Biggest Red Sox Disappointments

Tony Massarotti opened the show tonight with a simple question: "When you look at the Red Sox team this year, who are the biggest disappointments?"

He tossed out names like Beckett and Papelbon, but focused most of his attention on outfielder J.D. Drew, noting how his performance has been especially subpar.  However, he told Red Sox Nation to be hopeful, because Drew will be playing for his contract this season.

"…I think they're [the Red Sox] actually in a position now to get the most out of J.D. Drew, and I'll tell you why. Drew has now played 13 seasons in the major leagues. He came up in 1998, if you want to count that year, although he only played 14 games. So really 12 full seasons in the big leagues… In Drew's 12 years in the majors, he has had 100 runs in a season once. He has had 100 RBIs in a season once, and they were in different years, by the way. He's never done both in the same season. So, those two seasons also happen to be the years in which he played the most games of his career. One was 2004 with the Atlanta Braves: 145 games, .305 average, 31 homers, 93 RBIs, 118 runs scored, and his OPS was over 1.000. Free agent year for J.D. Drew. He went to Los Angeles and signed a five-year $55 million contract, and then in 2006, as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, going into a season in which he had an escape clause that would allow him to go back out on the market if he so chose, Drew played in 146 games with the Dodgers, he batted .283, 20 homers, 100 RBIs, 84 runs scored, and an OPS of .891.

So if you're down on J.D. Drew now, you have every right to be, but if you go by his history and statistics, J.D. Drew's got a reason to play next year. He's got a new contract to play for and the Red Sox might be in a better position now to get something out of Drew than they ever have been before."