Drew Damaged goods?

[nochahoma]

I like JD Drew. I think he has great skills. However, I wish he was displaying those skills in a Redbird uniform.

The AJC reported today because of lingering problems with his knee (lingering since 2001 I think) he will not participate in all workouts and will miss some spring games. Now Braves management insists he will be in the starting lineup come Opening Day. That's fine but will he be there at the All Star break and even more will he be there on day 162?

I am disappointed that the Braves gave up one of there better pitching prospects for "damaged goods". I hope he proves me wrong but I have to believe the Cards may have known a little more than the Braves re his health.
:notme:

[Yellow Dog]

I agree with you about letting Adam Wainwright go in that trade. I was very disappointed to see that happen. I think if a team is going into a rebuilding/cost cutting mode, then go all the way. I would of kept Wainwright and given Ryan Langerhans a shot at right or tried to sign Jose Guillen, who could have fit their budget. But they had already foolishly traded Mike Belise for Kent Bercker last August. And it just doesn't make sense, to me, for a team that is both rebuilding and cutting payroll to be trading their top pitching prospects in questionable deals.

But I think the Braves knew they were getting damaged goods in Drew. He had knee surgery in Oct. 2002 and its my understanding that he tried to come back too soon and was never fully healthy last year. Supposedly (and hopefully) he has rested the knee this winter, will take it slow in spring training and try to play 150 games this year. We'll just have to wait and see what happens, but the Braves definetly are taking a big risk with him.

And when they picked up Eli Marrero in that deal we were led to believe he could catch, play the outfield, first AND third. I'm reading now that he has never played third which, if true, doesn't make the deal quite as attractive as originally reported. I still think Marrero will be a valuable utility guy, but he may not be able to be counted on as a reliable back up for DeRosa as we were led to believe.

[jwrenn]

Well if the Braves didn't do their homework and actually research what positions Marrero has played and how well and how often then they deserved to be short changed on the trade.

And same on checking out Drew. I'm sure they had to have known the risk is he may not play a game.

[Yellow Dog]

Something else to consider about Drew...

In 17 career games at Turner Field, Drew has hit .222 with no home runs and only 5 RBIs in 49 ABs. It is the only major league stadium in which he has played at least 10 games and does not have a home run.

That's not really a big deal but just something that has been pointed out recently. Hopefully, he'll feel more at home there when he get a few games under his belt there.

[jwrenn]

Man, all this talk and no games is torture. Is it April 1st yet?

[bama45]

If this guy can just stay healthy if will be awesome.:cool:

[Vorsprung]

Hey, I'm sure the GM has worked a miracle with this guy... he is a frickin' genius after all...

[Yellow Dog]

Vorsprung,

Welcome to Addicts and the Braves forum. Its always good to have another Braves fan with us and we hope you will become a regular poster. :wave1:

About Drew, all I can say is so far so good. In the games I've watched him play this spring I've been pleasantly surprised on how well he is running. I've seen him leg out a couple of doubles and running with ease and obvioulsy without any pain. To look at him, you'd never know he'd had knee trouble.

The important thing now is for him to stay healthy all season and continue to put up the kind of numbers he did this spring. If he can do that, and Marerro can come back strong off the DL, this could turn out to be a great trade.

[jwrenn]

And if we can continue to drop players like Gary Matthews, Jr. we'll win too. Hey, wow! We already did that! :D

[treasurecoast1]

It's not like Drew is going to stay with the Braves until he's 35.

Drew is probably headed for the two best years of his career right now. The Braves have a chance of eating the heart out of Drew's career, than letting him go to a sucker who'll pay him for what he did in the past.