball player of the year, he signed with Boras and was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies with the second overall pick in the ‘97 draft. He was about to enter the major leagues widely considered one of the top baseball players in the history of the college game.

Philly fans went wild in anticipation of the next "Mickey Mantle" coming to town. He was thought to be the player that would get the Phillies to their next world championship. That all ended in a train wreck as Drew, under the advice of Boras, decided not to sign with Philadelphia because they did not respect the offer that was on the table. Drew never blinked during these ugly negotiations and took the advice of Boras and sat out the 1997 season only to reenter the draft the following year and get selected fifth overall by St. Louis.

I remember telling the great baseball fans of St. Louis at the time that this was a big mistake, because Drew did not deserve to slap Philadelphia fans in the face and end up in the best baseball town in America. He played five full seasons in St. Louis and never had more than 121 hits or slugged more than 27 home runs. He became famous for striking out in clutch situations and never stole more than 20 bases in a season while making big money.

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In the offseason of 2003, Drew was traded to Atlanta where it all seemed to finally come together for him. In his first healthy season in the big leagues, Drew came to the plate 518 times while batting .305 with 31 home runs and 96 RBI. Finally, his career was starting to live up to his potential and it looked like he was comfortable playing for a winning franchise in Atlanta.

Then in typical Boras fashion, Drew bolted Atlanta for a new five-year, $55 million deal with the Dodgers, who were committed to making him a superstar in Hollywood. He suffered a serious wrist injury during the 2005 season and only played in 72 games, striking out 50 times and driving in only 36 runs. L.A. fans did not like his attitude during the rehab of his injury and continued to expect him to return to the field sooner rather than later. This is when I labeled Drew "Mr. Personality" on my show because he never smiled and seemed to have no time for the local or national media. He just laid low while collecting more huge paychecks and did not seem to want to sell the image of "Dodger Blue".