SS Stephen Drew will not remain in Boston
By Corey Leahy
It was reported on Tuesday that Stephen Drew, short stop for the world series champion Boston Red Sox, would not sign the team’s qualifying offer. Well that report is in fact true, and Drew will not be in a Red Sox uniform next year.
According to ESPN, Drew’s agent, Scott Boras, spoke with Red Sox GM Ben Cherington regarding the shortstop.
"Of Drew, Boras said, “Obviously, if you want to win, and you want a middle-of-the-diamond player — and a lot of really, really good teams need upgrades in the middle of the diamond — he’s got a very active, very large market.”"
The short stop is taking a bit of a risk by testing the free agent waters, however.
"Drew, who made $9.5 million on a one-year deal last season, rejected a qualifying offer from the Red Sox that would have given him a one-year, $14.1 million deal, choosing to take his chances in a weak shortstop market. If Drew does sign elsewhere, that team will forfeit a first-round draft pick (unless it owns one of the first 11 picks) and the Red Sox would get a compensatory pick in next year’s first-year player draft."
There is obviously a team who will be interested in Drew, and there’s no doubt he’ll land somewhere in the majors; but it just won’t be Boston.